This was a huge sprint, over 1700 athletes. Matt and I went down the day before for packet pickup. We toured around the race setup and felt the water. Warm again. Mid 80s!
Race day we got there early because I wanted a decent spot in transition for my bike and I got it. I set up my bike and run gear and was able to relax for awhile before heading to the swim start. Matt and I did our normal swim warmup and I felt extremely comfortable. Only downside, it was going to be over 100 degrees! I got to see Matt off for his swim start and I had about another 10 minutes before I started.
I started the swim in the front, as always. This swim was a lot more organized than the swim the week earlier. It was a straight shot, a 90 degree turn and a straight shot into the swim finish. My swim could have been faster, but I was third girl out of the water in my age group, I was happy with that.
The run into transition from the swim finish was longer than what I have done. Since there were so many people the transition area was huge! I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find my bike. But I found it. I was able to throw on my bike shoes, helmet, glasses, grab my bike and get out of transition quickly!
Then it started to hurt. A 5k run in 100 degree heat after going hard on the bike, not fun! I have never taken so much water and ice at water stops on a 5k. Every stop I took something. I shoved a bag of ice down my tri suit, had an ice cold cloth in my tri suit and grabbed water and Heed at every station. I pushed the run until I started to feel that I was going into a cold sweat. It was at that point I knew I couldn't push myself any harder. Little did I know I was winning my age group going into the run. With a tenth of a mile to go I was passed by a girl in my age group. I remember not thinking anything of it because I didn't know where I was in my age group at that point. I finished as strong as I could, considering.
I probably drank 5 + bottles of water after the finish. We waited around for the results to be posted. Of course there was a mad dash for the result board. Matt pushed himself in there and told me that I placed 2nd in my age group. I started to cry. I couldn't believe it. Then he told me that I missed 1st place by 20 seconds! I guess that's what you get for putting it all out there on the bike and trying to run in 100 degree heat. But I was thrilled with a 2nd place finish and even more thrilled in knowing that I qualified for age group nationals!!
This race was awesome. We plan on doing it again next year. It is a whole weekend event, there is a sprint triathlon on Saturday and an olympic distance on Sunday. Next year we plan on making a weekend of it and doing both!!
For those of you wondering, I am not going to compete at Age Group Nationals this year. It is a goal of mine for next year. If I qualify next year I will be attending. I have not trained for an olympic distance race yet and it would be too much to compile into a short period of time. Plus I'm sure those girls are fast, I need to make sure that I can hang! =)
So what's next??
I have registered for one more triathlon this season on 8/21/11. I have a half marathon in September and a full marathon in October. Since the last triathlon I have upped my running mileage. Got to be ready for 26.2 in T minus 2 months! Can't wait!
We are also heading to NYC this weekend. Matt is competing in the New York City Triathlon on 8/7/11. It's going to kill me to be a spectator, but it will be awesome to see. What's even better is Matt is competing with the first responders. Word on the street ist hat those police officers and firefighters in the NYPD are fast! I can't wait to see how well he does! There are close to 3000 athletes competing on Sunday! The biggest one that we are going to attend this year!
Who knows, maybe I'll be in the mix in 2012!
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