Officially finished in 1:37.59, more than twenty minutes faster than my previous effort (it helps that I can run now). It's a lot easier to drop time when you can actually do a section of the TRIathlon. I was not prepared for how much the run would hurt (thankfully, not my leg) after doing exactly ZERO bricks prior to the race. That's lack of training for you...
The race was great fun; all women and a nice atmosphere. Almost 40% had never done a race before. My mentor Julie was also great in helping me prepare and answer really dumb questions. My family (except my middle sister who couldn't make it) drove all the way in from KY and cheered me the whole way!
Because the course for this race was exactly the same as the Philadelphia Sprint Tri, it's really easy to compare results. So here goes:
Swim 800m (same course as before; magically lost 100m)
Time: 14:52
Group Rank: 2nd Overall Rank: 21
Time dropped: 1:20
Wow, when I mentioned before that I was going to actually warm up before the race, I had no idea that it would matter so much. I felt much better than I did in the Philly Tri, and it showed. I was actually battling it out most of the leg with one other girl, but due to very poor visibility, lost her at the end by about 10 seconds. We finished nearly a minute before the rest of the wave. Awesome!
Room for improvement: I'd say train more, but I still find swimming alone so painfully boring I can't seem to do it more than once a week.
T1
Time: 1:45
Group rank: 10
Time dropped: 1:22
Again, running really helps. I also had a little more preparation going into it.
Room for improvement: Keep practicing.
Bike 25K (same course as before, magically gained 1K; who's measuring this thing?)
Time: 52:48 17.6mph avg
GR: 29 OR:146
Time Dropped: 1:22
Well, I'm actually kinda disappointed in this. I switched to clip-in shoes, rode my bike to work every day, rode the course a bunch of times, and had minimal gain. My only thinking is that last time I knew I wasn't going to run, and maybe I went harder then. I didn't have a lot of time to train the past few weeks, but I expected a little more. Maybe next time.
Room for improvement: I'm thinking maybe I should actually take a class or get some coaching. I'm trying to do this all on my own, and I really know nothing about biking. Until I can afford that (and maybe a sweet Orbea bike), keep pushing the ol' Chuddley Cannondale around.
T2
Time: 1:42
GR: 49
Time Dropped: 55sec
I'm kinda surprised I was faster considering I had to change shoes this time. But I guess this is where running helped again.
Room for improvement: Continued practice.
Run
Time:26:50 8:39min/mile pace
GR: 51 OR:260
Time Dropped:15:53
I have to be proud of this. I'd been sidelined from running for over 3 months, and I haven't been able to run more than about 2 miles at a time while I rehab the stress fracture. I was having some aching in the leg again last week after running 8 miles (in three days) and was kinda worried about it flaring back up. The leg was absolutely not a problem in the race. My being out of shape was. I actually had to stop and walk a few times in the first mile. I got my wind back for the rest of the race, and somehow managed a pretty good time! My best ever 5K is 25 minutes, so that ain't bad! I'm pretty sure I could have done sub-24min before I got hurt, so there's hope that I still have a lot of room to improve. Here's to a safe rehab.
Finish 1:37:59 (I saw the clock at the finish, and sprinted to finish sub 1:38)
Overall: 66 of 1163
Group: 15 of 168
me and the hubby after the race
me posing with the bike
me and my mentor Julie
Next up: The
Annapolis Olympic Distance Tri on September 7th. I have got to make myself train harder for the next month. I'm off next week, so I have no excuse not to get out there.
