King Tut Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Water was great, flat as can be, good temp of 68 degrees. The swim started out a bit slow, that was interesting. I was fine with this as I intended to start slow anyway. Then two gals went out off the front and I did not go/could not with them. Just swam my own pace. Out was ok, good turn but then could not see a darn thing on the way in. Foggy goggles, slight overcast but into rising sun and I couldn't tell where I was headed. Not enough of the wave was in front of me to be able to use them so I kept having to pull up significantly to pick a direction. Cost me time.

But still I've got to be happy with this swim overall. Huge improvement over a year ago. My wave was all 39&under and I was 8th out of the water (out of 43) in my wave and 3rd out in my AG. Last year I would have swam at least 2min/100m or slower and this pace was moderate effort.

Need to start harder. Just keep improving. Would have done clear goggles if I knew the sun was gonna stay down enough.

Ran cautiously into transition as I did not want to wipe out when IMTX is so close! And promptly ran to the wrong bike rack. Doh! Stood there looking at where my bike should be before my teammate behind me yells 'What are you doing?' and I turn around. Crap! Ran to my bike, suit off easy, but felt slow with socks. Shoes, helmet, glasses, go. Downhill on concrete so I took that cautious again since in my bike shoes and did not want to bite it when this is certainly no 'A' race.

Choose no jacket and it was right decision. 50 degrees and wet left my legs cold but upper body was fine.

Passed one in my AG in transition.

Slower than I would have liked and oh yeah - make sure I turn at the right bike rack. :)

Since our wave was first after the Elites there was really no one out on the course yet so just me pedaling along. Going up hill right out of transition, my legs were a little in shock. :) Not warmed up at all. And stayed freezing most of the time. Settled in and just rode steady - this would be a much better experience if I was a little warmer.

There are just enough ups and downs and the few turns that you can't quite see far enough ahead to know who's out in front of you. At this point I knew I was not first out of the water, but had no idea if any in my AG were out in front of me. I knew no one passed me in my AG, but also I did not pass anyone in my AG and in fact, hadn't even seen anyone so I have no idea who is in front of me.

Warm up, but again not looking for the win so was just using this race as a reminder of what an event is like, shaking out the cobwebs.

So-so, second fastest T2 in AG by 1 sec but felt so slow. Was first bike back to my rack but I knew that not all my AG was on my rack so at this point I'm still wondering where the other gals ahead of me are as I hadnt seen them.

Practice transitions :)I did re-rack by rear seat instead of just by front bars. May change that up.

First, let's be clear - I'm no runner. So as I'm leaving T2 I have no idea what position I'm in, but I know I will lose ground here. As I was leaving T2, I could see one gal in front of me, maybe 15 sec ahead, but had no idea if she was in my AG. Then she slowly pulls a bit further ahead and I'm thinking 'well, it's no matter if she's in my AG - clearly she is faster than me anyway.' Turns out that was 1st place AG and she had left T2 about 16 sec ahead of me (I'd gained slightly on bike). But even if I'd known, there was no running any faster for me. My kids are jumping up and down yelling 'go, mommy!' - so much fun.

Since training for IM, I've moved to less speed work lately and thought my 5k might suffer. But every time I saw my pace dropping I tell myself to suck it up and keep running, reminding myself that the last .5 to 1 mile is all downhill so push anyway now and use that downhill later to survive. Teammates tell me my face was serious (ha, this is because this pace hurt!). I didn't see many people going out and it's all guys passing me. Two gals pass (both not in my AG). I still hadn't figured out who in my AG is in front!

After the turn-around, however, I see ALL the people behind me. Holy crap - the whole race is coming up strong! I know at least two are maybe 1-2 minutes back and they ARE in my AG. Now, I am really hurting, no stopping for water - every second counts!

I gave this just about everything I had left, my pace dropping to 7min/mi during that last half mile and I finished with a 5k PR!

At this point, I know no one passed me during the bike or run, and I passed one AG in T1, so now it's just a matter of who was in front of me that I didn't see?

Very proud of this effort - running is hard for me and I am not usually willing to endure much pain - suffering, yes - but not pain and a 5k is your redline pain. :) Didn't quite go much into red zone, but walked that line.

Not walk at the first aid station - yeah, I did for a few seconds.

Walked around and post-race massage from Sabrina (excellent!) who also had popsicles which my kids LOVED. I was freezing as soon as I started cooling down so got a thick jacket from a friend (super thanks!). Checked the results board and found out I was 2nd AG!


Same old, same old. More fitness, etc. I'm average at best but did at least perform to what I am currently capable of on this day. What more could you ask for?


Nice little fun race. I'm not sure why I saw no powerade on the course, but they did have it for post-race? Requisite bananas and oranges were available, though I find hummus an odd choice for post-race food, even though I like it. But the important stuff was all taken care of - the aid station was well-placed and manned, I like the post-race setup, and the course is easy to follow and was well-controlled at intersections. Good swim course, I'd like an extra bouy on the way back in though. Overall I'd definitely do again.