Even with the disappointment, I got into my truck just after 5:00 am this morning and headed for Don Williams park in the pouring rain. I arrived at the race plenty early to pick up my packet and get transition setup. It sure felt strange only setting up for the swim and bike. After racing here the past 2 years, I am very familiar with the course and have had a lot of success. In fact, last year I finished on the podium in 3rd place in Clydesdale division for the sprint triathlon.
The swim start is across the lake from transition so we have to ride on buses to get there. After a long wait and a short delay for them to finish setting up the swim course (they were running behind due to thunderstorms earlier) we got underway. The swim was 500 meters straight across the lake. I swam well but felt like I could have done better but my swim wave was pretty crowded. After exiting the swim, there is about 150 yard run uphill to transition. I finished the swim in 11:29 (2:06/100 average) which was better then each of the past 2 years on this course.
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| Heading into T1 |
I made it through T1 in 2:05 and headed out onto the bike course. The 15 mile bike course heads out of the park and straight north for 7 miles before turning around and heading back. The winds were fairly light, about 10 mph, and with a tail wind on the way out I kept a pace well over 20 mph. With wet roads, I was a lot more cautious then usual but I still ended up crushing the bike course. I finished with a time of 44:19 (20.3 mph average), earning myself a 1st place finish. My official time was 57:54 and I finished more than a minute faster then the 2nd place overall finisher.
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| Receiving my gold medal and prize |
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| Super proud of myself |
I'm not a very competitive person, and for me, racing has never been about beating anyone else. It is about improving myself and beating yesterday. Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have ever believed that some day I would be the overall winner of a race. Today was a very special day for me as I was handed a tough situation and found a way to make the best of it. I have learned a lot in the last 6 years of racing, but I think the 2 most valuable lessons have been:
- I can only control so much, and most things are out of my control (weather, injuries, etc.)
- Being able to make adjustments to what success looks like.
It may never happen again, but today I won a race!
As icing on the cake, I also had a huge cheering section today. My sister, Melissa, and her 3 kids came to watch me race, as did my mom and dad. I've said it before and it still rings true today, I always seem to race better with a cheering section.
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| I think someone asked us to point to the sky... |
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| Proud parents |
Bluff Creek was officially my last multisport race of the 2019 season. What an amazing season it has been! While I'm still disappointed that I didn't get the chance to improve on my Olympic distance PR, I sure am happy with how this race went.
I have officially been pain free in my foot for 5 full days and am looking forward to building my miles back up. I only have 1 race remaining for the year, but it is sort of a big one. The Des Moines Marathon is 9 weeks away and I'm looking forward to checking off another item from both my 2019 goals and my bucket list. Wish me luck over the next 9 weeks that I can stay healthy and injury free!
As a bonus side note, I thought that I would mention that I have decided to join My Team Triumph as a volunteer, fundraiser, and angel. I will not be racing with them this year, but am looking forward to getting more involved in 2020. Although I have noticed them at races before, they had a HUGE presence at the Door County Triathlon and made a large impression on me. I have been looking for ways to make my training and racing mean more and have a larger impact on people and I think My Team Triumph is the perfect fit for me.
