While this is my third year doing triathlon, last Sunday (719/09) was my first Sprint Distance race. I signed up on a whim after finding out that several friends who are new to the sport were doing it. For two of them it was their second race and two of them it was their first. A couple of us went up to Waukegan Saturday night and the other two met up with us the morning of the race. There were no goals for this other than one that a friend gave me: Beat her ex. We've race before and he usually beats me due to a much stronger run. However, that was before Endurance Nation.
Night before we went to Olive Garden for a high class dinner. While in high school I was a cook at one and hadn't been back since. From the bread sticks to the clapping "Happy Birthday" singing, this place was everything I remembered. That night while everyone went to WalMart I put an aero bottle on the front of my bike. I've never used one before but didn't think it would be a big deal for this race. A friend set the alarm for 3:45am and off to bed about 10:30pm
Race Morning
I woke up because there was sunlight coming in from the window and I was wondering why I was so rested and there was no alarm. Turns out it was 5am and the alarm was set wrong so it wasn't going off until Monday morning at 3:45am. Doh! Everyone jumps out of bed and scrambles around the room to quickly get ready. Fortunately we are a pretty organized crew and are out the door within 30min and at the race site by 6:00 with 45 minutes to get to transition and test the water. On the way to the race I realize that I forgot my timing chip and numbers at home and have to make a stop with the Race Director to get a new number.
Pre-Race: I drink an Ensure after waking up and sip on an FRS (first time trying this too) while setting up transition.
Swim: 800yrds
Me: 11:03
Ex: 13:15
The water was CUH-HOLD! There were some who braved it without a wetsuit but I have nothing to prove and prefer the benefits they provide to the swim. I had a hard time settling into a rhythm and was unable to get comfortable out there. Still, this was the 3rd time in open water all year so it's not too bad.
T1:
Me: 3:10
Ex: 4:35
Not my fastest T1 but considering there was a run up the beach, to the far side of transition, and had to strip off the wetsuit it wasn't bad. Felt like I was moving in slow motion and not really into the race.
Bike: 13.2mi
Me: 38:02
Ex: 39:30
The bike has a short jaunt to/from an out and back loop with a completely torn up road. Once on the loop, there is a nice down hill like an entrance to an express way from an overpass. Tried to keep the watts around 230 - 240 but my legs felt flat from a 4 hour bike the day before. I still managed to keep my mph pretty high during the 2 loops but lost a lot on the potholes on the road to/from the main portion of the bike.
T2:
Me: 1:45
Ex: 2:40
This was a race of firsts for me as I slipped my feet out of my shoes and placed them on top before going into transition. This went extremely well and made running with the bike incredibly easy. Still, my head wasn't in the race and I spent too much time screwing around and can't even recall what it was that I was doing.
Run: 4mi
Me: 32:43
Ex: 29:48
Heading out on the run wasn't bad. Not much scenery through out the whole race as it mostly takes place in an industrial park. The first mile my PRE was pretty high but when I checked my pace it was SLOW. 8:45. After the first mile and up a quick hill the pace started to drop and with a lower PRE I was running just over 7 minute miles. Legs were feeling much better and I was cruising, well at least for me. Coming up on the last 1/4 mile my quads started to burn some but I didn't slow down or pause. However, I did note how familiar that feeling had become since joining EN.
Final Times
Me: 1:26:40
Ex: 1:28:53
Turns out he's still a stronger runner but can no longer keep up when all three sports are put together.
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