SPG Race Report

Hey all,

Here is how the day went down...

Morning.
The alarm went off way too early at 6:30 am. Although we were in bed at 11:30 the night before Rexy must have been nervous for her mom and dad because she was tossing and turning all night...keeping us awake. Chad and I were both tired and cranky but we got up and got out of the house smoothly in the morning. After my last 2 races I decided I have to eat at least 2 hours before I race and it worked out perfectly!!!

We pulled into the parking lot and as we were unloading the bikes Lisa and Darryl pulled up behind us. We went to set up transition, get body marked, all of the pre-race duties. I hate waiting for the race to start. I get sooo nervous I felt like I was going to throw up my breaky.

I was feeling a little nervous about wearing my tri shorts in the water...I have never done that before (only under a wetsuit)...these ones were feeling a little loose. Darryl offered me his shoe lace so I could tie my shorts up...but I decided to go ahead without...ooops...more on the later.

Swim
I walk over to my lane and was chatting it up with Julie, well we tried but we were both too nervous/race focused to chat! I am standing there watching all of the tall lanky swimmer looking guys come over to our lane. Needless to say I was feeling a little intimidated, I shouldn't have been after all I do swim with 3 tall lanky guys all of the time!!!

I decided before I even got in the water that I was going to swim and not worry about anyone else and not worry about passing anyone. Last year I wasted so much energy trying to pass people so this year I was going to save energy and draft. I think all of those guys lapping me three times helped pull me along in the water!

The swim was mass chaos as per usual with 12 people in one lane. I stuck with my game plan and it worked out perfectly. The guy I was drafting off of must have got sick of me on his feet because with 500m left he let me pass him. I guess I would have to work a little hard for 1/3 of the swim! I had pushed off for my last length and the people were all yelling and screaming at me to get out...who was I to argue...so I got out. I am 90% sure I still had another lap to do.

T1
I think this was one of the fastest transitions I have had. Out of the water, put my jersey and I was flying through everything. When I looked over and saw that I had beat Darryl out of the water that confirmed my belief that I was a lap short on the swim! On my way out of transition Chad told me to hurry up...I was ahead of Darryl!

Bike
I wasn't even out of the parking lot and I had to stop. I went over this little bump and lost my water bottles. One of the great volunteers helped me chase them down and I was back out onto the course.

The entire bike I kept down in aero and focused on getting my legs turning over. My bike computer isn't working properly (telling me I am riding at 40-60 km/hr....which would be sweet if it were true), so I used my cadence and my garmin to figure out where I was at. I tried keeping the cadence at 90 and speed somewhere around 30km/hr. I kept telling myself make it happen on the bike and survive the run. Coming back into town my legs were staring to hurt...I couldn't help but wonder how I was going to run 10 km at the pace I want.

T2

Super easy, super smooth. I was out of my bike shoes and into my run shoes in no time! I couldn't help but notice that there weren't many bike in transition yet...a very unfamiliar feeling to me!!

Run

The run went good...so good. Once I got the numbness out of my toes I was cruising along and couldn't believe the numbers I was getting on my garmin. For both the 10 km run I did in the last couple of months I was dying trying to hold a 5 min/km pace. Yesterday I was able to do it!! I was working really hard don't get me wrong...but I felt good and strong. I was able to maintain this pace throughout the entire run. I was passed the second aid station when I saw Darryl on his way back...with a high five to keep things rollin! I saw Julie in there too....who was working really hard at breathing but I did get a nod this time :):):)

I had been passed at one point by a girl in my age group (who ended up winning our AG), then I passed another and was chasing down the 2nd place girl. Of course I had no idea the placings at the time, I saw her and saw that she was in my age group and decided I would try to catch her!! She must have been reading my thoughts cause when I saw her at the finish line she told me that when she saw me coming it made her speed up!

Then there was the hill. I was having such a good run up until then...probably would have had a PR for a 10 km if it wasn't for this beast. It is so freaking steep. I walked twice on the way up. I made a deal with myself to walk up the really steep parts and run the rest. This was the only time I could tell I had a cold...as I was wheezing, coughing and sputtering my way up the hill! It was here that I saw Chad come flying down the hill.

After the race we sat waiting for them to announce the race results...visiting, sharing race stories etc. Much to my surprise I heard my name. Yup 3rd place in my age group! I didn't even hear my time because I wasn't really paying attention! I was super surprised and pumped all at the same time! Chad and Julie also cleaned up winning 1st and 2nd overall respectively. I believe Darryl was 5th in his age group. So needless to say it was an awesome race day for everyone!

Here are the official times:

Swim 26:52
Bike 1:26 (this includes both transitions...and the run up the stairs!)
Run 53:16
Total 2:46:51

Last year my time was 3:02:15 for the same race!

Today I am quite sore....everywhere. Bring on the recovery and get ready for training camp this weekend!