Everything went smoothly prior to the race start. I got my usual breakfast and second breakfast in before setting up my transition area and did my usual warm-up. I felt great and was really ready to go.
I liked that we had a mass start with all of the females in the same wave for the start of the swim. It's easier to know where everyone is if we all start at the same time and there weren't too many people as to cause chaos at the beginning. It also gives us a chance to try to catch a draft, which isn't possible with really small waves. At the start of the swim, I sprinted my usual approximately 100 yds out and actually was able to draft a bit off of an aquabiker. I was able to stay on until the first buoy, but then it looked as if he was off course, so I stayed on the buoys. I saw someone else ahead with my cap color, but she was also off course, so I opted to not lose my line and did not draft. The rest was all solo. I finished my swim in about my usual time. I honestly haven't been very thrilled at my lack of improvement on the swim, because I need to knock off a few minutes, but it is what it is for now. My 1.5 K swim split was 24:58. (I don't wear a watch at all when I race, so I didn't know my splits until after). Oh, and I had another first of knocking the rack over while I was getting my bike off. Ooops.
I knew that there were a few women ahead of me and I had some catching up to do. I had a Gu Energy Gel right after the train track going out. I saw Robin pass on her way in as I was headed out. I didn't see any other women coming the other direction until about 30 seconds to the turnaround. Elise was ahead of me. I knew that I would be able to catch her if I pushed hard for a bit on the bike. Unfortunately, that plan came screeching to a halt by a train. Yes, a train. It wasn't even a full train that we were waiting for. It was just the engine rolling back and fourth right in the middle of the road while someone was doing something on the track. There were about 5 athletes or so stopped on each side of the train waiting for it to get out of the way and wondering why they couldn't see that we were in the middle of a race! 2nd place was no longer in eye-sight. I had some more catching up to do. I pushed harder on the bike than I planned, but I was finally able to see Elise way off in the distance turning on to the park road, which is about 2.5 miles to transition. I had a second Gu Energy Gel in the last mile of the bike to get ready for the run. My 40 K bike split was not bad, considering the train delay. It was 1:09:22 combined bike plus both transition times.
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| Right after the turnaround (photo credit to Mark Davis) |
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| The dismount (photo credit to Deborah Adair aka Mommy) |
This had to be the run of my life. I really wanted to make up for lost time. This is the absolute strongest that I have felt coming off the bike and I was ready. I kept replaying everything that coach told me about the run in my head. I was closing the gap between me and 2nd. I was really trying to plan this strategically, though, because I knew that when I passed, I had to go.The fist part of the run is challenging because it is deceptively hilly with loose gravel. I didn't want to pass on a hill because I knew that I was not going to sprint on hills in the first mile of the race. In my mind, I was planning on making my move just past the second aid station right after the course flattens out and right before heading onto the short bit of pavement. That didn't happen. I was gaining momentum at that final hill right before the aid station and Elise slowed down just a bit. It was go time. I now had 4 miles to hold on to that lead and I knew it was not going to be easy.
Every time I tried to push myself harder, thinking to myself "okay, time to go harder for a bit and get some distance," Elise went with me. She did an amazing job of pushing me. Every part of the trail, I could hear Elise right behind me matching my pace. At the last mile, I knew that really had to be my last ditch effort to get some distance. I turned it on to an all-out run. I still heard the footsteps. About 1/2 mile left, there were still footsteps. I finally turned to a sprint because I was not about to stop here. There were still footsteps. I kept my pace going the entire last bit of the race and the footsteps were there to the finish line. I didn't find out until then (because I never looked behind me) that the footsteps during the last mile belonged to a guy. I had no idea I had finally gained some ground and kept going thinking I had not. It was such a great race and I'm really glad we were able to experience pushing ourselves to the max. That's what racing is all about! Thank you for such a great race, Elise. I'm glad we were both able to reach new PR's! My final 10 K run was a run PR for me with a time of 44:07.
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| I was a bit tired here (photo credit Mommy) |
As always, thank you to TBF Racing for putting on another great race! Thank you to my sponsor Gu Energy Labs. And to my coach , John Pottebaum, and teammates at Total Intensity Sports. And my parents for always supporting me and cheering me on.
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| 25-29 podium! |
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| Series Champ shirt |
