EnduraSport Half - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I had taken a more aggressive spot in the pack than I usually would. With <90 people racing, I figured it would thin out fairly quickly on the swim and I was hoping to find a good pair of feet to draft off of. Well, turns out this was a bad idea. Were we playing water polo or doing a tri? I was taking blows left and right! Took an arm on my head, a foot in my chest, hands scrabbling all over. For the entire swim I kept running into the same people – they guy who was zig-zagging all over and kept cutting me off, the girl who couldn’t sight and kept slamming into my side. After what seemed like too long I was finally back at the shore and running up to T1. Next time, watch out people, I’ll be hitting back!


Not take 6 months off? And fight back. Maybe take a water polo class?

Took my time in T1 to make sure I grabbed everything. Probably took a bit more time than necessary, but no biggie.

Tri shoes and flying mount?

Then I was headed out of the marina and up to the main road for the 3 loops of the course. I had planned to take the first loop at a slightly conservative pace since I hadn’t previewed the course. Race reports from last year had indicated that the bike was “hilly” and challenging, so I thought I might be in for a long day having trained on fairly flat roads. As it turned out, the short pitch leaving the part was the steepest section, and I doubt it was no more than 8% for <0.2 miles. As I got further around the first loop I began to realize that “hilly” meant not flat. There was some climbing, but most was 3-5%, with one or two sections at maybe 6%. It was so mild that I rode almost the entire first loop and most of the second and third loops in my big ring. And I always ride the small ring in training!!

Heading out for the second loop the weather was still cooperating. There had been a couple showers during the first loop, but just enough to get the road wet and spots on my glasses. About a quarter of the way into the second loop I began to get lapped by the fast dudes. Dang! They were really booking! But really, would it kill them to pass me with more than 3” between our handlebars? Or say “left”?

There were a bunch of guys that I saw a lot of. They would pass me on the flatter sections, then I would drop them as I flew up the hills. I’ve never been great at hills, but I guess coming from CA I’ve dealt with steeper, longer, tougher climbs than what tends to be out here? I dunno, I found it odd that I kept zipping past these guys, dropping them with complete ease. But it was a nice confidence booster!

Ran into a couple of people who were either just rude or didn’t have their heads screwed on correctly. Had a guy pass on my left, then spit right. Ewwww!! Another came zipping past as we were starting up a “hill”, then he coasts, then drops his speed to much slower than I am and blocking my path. Seriously? You come zipping past me to go slow and block me? Not to mention these guys that went sloooow on the hill would get all bunched together clogging it up, forcing me waaay out into traffic just so I could ride my own race. Grrrr… And to the one guy I saw repeatedly sucking peoples wheels… watch out, one day I will be lurking on a race course with a bundle of sticks looking for you drafters!!

Coming into T2 I knew that my bike time was about what I had predicted. The hills hadn’t been anywhere near as bad as I had been lead to believe, but I started to slow a bit on the last lap.

Not take 6 months off? Not sure what I'd do about the obnoxious guys that sometimes were blocking me.

I felt like I probably could have gone faster, but it was <1 min and the 12th fastest T2.

Nothing.

Quick T2, and I was off charging up the paved trail. Running along a path lined with trees and shrubs it seemed more humid than on the bike. I quickly began to heat up and was wonder why I was wearing a hat when it was far from sunny out. But then around 3 miles into the run, the rain finally arrived. A nice, light, refreshing rain. Aaaaahhh.

The run was a double out and back, so I would be able to check out who was ahead of me and track my progress as I tried to gain some ground on them. At the first turn around I noted 3 people who might be in my AG ahead of me. The first was a good 3+ miles ahead – not likely I’d catch her. The next was about 2 miles ahead – maaaybe, and the third was a mere 400 yards up. I spent the entire run gradually picking up the pace, to the point where I was blasting past the runners from the olympic distance race! Headed out for the second half of the run with ~56 minutes for the first half. Hmmm… could I get a new PR? By the time I hit the turn around at the far end I had passed one girl in my AG and she was more than 400 yards back and fading while I continued to pick it up. Head back for the final stretch the sky opened up and it began to DUMP on us. And I was loving it! It was absolutely pouring rain and I was barreling up the road past people with a giant smile on my face! All those people who don’t like running in the rain must have thought I was absolutely nuts! Pushed it hard to the end and crossed the line in 5:45:49.

I probably could have started pushing a bit harder earlier. But I'm happy considering this was fast than the half marathon I ran last May.

Stood around in the pouring rain for 45 minutes eating pizza and cookies while waiting for the award ceremony. Since the top person in my AG got in the top 3 females, we all got bumped up, so I got 3rd in my AG.


Lack of training... duh! If I had trained and not slacked off, I think I could do <5:30 on that course. Too bad I won't be back next year.


Interestingly, I just took another look at the results... it looks like my AG was the most competetive. All 5 of us finished under 6:00. The only AG that was faster was F20-24, which only had one person who took the overall female win finishing under 5:00. Even the AGs 30-34 and 35-39 were slower/less competetive! Sheesh!