Spring Fever Triathlon - Race report!

I've got the first race of the season under my belt! A year later? Still slow! ;p

I did the Spring Fever Triathlon, which was in Claremore, located about 50 minutes away from my parents house, which meant any EARLY morning! Why can't transition areas open at 9? Well, I got up, grabbed some food, put on my clothes and we were out the door. My parents are AMAZING and came with to cheer me on! We got there really early and it took me about 5 minutes to set up my transition area, so there was a lot of waiting. I guess a lot has changed in the last year. The problem with TA was that they decided to use PVC pipes. Well, after about 10 bikes got on, they started to lean completely over. I actually had to move my area because it was being crowded by bent over pipe!

I was very nervous for the race. Eager to get started, but scared too! Because it was a pool swim, we each started separately, and I was sixth in the water! That was a bit intimidating. My thoughts on a pool swim? I'm NOT a fan! While it's nice that I can see where I'm going, and theoretically I'm more comfortable in the pool, I didn't like having someone at my feet the whole time! I couldn't calm my breathing down because I felt like I had to speed because I always had a guy on my ankles. Therefore, the swim was ROUGH. I couldn't feel comfortable or get into a rhythm, so I felt like I wasn't getting enough breath. Anyway, I finished the 400m in 9:20. 48th in speed.

T1 was uneventful. I didn't get my feet dry, so my toe went numb during the ride from being wet! Boo! My time wasn't stellar either: 3:32, 82nd.

The 12-mile bike wasn't too terribly bad. It starts off on this huge, fairly steep hill, which was a bummer! It flattened out for a few miles before hitting us with a few good hills. Then, of course, we turned around and did the hills again! I'd say the course was "somewhat hilly, somewhat challenging," if I were rating it. I've had worse bike legs, so I won't complain. I'm still falling toward the end of the pack in my bike times. I came in 113 of 120 women. My bike time was 1:03:40, or 11.3 pace.

T2 also was fairly uneventful. First time I had to change shoes in T2! That went alright. I'd say my transition times were slow, but it's not a huge deal. It's not something I really practiced. T2: 2:15, 77th

The run! Oh my gosh, it was tough! My calves were incredibly tight and I just couldn't get into any kind of stride. (I think there's more brick workouts in my future!) Then, of course, they throw in a half-mile INCREDIBLY steep hill. Yeah, thanks! I'd promised myself I wouldn't stop and walk. I'd never finished a tri without some walking, so I was determined to change that this time! It was only a 2-miler anyway! I actually think I could have had a better time had I stopped, walked and stretched my legs out a bit at the beginning of the run, but I didn't! I ran the whole thing! My time, again, wasn't stellar, but I thought I did OK. I passed a person or two...I ran it in 24:50, or a 12:25 pace. And it honestly seemed slower to me! Came in 90th.

It sounds like I was kind of down. I think I had the wrong attitude during the race, which led to me struggling with the semi-rough terrain the race provided instead of taking it head on! I'm going to learn from that and enjoy the next race more, while, hopefully, pushing myself harder the next time. It was good first race to do and I think I learned a lot about how I need to change my training for the next one!

I finished in 1:43:34! I was 96th of all women. And 16th of 18 in my age group (25-29, even though I'm only 24!).

What's next? 10k in a marathon relay in TWO WEEKS!