So Jacks generic triathlon was about a month+ ago, and it was AMAZING! Well for me at least.
Quick: I placed 10th in my age group overall, 3rd in my age group on the bike!
Longer:
I didn’t push the swim too hard, and I had to stop just past half way to fix my goggles. One side had flooded. I don’t know why, I wear those all the time. When I got to the shallows I tried to swim further that the people around me so I would have less high stepping to get to shore. I think that worked out great. But I am sure it looked funny seeing me swim in only about 6 inches of water.
Run into transition was uneventful, I grabbed my helmet and put on my socks and shoes like normal. Matt’s bike was already gone so I knew I had some work to do to catch up, but hey extra motivation.
I got out on the ride and tried to get myself to about 85% max. My speeds were fantastic, and I was able to keep the race in mind and not daydream. This let me keep focused on my breathing, pedaling and power. I was able to get down the nutrition I wanted near the end of the ride, and I caught up with Matt about 30 feet from the finish, but didn’t pass since there wasn’t room. It was fun to run across the dismount line with Matt and 1 other BSS person.
Transition was fast, 1:33 and I was out running. Once out on the run course I started my run at about 9 minute miles and knew that wasn’t sustainable in the heat. Thankfully there was some cloud cover and I was able to get into a 9:30~ pace. I walked at the water stops and passed people left and right.
Coming around the last bend at the lake the sun came out full force and I lost a little bit of steam, I still kept the intensity on, but if you look at my HR data for the end of the run, I was getting close to that line where I have to start walking to recover.
I pushed this race hard and it showed. This is the best I have placed in any race of its size, and I have hopes to get in the top 5 next year if I can keep it up.
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