If you read my last race report you may wonder, WHAT THE H**L ARE YOU THINKING!? I’m sure that’s what my coach thought, for more reasons than one. If you haven’t read it, this is the 3rd week in a row of racing which immediately began after I went and had a nerve fried off in my C3, C4, and C5. The races prior weren’t ideal, and to make things a little more unique, I was racing this alone. No one from my usual crew was going, but the best racing partner ever was joining me. My son.
Columbia Sprint Tri is a race I LOVE if it’s not raining. The swim is long course in the Blatt PE center, and the bike is 3 loops of 3.3 miles, with the finishing run about 2.8 miles of rollers and some stairs. I roll up race morning and while unloading the car my son asks if he’s racing too, this was a huge disappointment for him when he found out he wasn’t. I’d forgotten IMFL was the last race we attended and they had the kids race prior. I tried to get everything setup w/o any drama, but managed to knock over some chic’s bike (disc wheel and all). Note to yourself, if you have FLAT aerobars DON’T RACK YOUR BIKE ON YOUR BARS. I did find her and tell her I knocked it down. My counterpart at work, Kelly Danias, was racing Addison over to Alex, a friend and his old babysitter who was watching her dad race, and tried to get my stuff together.
While the swim was starting I found a corner, stretched as much as possible, tried to get my mind in order and say hello to others. I was concerned, but knew worst case scenario I’d walk that darn run. I was out here to put my worries of the week away, I was out here b/c I could be, and I was out here b/c this is what I love to do and noone could take that away from me. The swim didn’t produce the results I’d hope that it would, 20 seconds slower than the week before. The traffic is less on the swim which may have slowed my effort a little. The run to transition took almost 2 minutes, the good news was I wasn’t feeling any twinges.
I hit the bike and knew from the week before that I could kill this bike if I did it right. No rain meant I would stay aero, hug corners, and bomb those downhills. I did just that. I may have scared a person or two, okay maybe more but I did yell “on your left” everytime I passed. I was on a mission. I believe the avg. for this race was a little under 20 mph which I was okay with b/c of the hills. I was excited, and nervous all at the same time b/c now came the run.
The run starts on a hill which means I needed to take it super easy small quick steps and get a feel for how the legs would react. The bonus was my son and Alex were right there cheering me on, even if he did diss me and not high five me.
The good news was I soon realized that if I kept a really quick cadence similar to a spin on the bike, my leg would be okay. So I was fine unless I tried to put power into my run. I sounded like a mack truck, my breathing labored (as usual), my feet smacking, and every part of that painful (sprint painful) run I thoroughly enjoyed and APPRECIATED. I’d had a new perspective since the week prior:
1. It was MUCH easier to embrace the pain of a sprint rather than walk during a sprint.
2. I DON’T LIKE to be passed on the run. Seriously.
I finished faster than I thought I would, had my son at the finish, and took 9th female overall. I got to hang with friends I’d not seen in a while, and just enjoy the day. For the record, Phil North, you are a winner in my book!
I’m more than appreciative to my team of supporters this season! Trisports.com, you always help me find the best swim bike run deals! Atlanta Bread Company, your food is the bomb! Supercuts, you can give me a wash, blowout, and treatment any day. SkylineNW, you supply me with the best Barracuda goggles that a girl could ask for. Powerbar, you constantly give me the Power to Push …..LITERALLY and his name is Addison! Nuun’s, can’t do a weekday workout with your fizzy little drop of goodness or the new All Day version.
If anyone ever needs a discount to www.trisports.com (20% off), just message me at nrluvs2dogs@yahoo.com and if you’d ever like to try something from any of the other places just message me as well. I’m known for always carrying great freebies around in my car/office:).
