Dave, Jeff & I arrived at Lake Anna with plenty of time to set up transition, hang out at the FeXY tent & chat with friends. This was the first race where I knew a lot of people racing. It made a huge difference out on the course & wearing my FeXY kit was great - all of the support from my teammates was fantastic! As race time approached, it was time to put on the wetsuit & head down to the beach. I wanted to make sure I got comfortable in the water before it was time for the race to start. Last week, the water was freakin' cold & I had troubles acclimating to the temperature & wasn't able to breathe. Today, the water was 74 (I think) - it was perfect! I swam for a bit & everything was going well. I said good luck to my friends & teammates (most of them started in the waves before me) and started to visual my race. About 5 minutes before my wave, the lead swimmers were almost finished, so I headed over as I expected my friend Jeff to be among them. Sure enough, he was the fourth one out of the water. I cheered him on & headed over to the start area. The horn went off & it was time to swim. Overall, my swim was good. I had a goal of 19 minutes but with the wetsuit I hoped for a faster time. I stayed to the left of the crowd & ended up swimming a smidge more than I needed to. I was out of the water in 16:41 (7th in my age group). I was super happy & worked on getting my wetsuit partially off as I headed into transition. My transition time was not the best, but still under my guesstimate of 4 minutes (3:09). I need to practice getting my feet into my shoes when they are already on the bike. That will save me time once I get the hang of it! The bike started on a hill out of the park but it wasn't as horrible as I imagined. There were rolling hills on the course & I loved it all. As I headed out of the park, I was excited to see Jeff, Dave & some teammates on their way back. I had set my watch to show the average speed & I would check it every so often to see how I was doing. My bike time blew my guess (54 minutes) out of the water - ended up covering the 15-1/2 miles in 49:58 (5th AG). T2 was okay (est 2 minutes, ended up with 1:54). There is room for improvement here as well. Had all sorts of issues trying to bring a gel with me! The sun was out & the run starts with a lovely 1/4 mile hill & then you keep climbing. It was tough to get going. I just focused on one foot in front of the other & finally the watch clicked over at a mile. It was slower than I wanted, but all things considered, I was happy with it. Saw teammates & friends out on the run course and we cheered each other on. After about 2 miles, my hamstrings, hip & oblique were starting to tighten up. I quietly told myself to suck it up & the guy in front of me looked around - I guess I didn't say it as quietly as I thought! I knew there was a massage waiting for my at the FeXY tent thanks to one of our sponsors, MpowerD Massage (they were amazing!) so I picked up the pace. Once I hit the woods, I knew there was only a half mile to go & it was downhill. Before I knew it, I was in the finisher's chute & had my medal. My run was the only part that was over my guess. I wanted to be under 29, but ran the 5k in 29:07, which given my legs, I am perfectly happy with. I had negative splits & I ran the entire thing. My finish time was 1:40:47 - well under my goal & 7th in my age group (and a new PR). Overall I am really pleased with my performance today. Up next is the Salute to the Miliary sprint tri on May 24th. I am sure it will prove to be a fun day just like today!
Things to work on:
- Swim: sighting & getting more comfortable in the group/closer to the buoys (less distance!)
- Transitions: shoes are staying on the bike - must learn!
- Bike: I liked it, cadence could be better?
- Run: not horrible, need to pick up the pace a little sooner & trust that they are ready to go; pick visor or sunglasses - don't need both
- Overall: less talking - it's a race, Mel
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