So, tri season is now over. My first season as a Momma, a MIM (yeah, those kinda go togetehr!) was pretty awesome. I didn't set any new PR's, but I cam awfully close a few times, and with a full time job, a full time kid, and some...ok...most....less than stellar sleeping night (hey, he rocks at everything else!) I couldn't be happier. I placed in half of the tri's I entered, and landed in the top 10% of women for three quarters of them. I think I would consider it a success. It's now onto fall marathon training (more on that in a bit) but now, for one last recap of a 2014 tri.....Finger Lakes!
I've done this tri twice in the past, but not since 2007. Kinda strange to think....last time I raced FL, I wasn't a mom, wasn't married, wasn't even engaged! Wow. Greg and I took a little trip down memory lane thinking about that.....we usually bypass this race because it's quite pricey, but with a wonderful family offer to babysit right in Canandaigua, we couldnt pass it up. The course has changed quite a bit since we've done it, but it's basically an easy swim, a challenging bike, and a flas, fast run. I had aspirations to hit a new PR (under 2:50) and was excited to race.
Pre race morning was a massive cluster you know what. Greg almost forgot his helmet, I found a hole in my tire (god bless Towpath for hooking me up!) and I completely forgot to eat my breakfast in the midst of it, leading to a last minute swallow of some pb and bread. (not optimal race nutrition!) Since I wasn't familiar with the new course, I listened to the pre race briefing....now a quarter mile run on a pebble path to T1 (awesome) and a new bike mount (more on that later). Ah, well. No use in getting in a snit about little things.
Swim (34:01, including .25 run to T1). My swim sucked. It felt good, but my sighting was truly awful. The swim is set up in a long rectangle, and the whole time I felt like I was swimming alone. Story of my life....faster than the average woman and slower than the good ones. Could be worse :-P My buddy with a garmin clocked the swim at 1.1 miles, and I was out of the water in 31:27 so with my complete lack of swim training, I felt ok about it.
Bike - 1:22, 18.2 avg. - Running out of T1, I realized that there was a 1000 yard run...in bike shoes....to the bike mount. Why they did this, I have no idea. But apparently it all counted toward your bike split (1000 yards out to bike, 1000 yards back from bike. WTF. This probably pissed me off more than it should, but running in bike shoes sucks. Other than that, I don;t have much to say about the bike. I leapfrogged with a bunch of men, saw 2 women (passed one, one passed me) and forgot how hilly Canandaigua was (and then remembered. Again and Again :-P) I wasn't happy with my bike, but I wasn't unhappy either. There are a few great downhills but they all end in a sharp turn, which makes them pretty much a moot point. The first 10 miles of the course were pretty much all uphill, then some give back afterwards. All in all, I think I could have pushed harder, but I suppose that's a goal for next year.
Run - 53:22, 8:36 avg. As I got out of T2, I heard the race announcer announce my husband coming in. This was a great surprise - since I did the Olympic and he did the Sprint race, he started :55 minutes after me. I had no idea what kind of race he was having, and with the different distances, it was truly kismet that we connected. With that said, I had no issue being his rabbit, but I'll be damned if I was going to make catching me easy - I jetted out of T2 and onto the run. The run is two loops and pretty flat. I've been running without socks lately, and also without yanks (they make my feet go numb). I felt pretty strong the whole run....two shoe unties (I tied them once, the second time I was .5 miles from the finish and said eff it.) Greg nearly caught me (woot woot) and as I started lap 2 and he finished. the race announcer mistakenly thought he caught me, which gave me a laugh when I most needed it. I played catch with a few guys on loop two, got pissed off at the number of people wearing headphones (seriously, wtf??) and passed 4 people in the last quarter mile stretch, which made me feel awesome. No pics because we had no race photogs and honestly the official race pictures make me wanna kill myself :-P
Race time - 2:54:xx, 4th AG, 16th overall woman.
I felt pretty decent about it. Bummed I didn't place, but 3rd place was over 2 minutes faster than me and I must have been in the speedy AG because I would have placed in any other group (yep, I'm obsessive). Greg and I grabbed some grub, chatted up some friends, and chalked it up to a race we did our best in, a beautiful morning, and a success to 2014. I can;t say I'll run this race again....a few things really turned me off to the execution, and spending 8 minutes in "transition" is just ridiculous, but now I know. Can't wait for some new races and fun in 2015!!
And now...it's go time. OBX 2014. I smell a 3:xx in my future....and now I've made that public. No excuses :-P
1 small onion, diced
Enjoyed best on a TV tray, on the couch, while watching the soaps. Or the Price is Right. Or the Wonder Years. And for a split second, you are 8 years old, playing hooky from school, and Mom will be over in a few minutes to bring you some ice cream. And it's all better :-)
