Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon - Triathlon

Overall a good swim. Closest gal to me on the swim was 3:30 behind me. I started at the back of the pack because I didn't want to get in the water, but I quickly moved through the crowd (never getting hit or hitting anyone) and passed them all up.

In my defense it is a LONG run to transition. Last year my T1 was 4 minutes. This year, I had to put on pants, a jacket, and a hat under my helmet. Hey, it was really cold!

New course from last year. Less terrifying in that there was less cracks to dodge. I was cold on the bike, and my hands were frozen. I rode as hard as I could. This is a hilly course. Seeing how I only rode 8 total hours in September and I didn't do hill training, I'll take a 17.3 mph average and 2nd in my AG on the bike. Last year I did around a 16 mph average, and the course wasn't any harder.

While this transition looks slow, I had the same time as most of the competitors. The gal who was in 1st did it in 2:18.

Ah yes, the run. Where I lose all my time. At least in a sprint it isn't as demoralizing as it is in an Ironman! Ha!

1st on the swim, 2nd on the bike, 8th on the run. Yep.

I just ran, with my goal being to push it, and not breathe. No breathing in sprints is my motto. This course is hilly. VERY HILLY. Luckily I run hills, kind of, but not hills like this.

Now, it didn't help that I had to pee. AND I screwed up the multisport on my Garmin (as Jonny said later, "Karen, you do know that even people who are IQ challenged can work the multisport.") so I had no clue what was time was. I would look down and see my pace (which always seemed to be a 11 mm) and then my HR (which I tried to ignore as I was 175+ the whole time). Basically I was running blind.

After 2 miles I decided I had to stop to pee. Which I hated doing in a sprint, and I really thought hard about it. I was only allowed to stop if the port-o-john was free. I also figured that my pace was so slow, there was no way I was placing in my AG, so I might as well pee.

After I peed I felt MUCH BETTER. Pretty sure I picked up the pace after that.

Finished the run, running fast and hard.

Hung out and chilled with my Triple Threat team members. Went to eat at Gloria's after I got my award for 3rd.


Overall it is a good race. I think the bike and run courses this year were better. Still a very hilly race though. The shirts were nice. The food after the race was only one option, a sandwich. Being vegetarian I couldn't eat it, so there was nothing for me. Seeing how this isn't a cheap sprint ($125), they could get pizza for the racers. I'll probably go back to race this course again. I seem to have a lot of luck placing in my AG on this one!