Halloween Bash Triathlon--Race Recap

So you wanna know?

I got 1st in my age group (out of 19). 5th overall (not sure how many people total).

Don't be too impressed, it was a pretty small triathlon and I think there were a lot of first timers. But it was fun to get first nonetheless.

They did a staggered start for the swim, sending people every 10 seconds, starting with the people who have the fastest swim splits.

They determine who has the fastest swim split by what you entered when you signed up.

I was a little horrified to find that I was NUMBER ONE. Eek. I knew I must have entered something wrong.

It's really embarrassing to have number one when you are doing a staggered pool start because everyone has to make a comment when they see it. "Oh, you're number one huh? You must be fast." "Wow. Number one. Nice." and on and on.

To each of these comments I would have to say, "Ummm, no. It's a mistake. I think I entered something wrong."

So we get up to start the swim and number two is a guy who is about 6' 5"--gigantic! He apparently swam in college and did Olympic time trials. The first words out of my mouth to him were: "I'm not going first. You are."

He didn't argue.

I ended up going 3rd, right after a woman who looked anorexic but muscular, and that was fine. I got passed by two guys, but that was it.

They made us wait on deck for about 40 minutes just waiting to start the swim because they had some issues with the kid triathlon, but nobody told us that. So we all stood there anxiously awaiting the start....for 40 minutes!!! That's a long time to think, "Okay, we're just about to start." and to have butterflies in your tummy. Not to mention it was FREEZING!!!

When we finally started I was hungry and thirsty and distracted. But off we went.

I was a sprint swimmer in high school. My specialty was 50 yd and 100 yd freestyle. So when I start a race in a pool I immediately revert back to "sprint mode". Not a good thing when you're swimming a 350 meter swim. By about 150 meters I thought, "Oops, started too strong." It was about that time that the two guys passed me. I dragged a bit, but still finished okay on the swim. 5:44 was my time including the run to the transition area.

Then I was off on my bike. Still the second girl out after anorexic lady. I usually bike in a higher gear so it takes more effort to get the pedals around, but I cover more ground with each revolution. I decided to try a lower gear this time so I was spinning faster, thus exerting less energy, but not getting as much ground covered with each revolution. I liked it. The bike was 2 x 6 mile loops and by the second loop I was feeling stronger and stronger. I passed several men and only a few passed me. No women passed me at all. That has never happened to me before. That was my most happy part of the race.

I came in strong from the bike and was told I was the first girl in (but I knew this wasn't true because you-know-who was in front of me). So I was the second girl in really. This got me excited and I took off on my run but my legs were really aching at this point. I didn't sleep at all the night before because we had to wake up at 4 am to get out to the race and I was so afraid my alarm wasn't going to go off. So I woke up at least once every hour and my head and legs ached before even starting the race. It was fine once I started racing, but hitting the run I felt it again. I could tell I was dragging on the run, but not horribly bad. I can push hard on a treadmill because I will allow it to push me, but I do have a lot harder time pushing myself in runs outside. I've started to work on this some, but my outside training time is very limited so I still have a lot of work to do. I finished strong, kicking at the end because I could see my husband and kids at the finish line and I wanted to sprint it out for them.

It was a fun day and cool to be able to say I got first! I was reminded again of why I started RaceDay Training. Being part of an event like this is exciting and inspiring for anyone that does it. No matter what place you come in, you feel a major sense of accomplishment just crossing the finish line. People are so friendly and encouraging to each other and you can't help but have fun. So what are you waiting for? Pick a race and register! :)