Morton Plant Mease Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

What a great swim! I have been very confident in the water lately. Breathing was perfect. Sighting was great. Someone was on my feet the entire time, which meant they thought I was a good enough swimmer to draft. I passed ALOT of people in the water.

Nothing.

A rather slow T1 because there was such a long run to the TA from the beach. Had to be at least a minute run. But other than that, and the fact that my rack was so far away from the TA entrance, I had a great T1. Everything went as planned.

Nothing.

I always lose my places in the bike. But I still did rather well. My goal is to average 20mph for the season, and I think I'll achieve that, even though I was slightly under it for this race.

Came out of T1 feeling strong, got into my pedals really easily and was instantly at 20mph. Kept up a good pace, 22+, for a good part of the way. First bridge/bluff incline I kept up a nice 16mph speed. I hammered it between that and the first bridge, averaging about 21mph. First bridge...probably nowhere over 12mph...I remember seeing 10.5 a couple times. But I worked it hard. I granny wheeled it, but I got there. Upon reaching the top, I went into my middle chain ring, and my hardest rear gear. Started pedaling...and then went into the top chain ring. HAMMERED IT!! 42mph!!! It was so awesome being that fast on two wheels!! Probably averaged about 24mph for the next mile or so, until we got to the big one. The Sand Key Bridge. OK...there goes the speed. Hammered it all the way up to the first bit of incline, and then back to the granny wheel. This one was HARD!! I didn't go any faster than 9mph, and most of the time I was at 7 or lower. I actually saw 6.4mph on my computer. DAMN!!! But I reached the top, switched to the top chain ring and then BAM...chain came off my front ring. So I coasted down, still making 34mph on the way down. As soon as I got to the bottom, I screeched to a stop, replaced the chain, and got back on. Only cost me about 30 seconds. Came into the park and dismounted just fine.

Not lose the chain!!!

Got into my running shoes, took a big swig of Gatorade cuz I only took one drink on the bike. Put on race belt, racked bike, took off helmet, and I was on my way!!

Nothing.

I had a pretty good run. First mile was a bit slow, but when I started passing guys in my age group it gave me a charge. I picked up 5 AG spots here. My second mile was in the 7's and last one was about 8 flat. I was pretty satisfied with that.

I noticed upon arriving in the park that I was fighting nausea. I know that if I'm feeling like I'm gonna throw up, I've left it all out there. I was happy, but damn I hate feeling like I'm gonna puke.

Run faster. I can go faster than I did.

I met up with Terri at the finish. Waited for everyone else to finish. Fought the nausea for a while. Finally went away. We cheered Betsy and Christine to the finish line. Waited for Adam. Betsy and I decided to walk back a bit and see if we could find Adam. We found him about .2 miles from the finish and decided to run him in. That's when his little one came out and ran for him! It was sooooo cute!!! But he sprinted to a finish. I heard them announce that he was tri-ing for his sister Lynda who had passed away earlier in the year at MP. We all got emotional. Me, Mom, Collette, Terri...all teary-eyed. When Adam came over, they told him it was me that emailed the race director and he gave me a big hug. It was awesome to be able to do that for a friend. Made me day totally. I was able to leave feeling great.

After the race we tried to go to Waffle House, but the wait was really long and little James wasn't having it. So Adam and family headed out and Terri and I waited and ate. WAFFLE HOUSE = YUM!!


MY BIKE! Need faster lighter bike!!


I would definitely do this one again. I'm gonna be very selective about my sprints next year. This one will DEFINITELY be on my list! Props to MP Hospital!!!