I am so excited about how well I raced today that I don't even know where to start this blog post. I have had a smile on my face the entire day and I don't think that it is going away anytime soon. I apologize in advance if this post ends up sounding like a bunch of scatter-brained ramblings, but so many story lines went into the race today.
I'm going to kick things off with the fact that I actually made the podium in my division! I placed 3rd out of 7 and this marks only the 2nd podium finish in my triathlon career so far.
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| Top 3 finishers in my division |
It was a REALLY tight race as less than 9 minutes separated 1st from 7th place. Furthermore, if I had raced a similar pace to my first 3 races this year, I would have finished in last place instead of 3rd. I had a lot of things going for me today that contributed to my success.
- The weather was outstanding for racing, from the water temps to the air temp and hazy conditions blocking out the sun
- I was familiar with the course after racing there last year, that familiarity brought me a lot of confidence
- My sister, Melissa, and nephew, Brycen, came to cheer me on. I always race better with a cheering section
- I have managed to lose 18.2 lbs since the Iowa Games Triathlon last month (more on this in a later blog post)
- I was focused on keeping the gap with the overall race leader to a minimum to maximize my Heart of America Triathlon series points and give myself a chance to finish in 1st place for the year (and to earn a spot in the championship race/wave at the Cyman Triathlon next month)
Ok, so now onto my usual recap of the race. The day started off well as I got a great night sleep and jumped out of bed when my alarm went off at 4:30. Everything was ready to go so I got changed, got my breakfast ready and loaded everything in the truck. The trip should have taken about 50 minutes but I was stopped by a train in Ogden, which was followed immediately by a 2nd train (on the other set of tracks) and resulted in a 15 minute delay. This is why I always give myself plenty of time on race morning.
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| Waiting for a train |
After getting parked and finishing breakfast, I got my packet picked up and everything set up in transition with plenty of time to spare. My race number was "1" so I got a lot of comments from volunteers, spectators and other racers. I decided to hop on one of the first shuttle buses over to the beach to give myself time for a warm up swim. After warming up I spent time talking with other racers on the beach and just enjoying the beautiful morning. Once the last shuttle arrived, they got things started pretty quickly. The only part of the race that I didn't enjoy very much was the swim. There were over 80 people in my swim wave and with such a short course across the lake (500 meters) we never got spread out. This resulted in a lot of kicking/hitting/bumping into other swimmers which made it very hard to settle into a grove. My swim time was not great but I did average under 2:30 min/100 yrds.
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| Happy to be out of the water |
T1 is where things started to go very well for me. I managed to get through T1 and out onto the bike in 1:28 which blows away my previous PR. Once on the bike, I was very happy that my back was not bothering me, I was also happy at the 5 mile split when I was averaging 20 mph. That success carried throughout the entire bike as I managed to set another PR pace of 19.3 mph. I beat out my time from Bluff Creek last year (my previous PR) by 18 seconds. This was a HUGE surprise to me because of how little training I have done on the bike this summer. Due to my back injury, I have only been on my bike 5 times in the past month and a half but apparently that had no effect on this race.
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| Heading out on the bike |
My bike split placed me 53/155 which is ridiculously good for me. My good race continued in T2 where I registered a time of 0:44. Not quite as good as the 0:41 at the Iowa Games last month but pretty darn close and put me at 32/155.
Although I love running, it is no secret that I am not very fast. In nearly every race, the lead that I build on the bike quickly disappears on the run. This race was no different but the good news is that unlike the last 2 triathlons, where I had to spend time walking, I managed to keep my legs moving the entire time and I believe that is really what won me the podium spot today.
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| Heading out on the run |
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| Finishing strong |
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| Official results |
As mentioned above, my sister and nephew drove up to watch me race today. It means so much to me when people show an interest in my racing and I am truly lucky to have so many friends and family members who support me on this journey.
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| Brycen and I after the race |
I won't know the final standings for the Heart of America Triathlon Series for a couple of weeks, but I sure feel like I did everything with in my power to earn my spot in the championship wave at the Cyman Triathlon next month. Even if I didn't quite make it, I will be racing no matter what. I have put together a great training plan for the next 5 weeks and hope to make that race the best one of my career so far. For now though, I'm going to spend some time enjoying this one.
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| Proud to wear the #1 |
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The placement "medals" were actually made out of wood
and painted. Very unique and I really liked them. |
Thank you all for reading! Check back over the next month as I prepare to finish off my 2018 season on September 23rd. If you are in the Des Moines area that weekend, please consider coming out to Bondurant to cheer me on. As a little incentive, we will be grilling out back at our house after the race.
