YWCA of Minneapolis Women's Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Felt great waiting for the start. My family busted out signs for me as I was in the holding area. The one that said "SWIM BIKE RUN GO MAMMA" with pictures of our basset hounds made me laugh really hard, so it was a great way to start the race.

Terribly slow for the swim, but I knew that going in. My goal was to be under 15 minutes, so I'll take it. I was able to keep my heart rate steady and didn't feel panicky at all. Just slow. I think I could have been a bit better was was constantly stymied by a woman in front of me who swam zigzag the entire route, trying to course correct. That was frustrating. I bumped into her several times. I wasn't fast enough to get around her for good. The one time I did, she came back and cut in front and back to zigzag. Did some on my back, some breaststroke.

Considering I was taking adult swim lessons June 23rd, this was OK. Obviously lots of room for improvement, so I'm looking forward to that. I'm giving it an average because even though I was slow, I was pleased that I kept it positive, kept my heart rate & breathing under control and finished strong.

Coming out of the water & up onto the beach I passed several people who were walking--I was running. I remember thinking "it's a race!" My partner yelled "HTFU" at me as I went by so that was awesome.

I sort of whiffed my first shot jumping on the pedals. Still Ok, though. No problem getting my tank on over the sports bra I swam in. No other problems, I think I was just a bit slow to make sure I didn't forget anything.

More time on the bike will get me where I want to be. I didn't want to go too hard and not have any left for the run, but I was very conscious that I wanted to finish the bike in under and hour so I'd need to average at least 15.5 mph. About 4 miles in I realized I forgot to put my gloves on--they were still in my phone holder on the stem. I just skipped them at that point. Was please with speeds I was able to get during the race. Made sure to stretch out near the end and that was really helpful in unwinding my legs for the run.

More miles, fast & slow, and interval work will help me get my speed up. More experience running off the bike will give me a better idea how hard I can push it. Overall, though, I was happy with it.

The flying dismount was probably the highlight of the day. Came in at a decent pace, brought my right leg over, balanced on the left pedal, hit the dismount line then jumped off & hit the ground running. The volunteer watching gave me a big " Awesome job." So that felt really good. I was lucky it was a short run to my rack. Quick change to the running shoes, got race belt & hat, and then took a second to think "really, is that it? Do I have everything?" And headed out.

Not much.

Starting the run I heard a voice I didn't know say 'Go Christy!," I gave a wave and then heard "Go BT!" Thank you! That was great!

The run felt pretty good. I found a good song in my head to keep me company during the first mile when it was sucking. I knew if I could keep running to the mile & half part then I would keep running to the finish. Had a bit of a stitch, slowed down a bit then picked up the pace when it went away. Paid a lot of attention to exhaling. with a mile left I picked up the pace because hey, there's only a mile left. I finished really strong, so I was happy about that.

In retrospect, I wish I would have gone harder earlier. But I met my goal for the run split so I really can't complain.

Not much of a warm down. Lots of walking around


Great support from the volunteers who were very energetic & enthusiastic. Looking forward to doing this again next year. Great overall vibe at the race.