Swim went well overall. I wanted to start in front, but ended up 1 'row' back by the time I got into place. That was ok, it seemed like some of the front row took off, so they were out of the way quickly. Pushed hard till the first buoy or so and tried to settle in. Ended up right next to Rebecca by the halfway point and kept pace with her since I knew she was a strong swimmer. We weren't drafting, but more like sticking to the same path. Felt good most of the swim, but decided I like longer swims 2/3 of the way. Swimming fast isn't as much fun as it used to be! I'm fairly happy with my pace, but it was about :02/yard slower than I'd planned. I'm glad I was that close though. This was my 3rd fastest swim pace since I started tri's so I feel pretty good about the swim. Someone told me I was 9th female out of the water- cool!

Start in the front row regardless. Work on getting closer to my T-pace during races.

Pretty good transition for me. It's my fastest by over 1:00 when wearing a wetsuit, so I'm hoping this will be a new benchmark when wetsuits are involved. I realize it all depends on how transition is set up though.

nothing really

Started off a little slower on the bike than I'd wanted. It took me about 1-2 miles to get my legs feeling good..they were kinda jelly-like at first. In a sprint, there's not much time to waste. Started feeling good inside of mile 2...kept a great pace until the first hill at mile 4 or so. The next 5-6 miles felt good and I was happy with my pace except the hills slowed me down some. I felt like my pace was really inconsistent..anywhere from 15-24/mph. I wanted to hold a higher pace and I didn't like bouncing around so much. Regardless, I just tried to keep my pace where I wanted it on the flats and downhills. Didn't get passed by many girls..and I don't think any were in my AG, so I felt good about that. In the end, my pace was a bit slower than my goal pace, but I didn't think the course would be so hilly either. This was also my 2nd best race pace on the bike..about .09/mph off my best.

Push harder on the flats and downhills.

Fastest T2 ever...by 1 second. I knew I was towards the front of my AG, even though there were only 7 of us. So I was trying to hustle. Took a few extra seconds b/c the bike racked next to me was totally crooked and taking over my spot. Straightened her bike, racked mine and kept going. Ran out with race belt in hand to start the run. Volunteer yelled that I was the 9th female to start the run. That was cool, I guess I've never heard that before.

Maybe it's time to a flying dismount..not sure I'm ready to risk busting by butt yet.

This is my limiter. It's nothing new to me, I've always known running is the most difficult for me. The first mile was pretty hard for me. I felt like I was having a heart attack and couldn't get my breathing in check. I kept pushing and finally hit mile 1- I felt like I had been running forever already! My split was good though, so I didn't think the marker was wrong. I kept pushing it but tried to back off a bit to get my rhythm at the first big hill I decided to walk- I wasn't thrilled, but I needed it. Kept the walk as brief as possible and started running again. Course was a loop, so I started to see people I knew by about now. I felt ok, but this run was HARD for me. I more or less suck at hills and these were fairly steep. Made it to the turnaround and tried to keep positive and not let myself think about how much I was suffering! I reminded myself I only had a short time left. Walked up another steep hill between 2-3 and turned back onto the gravel. By now, I could see the finish on the other side of the lake, so I just gave it what I had left. Finally started to hear Jamie's cowbell and people yelling for me(I don't know how they saw me that far off..but whatever!). Next thing I hear is Kirk yelling to Heather that she can catch up to me, and someone else telling me to sprint!! I was laughing and sprinting at the same time. Ran up a short hill through the finish chute. Definitely a hard run for me...pace and course. Hills were tough and pace was faster than last years race pace. Now that I look back, this was my fastest 5K pace at the end of a sprint by about 20 seconds. I'm pumped that I've made progress, but I've got a lot of work to do on the run. The top 3 run times in my AG were :21-:24..so I'm obviously loosing a lot of ground on the run.

Keep working on my run in general. Focus on my form when I'm feeling tired at the end of a race. Improve on hills.

Sat down with Heather and talked about the race. Waled over to the finish and cheered for the rest of the club members.


Hills!


This was a good race. It was my first in the Tri the Parks series, and I'd do another on for sure. Although the course was challenging, it was a great course to test out the early season fitness level.