Swim: I was glad I got to watch the Olympic distance group swim, and see George safely out of the lake just before I went out. But I had a lot of time for my nerves to get the best of me while standing around shivering and watching their swim. When I took the plunge, I panicked. It took me a few hundred yards to talk myself out of giving up, to remind myself I knew how to swim, and to get into a good breathing/stroke rhythm. Then I just set my goal to make it to the next buoy and then the next and then the next until I realized I was almost finished, and I had passed quite a few swimmers along the way. I have never been so happy to get out of the water, especially since my son was cheering me on as I exited.
T1: Very happy to see Mirijam from Master's class handing me a cup of water as I went in. Took a sip for luck, and ran to the last racks to get my bike. Peeling off the wetsuit took a little more time than anticipated, and I almost fell over the bike running out, next time I'll remember to run out with my bike on my right side.
Bike: The bike course was pretty challenging for me, I felt like I was working as hard as I could the entire 14 miles. I was pretty rattled b/c early on I saw two cyclists get hit by a car on the course. I managed to regain my focus, and attack the hills as hard as I could. Nutrition was some power bar gel caps, easier to eat on the bike than the shot blocks I had at Tri-Rock, but still left me thirsty. Didn't want to drink too much on the bike b/c I didn't want to run later with a stomach full of liquid. The course was crowded and it was near impossible to keep 3 bike lengths between me and the cyclist in front of me. A lot of blocking going on, mostly unintentional due to the amount of people racing, but some racers just weren't paying attention, and weren't staying to the right to allow others to pass. Got a big wave and smile from Garrett again at the end of the bike course.
T2: Faster than T1 since I only had to rack the bike and switch out my helmet for a cap.
Run: The start of the run was straight uphill, and continued uphill for the first 3/4 mile, and my quads were still burning from the bike. I was glad to have trained on the run course several times before the race, so I knew where the decline would start. Then I just kept getting faster and faster. Finally saw George just after I hit the turnaround and gave him a big wave and smile as he began his last 5 miles. The final mile was all downhill which made for a fast finish. I have never felt so excited to finish as race as I did this one. I had a great race.
I finished 4th in my age group, improved my swim pace by 25 seconds per 100, and improved my run pace by 31 seconds per mile. What a great way to wrap up my first tri season !
