Sunday, June 10, 2012

Metroplex Sprint Tri Race Report


Jake was going to be in Vegas and the kids at the lakehouse, so I decided last minute to register for the Metroplex Sprint Tri. I got up at 3:30am so I could leave around 4 for Joe Pool Lake. I got there a little after 5, before transition opened, before the park even opened. The RD was still setting up cones for the run course. I parked, then walked a little ways (maybe a half mile?) to the transition area where I was able to score an end spot. I was intimidated hanging out in transition because there were a lot more nice road bikes and tri bikes than the racks at My First Tri last weekend. I picked up my pink swim cap since they'd run out of my color at packet pick up, then stared down the swim course in an effort to make it shorter walked around a little to calm my nerves. It was a little strange to be completely alone at a race, I've never done that.

My age group was the first wave and waves were only 3 minutes apart. It was windy and the water was rough. I settled into the swim pretty quickly and really felt pretty good. At 400 meters, it was the longest swim I've ever done (including practice). I think I switched to breaststroke twice, just to recover from being kicked. I was actually a little surprised that my swim time was so long/pace slower than last weekend. It felt better! I must have been off course or something.

I ran into T1. I felt like my time there was a little long. At this race we had to wear our race bib on the bike and I fumbled a bit getting my belt on. I liked wearing it just on the run last weekend because I could put on the belt as I was running out of T2 vs having to put it on while standing still at the bike racks. I saw somebody else who wore the belt with the bib tucked under their top during the swim and she just pulled it out as she ran into T1. Seems like a good time saver and I'll try that in the future.

I didn't pass much at all during the bike. I got passed by some really fast women and men who started in waves after me. There was a hill leading up to the dam, which was really windy, and another at the other end of the dam where we turned around to head for home. I got passed just before the turnaround, but I made up my mind to pass her going down the hill. The wind was beating me up and I was working hard to get the speed that I did. I was hoping for faster, though.

I felt like my T2 time was good. I can't think of anything specific I could have done to be faster.

I was maybe a quarter mile into the run when the female overall winner passed me, coming into the finish line. Amazingly fast! Not wearing my Garmin and knowing my pace/distance really bothers me but it's probably for the best. I have a tendency to tell myself I can't run "that fast" or I can walk when I get to "x" distance on the watch. Without it, I just have to keep going. I played mental games with myself and kept thinking that if I walked or slowed down, I'd be giving up my spot in age group placings. I had know idea where I stood in my age group at this point, it was just a game. Everytime I'd hear heavy breathing behind me, I'd pray it was a man so I didn't have to worry about my placing. If it was a woman, I looked at her calf. Nobody in my AG passed me on the run. I got a little mental boost by passing a guy toward the end and it helped when he told me good job. I passed another two guys in the very last tenth or so and sprinted it out to pass a girl who paced just ahead of me for the entire run. She wasn't in my age group, though.

I grabbed a snack and talked to a couple girls from my age group. One was the overall winner who I saw as I started my run (so she actually bumped all of us a place higher since she was no longer part of the AG standings) and another girl who won third in our AG. As we chatted, we put together the standings, and figured out I was second in AG! The overall winner is an Ironman and we talked about big races. I may volunteer for 70.3 in Austin on October 28th. That may be just the inspiration I need to train for one next year.

Swim 400 meters: 10:46 (2:42/100 meters) 3rd of 6 in AG, 61 of 106 overall
T1: 1:39 3rd of 6 in AG
Bike 11 miles: 34:25 (19.2mph) 2nd of 6 in AG, 58 of 106 overall
T2: :35 1st of 6 in AG
Run 2 miles: 18:09 (9:05/mile) 3rd of 6 in AG, 64 of 106 overall

I was 15th of 37 women and 2nd in my age group. Good race!

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