Tri the Parks -- High Falls State Park - TriathlonSprint

I got off to a good start by running and diving behind Jennifer Lesser. Of course, drafting behind her was out of the question. I kept up with her for about 100 yds and then she took off. I felt good on the swim and got into a good rhythm with my breathing. I ran into a couple of green caps in front of me, but other than that, I didn't hit much traffic.

I just need to practice swimming drills to get my time down a little. I know I can swim faster than I have been.

The run up the stairs to transition was crowded with guys. So, that slowed me down some. Plus, I was scared of falling. But my transition time was pretty fast. Just put on my bike shoes & helmet, grabbed by bike, and took off.

Notta. 2nd fastest T1 in AG. 5th Fastest Overall.

I felt a little sluggish during the first 5 miles. My legs were burning a little bit like they weren't warmed up yet. I had a couple of girls pass me on the bike. After mile 6, I started to get into a rhythm and kept up a good cadence. Then around mile 7, I saw Elaine pass by me. I didn't let her get far ahead, though. I kept her within 5-6 bike lengths. Then around mile 9, there were some good hills and I just powered by her and stayed ahead for a while. Then at mile 12, she passed me back. She ended up reaching transition only a few seconds before me. I knew it was all going to come down to the run. Shit! She's a good runner!

I probably should warm up on the bike before the race. It took too long for me to warm up on the course.

The bike course had an up hill going into transition, so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to take my feet out of my bike shoes before the dismount line. But I managed to get them out real fast and coast on top of my shoes into transition. Elaine was right ahead of me, so I ran to my spot, racked my bike, slipped on my shoes, and grabbed my race belt and visor. As I ran to the T2 exit, Elaine got there at the same time and we headed out together. Oh geez, this was going to be interesting.

Notta. Fastest T2 in AG. 2nd fastest Overall.

Well, Elaine and I started out of transition at the same time. As we ran through the grass, she got the lead. I saw Steve on the side lines and he just yelled, "you just gotta run your ass off". I could tell by the look on his face, he knew the race was over. He knows how fast Elaine can run. Then we passed Jeremy, Elaine's husband, and he yelled for her to go. So, I was just thinking, well, we'll see how my legs feel and who knows how Elaine is feeling today. If I can just stay close to her, maybe I'll have a chance at the end since I knew it was uphill to the finish line.
So, as we headed out of the park onto the road, I easily caught up with Elaine on the first hill. As we turned the first corner, we were side by side and started talking. We ended up deciding to run the entire run course together because we knew we could push each other. Plus, we thought it would be a cool finish to cross the line together. So, that's just what we did. We ran the entire run side by side. On the hills, I powered up them ahead of her and let her catch back up each time. There were several hills, so this happened a lot. I passed a lot of people I knew on the run, so I know they were thinking this was going to be a close one when they saw us running next to each other. So, as we turned the last corner to head into the park, I saw Steve. He just about lost it, he jumped up and down, his sunglasses fell off his head, and he started yelling like crazy. I just looked at Elaine and laughed. I said, are you ready? Let's go! And at that, we sped up the hill and raced towards the finish line. I saw Hugh as we headed up to the finish and he was screaming and cheering for me to win. It was fun racing up there together. We both crossed the finish line at the same time. Her sensor must have caught the line just before mine did. She ended up finishing 3 hundredths of a second before me. That's what I call a close race! :) I can't wait to see the picture of us at the finish line. It will pretty much sum up our race season and how closely matched we are. It was a fun race.

Talking with everyone and handing out snickers bars after the race was my warm-down. I've really met some great people at these races.


Tri the parks always puts on great races. Very well organized with plenty of volunteers and water stations.
I will definitely sign up for at least 4 of these next year.
If I calculated it correctly, I placed 3rd over all females in the series rankings! YAY!