Grin

I present to you - me and my goofy grin:

Cheesing on the course

I competed in the Shadow Creek Ranch Triathlon yesterday. It was a nice overcast morning, and I barely noticed the heat until I was finished with the race. The swim and bike went well, but I lost concentration on my run (busy trying to fix my watch) and didn't run at my full potential. I was also really tired and sore from a hard training week as I didn't take much rest or taper for this race. 

Swim (500m open water)

Warm but not too warm. It was a pretty comfortable swim except I was really having trouble swimming straight in this race for some reason. My arms were definitely sore and tired from doing weights the past week. Maybe that's why I couldn't steer properly. That's okay! This isn't my A-race, and I can feel myself getting stronger and faster in the water as the weeks go by. Swim time was 10:27.3. I was 10th coming out of the water.

Bike (16.4 miles)

Wheee! It was a fast course except for three 180 degree turns, and those were all done twice since it was a double loop course. Those turns made the course more technical and forced me to use more energy to accelerate. Got off the bike after 45:30.2, averaging 21.6 mph and finishing with the top bike split in my age group! I know what my strongest leg is! :)

Run (3.23 miles)

How embarrassing of me to lose focus on the run because my watch was malfunctioning. :( I should have just continued to push the pace and run by feeling (which I normally do, until I'm performance/number driven). I ran a 7:14 split for my second mile, seeing that, I thought it was too hard and let doubt shut me down on the last mile despite feeling pretty decent. As motivation to reach the finish line, I coerced myself to try to pass 5 people, then 10, then 15 all in the last mile. I didn't think it was possible to reach 5, but once I did, my confidence was boosted and I brought it home, ending the race in another sprint finish, passing the 13th person right before the line. I definitely paid the price as I thought I was going to die while doubling over and hanging onto an ice tub to stay upright. Run time was 26:34.5, a 8:15/mile pace. :( Going backwards here!

Results

I got 2nd in my age group and am now 2/2 for podiuming this summer! :) I don't think I podiumed at all last summer season. I also got a belt buckle as the award, which is nice. I need to start wearing belts anyways, especially with the way training has been going ;)

Yeehaw! Nothing says I'm Texan like a big belt buckle!

BUT!! My most accomplishing moment of the day was... purchasing a shirt. A really cool shirt because it had green on it. Haha :) The shirt was a side gift for donating to send a blind athlete to London for paratriathlon world championships. He got invited but needed the funds to get there. Supporting him is so much more satisfying than podiuming or winning a race. I'm helping make someone else's dreams and goals happen. I can only hope when my time comes that I will have many more supporters as amazing as you are. :)