Hartsville International - TriathlonOlympic

I found my arch rival at the start (who turned out to be the only other female in my age group to race) and decided to draft off her because she has beaten me everytime in the water previously. But I kept swimming up on her. I don't know if it was a ploy to make me pass. If it was, it worked cuz I went on around her. Caught the men at the turn bouy (of course!) and I managed to slip in and out of traffic easily. But this was a pretty small race so there weren't that many folks out there. Swam a direct line to the next turn buoy and I felt awesome! Everything was clicking! Made the last turn and there was the sun. I decided to put my head down and go. I couldn't see anybody, but the water honestly was the colour of coffee so visibility was quite poor. I can't see in front of my because of the sun when I tried to sneak peeks but I did notice a large power tower when I breathed right and I was awfully close to it. So I took a second to sit up and de-fog my goggles and I looked left and saw the buoys and everyone else. I must have swam about 100 yards off-course. I still felt good and didn't panic because I have a lot of confidence in my bike. So I was very surprised to see that I beat my rival out of the water.

Sight more often on the return because of the glare. Or maybe sight smarter by taking more time with my head up until I saw the buoys.

I had trouble getting clipped in and I saw my rival pass me as she did her perfect flying mount.

Practice a flying mount. Not be such a klutz!

This is where I put heart and soul into it. The bike is my last chance to put distance between me and my rival. I passed her, she passed me, I passed her, she passed, me, I passed her, she passed me. It was like this for 24 miles. When my legs started screaming, I would back off and recover. Unfortunately, I lost one of my gels that I had duct-taped to my bike. So I only gelled once when I normally take two during a ride this long and hard. I also was so busy racing, that I didn't take the time to sit-up and dump my extra bottle into my aerobottle after I drank it dry. I don't know if this effected my performance or not. I felt strong and even though this is one of my slower bike splits, this was a tough course! ANyway, at mile 24, my rival passed my yet again. We made a turn and she put the hammer down. I mean it was like she was rocket-propelled. That was the hardest thing for me to take. Every fiber of my body wanted to catch, pass and destroy! But there is still a very hot and rolling 10k. And my hip has been giving me fits during the week. And a little voice in my head told me I probably wouldn't have caught her anyway. I'd only end up frying my legs.

Drink more. Get a bento box to stash food better.

Nothing out of the ordinary in T2.

Nothing

On paper, this time may not look good. But to me, this was my best oly run split ever! So I am very happy with my time. I even walked at mile 3 to drink some gatorade. Every aid station I took water and splashed it on myself to keep cool. My coach shouted pointers at me throught the course which helped a bunch. At mile 4, I my hip flexor started talking to me. It wasn't exactly pain, but it was definitely not happy. But there was no way I was going to pull up with 2.2 to go. I even managed to sprint the finishing line!

Faster leg turnover and use my arms more.

Tried to run a mile cool down, but I was hobbling bad so I bagged that. Stretched and put an icy bottle of water on my hip.


I am pleased with my fitness state. I think the only thing that might have messed with me was my hip flexor. Although it is hard for be to believe I could have run this faster.


This was a very hard course. And I am pleased with my performance. I wish my hip wasn't hurt. But other than that, I feel like this race served its purpose. It was a nice confidence booster for the HIM coming up in three weeks.