A week later, and a couple more workouts completed I had yet another race on my calendar. Again, Sarah and I had TNTers doing this race as their first tri ever. I still wasn’t feeling 100% but I was on the mend, which was a nice feeling. Clemson Tri brings out the best and fastest triathletes around. It seems every year the competition at this race gets more and more fierce. This year was no exception.
I was lucky to have my uncle featuring his huge jumbo tv (RS LED Group LLC) at the race b/c that meant that Britain could watch Addison for me again. She’s such a huge help. While Britain watched AJ I got Christie set up in her area in transition. Megan showed up late and right on queueJ and it was time to help her out. I got to see past TNTers still keeping up w/the sport which is so cool to see. The only problem was w/all this helping other people out and having to pee, I wasn’t able to get a warmup or stretching in. The good thing is I was able to find my crew, b/c I’m truly lost w/o them. Forrest, Regina, Susan, and Jeff I heart you all. You guys help me stay normal, not get too caught up in competition, and remember to have fun. You are my calm before the storm for sure.
After discussion on whether the course looked short or long it was time for us to all head out in the water for the start. Christie and Megan both registered Age Group so they were actually w/Susan and I when we started. I secretly panicked these two girls would catch me. They are fierce competitors; they have it in them to really rock the tri world. I have what Sarah calls meanness though, and maybe a little more experienceJ. The swim was noneventful, I was able to draft a little, and just focus on my swim. This swim was a little more painful than the last one as I stepped up my effort a little bit after noticing last weeks was more aerobic than it should be. I came out of the water a full minute faster than last week, but I know it was b/c the course was short. 15 mins. 36 seconds.
T1 didn’t go smoothly at all, I fumbled a little w/getting the wetsuit off and getting my shoes on. Very frustrating, I’m normally pretty fast. Once I got out on the bike, I thought I could really make up some time. I’d messed up my watch timing so I had virtually no computer on bike. I generally rely pretty heavily on my computer for HR and for cadence, I tried to put it out of my mind but afterwards it was clear I didn’t do a good job of that. I knew this course and knew where the hills and descents were so I tried to use that to my advantage as much as possible. Forrest normally passes me in around the same area every year, but he blew by me in what seemed like the 1st mile. He was on fire. I tried to keep up only to be left in the dust. I finished the bike not really having a clue as to where I was time wise and eager to try and make up what I probably lost. My bike was 33 mins. 24 seconds.
The first mile of the run is great, you are downhill and even though it hurts it doesn’t completely suck like the 2nd mile. The 2nd mile is what I call the hill of hell. My car doesn’t like driving up this hill so I’m not quite sure why I do a race that you have to run up it. I managed not to completely die once I hit the hill and get off road. I wanted to pass people, but I didn’t want to hurt myself twisting an ankle so I opted to just draft for a few instead. Once I was able to pass it was now time to go down that same hill, I was surprised to see Trent and Christie so soon. They weren’t but a mile behind me. The last mile I was starting to feel bad. I’d been pushing extra hard and once I hit another incline I had to stop and walk. Some guys that’d been running w/me tried to get me to keep on but I needed a good 8 seconds to get my h/r down. I started back up knowing I’d made the right decision to walk. I was able to maintain my same speed all the way up the rest the hill and to the finish. I was happy to see that my run was 22:30 which is right around where it should be.
My overall time was almost 2 mins. slower than my PR here, but I was happy w/this race. I was happy w/what I put out vs. what I’d really trained to do. I was 19th overall and 3rd in my age group. The junior elite team came out and put a hurting on us old folks. I don’t think I’ve ever raced w/juniors of that caliber, and it was AMAZING!
Trent and Sommer had PR’s that day, Megan and Christie both completed their first tri, Forrest PR’d and placed, and Christie even placed in her age group! Sarah didn’t race, but she did get her concealed weapons permit that day so wohoo sarah! Just don’t make her madJ.
