Swim
Comments: Confession time: I really haven't been swimming as much as I should, and I definitely haven't been swimming more than 200 meters in a row. Oops! Got in the river, which felt way colder than 82 degrees. Had planned to get further into the river where the current was stronger, but that didn't happen. As we hit 15 seconds before the wave start, the woman in front of me started having a panic attack. I really hope she made it through ok! Since it was straight downstream, I mostly just breathed to the right so that I could site off the bank. That worked really well. It seemed to take forever to get through the first 250 meters, but went much faster after that. Just focused on moving, keeping my strokes long, and making sure to get a lot of air. Transition 1
Comments: Decided to take my time with transitions. I think it shows, but I didn't want to forget anything and wanted to keep my heart rate down. Bike
Comments: Felt a lot faster than I apparently was. My bike computer has me with an average MPH of 15.4. Not sure what happened there. I assume it's where the timing mats are. Felt really good through most of the ride. As usual, I had some issues with the hill. Ended up walking 0.25 miles up the biggest. I was having issues unclipping my shoes, so I didn't want to take the chance that I would fall over. Decided to just walk. Kristin passed me in here and I yelled "Go Kristen!". Got yelled at by a homeowner who was annoyed that we were "hooting and hollering so his wife couldn't sleep in!" And stay out of his driveway. Good thing I was on the public street Whatevs, crazy dude. Is it wrong that I yelled when I went past on my way down? Because I did. Felt better once I turned around and decided to eat some food. Felt way worse when I figured out what the awful smells were at a few points on the race. Yum, dead dear. I momentarily pondered the crazy people who wait to smell the corpse flower (titan arum). Oh look, finally back at the park!! Love the last turn to go back down to the race site. What would you do differently?: Bike more. Get used to the compact double crank. I miss my triple on these big hills sometimes! Transition 2
Comments: Definitely wasn't thinking straight coming in to this one. Sat down to get my bearings and keep everything together. Got my feet out going around the corner, but had a tough time getting my left foot out of the shoe. Left it on, but then it fell off as I was running, so I had to go back. Comedy gold for the spectators! Run
Comments: Running is always hard for me. I was cramping a lot at the start of the run, so I was alternating run/walk intervals throughout. Glad to have a watch because I pushed myself more than I would have otherwise (walk breaks shorter and longer running). Honestly, the time is only 3 minutes slower than the stand alone 5k I did on Monday, so that's pretty good! What would you do differently?: Just keep running...just keep running Post race
Warm down: Walked around, saw Kristin, went to transition to get my coconut water. Walked with K to the bathroom and babysat her bike so she could go. Then I changed and went back to transition to pack up and meet my family for breakfast. Event comments: Still like this race, although not the organization. Pretty good performance for my first tri back! Last updated: 2013-06-21 12:00 AM
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United States
Richmond Multisports
76F / 24C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 343/349
Age Group = F30-34
Age Group Rank = 18/18
Woke up to my FitBit Flex alarm, not the phone alarm that should have gone off 5 minutes earlier. Laid in bed and considered just sleeping all morning, but decided to get up and go. Changed, made toast with speculoos butter and honey, and drove to the race site.
I was the first person on my rack (which was by the aisle!), so I got an awesome spot for my bike. Set up transition and went to get my cap/shirt. Talked to the same woman from the day before who was supposed to hold a shirt, and she had no idea what I was talking about. Of course. Managed to get a shirt anyway, then walked around transition to get a chip. Met up with Kristen and chatted a lot before the race. I checked out her new bike, she looked at mine. Agonized over my transition setup. At the last minute, decided I might want food on the bike, so I threw on the bento box and put honey stinger chews in it.
ETA: I forgot to mention Chair Man. Seriously, a dude with a chair parked smack dab in the middle of two bike racks. Not only was he using it to set up, but he had all his stuff laid out on it. I feel so sorry for all the people around him I have to believe that the USAT officials pulled it out or something. Sadly, we may never know what happened to Chair Man. Perhaps he will reappear at a tri near you!
Marched at least 1/2 mile on the run course to the swim start. I was glad I took flip flops! There was a bin for them at the start.
Had a Gu, finished my water, and seriously considered not doing it at all. Too late! Let's line up for the start.