HolidayMan #2

Matt and I went back and forth whether he and Cade should come to this race with me or not. We had a family party later in the day and the race originally said they wouldn't open transition up until 11:30 and awards weren't until 11. If we had to stay until 11:30 to get my stuff out, we were worried Cade would be a hot mess with his naps or lack there of and we didn't want that with a family event to go to. We made the decision that I would go solo.

This would be my 3rd race this season without my two guys by my side, but I was ok with that. It would have been great to have Matt there, cheering for me, and maybe telling me where #1 was, but we have to do what we have to do.

I drove the hour there listening to a podcast that had nothing to do with triathlon, or competition and I loved it. It was nice to focus on something else and enjoy the day.

Once I parked, I rode my bike to the transition area and needed to check in. The line was incredibly long and I knew this was a first come first serve transition, so I snuck by bike in at the first rack by bike in and out to secure my spot.

Once I got in line it was a ridiculous wait. The girl in front of me was super nice to hold my spot while I went to the porta potty. She then went when I returned. The line to check in was so long, they had to postpone closing transition.

Swim

As I got into the women oly wave to wait, I was trying to eye up potential competition. I never overlook anyone, so I knew anything could happen. As soon as we started, I felt like I had a good start and actually felt like I got away pretty quick. I didn't notice anyone in front of me and was even wondering if I was in front with my swim. I felt so strong and started to wonder what my pace was. I think I lost some focus on the 2nd lap, but thought I was still doing well as I was catching men that started 3 minutes in front. As I got out I had this false hope I was in front. I knew my goal was to be as fast as I could be so I needed to bike strong.

T1

My t1 was faster than last year by like 2 minutes. I even fumbled with my wetsuit and was kind of mad about how it was going, but got out of transition as fast as I could. I positioned my bike at the 1st rack next to bike in and out which was super nice and probably helped my transition.

Bike

I found out quickly the course would not be well marked because I went by the 1st turn and another rider who did the same thing and already turned around towards me flagged me down and told me to turn around, thank goodness. So I made sure to watch the road markings the rest of the way.

I was catching some guys and feeling really good. When I came to a turn where there was a flagger, I had asked how many girls they had seen in front of me and they had said a couple. So I had my reality check that I wasn't first and I had work to do. I passed a girl who I believe was a relay so then I thought ok maybe a couple means I'm in 2nd or the flagger didn't include her. So I was either 2nd or 3rd.

We came to the big hill they added in to the new bike course. They kept warning us to be cautious and slow down because we would go down and right at the bottom make a 180 and come back up. I started to see people coming back at me so I knew it was coming up. I had just passed another girl who was wearing a USA kit on a road bike. So at that point I figured I'm in 2nd and hoped I'd see 1st on this turn around. Just before I got to the hill I saw her coming back at me. As I found the hill it was a lot more of a windy hill than I imagined. It was similar to the Madison course windy hill on a slightly smaller scale. I dropped my gear and just coasted because I didn't know where the bottom would be and knew I'd have to stop and turn quick. Once I was at the bottom I felt like I was about to climb the mountain at Chattanooga, ha. I got up that thing and was so sad that my average mph went from 21.8 to 21.3 but knew I just had to finish strong. Looking at my watts the whole time I thought maybe I was going a little too strong, but then I brushed that thought away and figured, screw it, test yourself, go hard and fast and finish the summer with all I've got. So I did and hoped I didn't slow my run too much.

T2

Coming back to t2, I was still behind #1 and couldn't see her.

Starting the run, I was feeling ok, but felt slow. This run has more hills than you realize and so I trucked up the first hill checked my speed and actually couldn't believe my average was as fast as it was in comparison to how slow I felt. So I started to have a little more hope and relief that I was close to where I wanted to be. Once I started on the run sprinters were there too. I felt pretty good the whole run. I've been thinking back, could I have pushed more on the run? I started to think on the run that my time was pretty good in comparison to my other oly at PP which this course is much harder of a run course so I think I was justifying my effort.

I was approaching the turnaround and started to see #1 on loop 2. I needed to keep pushing but I wasn't sure how far up she was and I couldn't see her ahead of me after I turned around. I told myself to stay patient and keep moving. I came to a turn and thought I saw her, but wasn't sure if it actually was because of the sprinters in the mix. I felt like she wasn't getting closer as I was running. I then came up behind a girl I specifically remember seeing at the start of the swim in an AWA kit and I passed her. I started to think omg, was this actually first and I didn't realize I was so close. So I'm about .5 miles from the finish and start thinking maybe I am in 1st. Looking back what I needed to do was pay attention to the wrist because in this race they do bracelets at the turn around. So I should have looked at the girl I thought was in first in the first place to see if she had a bracelet. Then check the AWA girl and realize she was on her first loop when I passed her on my 2nd and she didn't have a bracelet. But instead I started having wishful thinking that the girl I was originally chasing was in the sprint. I think I finished well, I don't think I settled in or anything but man I wish I had pushed harder because as I was coming in to the finish I saw the girl I was chasing and then thought check if she has a bracelet. And she did. After the race pictures came out, my heart sunk a bit more.

This is #1 coming in to the finish area. See that person in the distance behind her? Yea... that's me... and I didn't even realize she was that close...

So I went and congratulated her and she told me she kept looking behind her for me because she knew I was running faster than she was. I was glad to realize she was 45 so I could at least get a Nationals slot for next year.

Besides losing 1st by 12 seconds, there are lots of positives with this race. I beat 3rd by 6 minutes, I was 5th overall within the men even; I had faster transitions than last year; my bike was probably as strong as its ever been and the fastest overall female bike split; my run was the 2nd fastest female run as well (I think 1st was faster than me by 1 minute). And I should also get a national's invite for next year which is exciting to have something to work for. My goal was to beat last year's time by 10 minutes and I ended up improving by 15 minutes instead. This was the best feeling to see how far I have come since just last year after having Cade.

What I learned: if I can really focus on swimming and get faster/swim straighter and more efficiently, I have a lot of potential. 1st place had the overall fastest swim which was 5 minutes faster than mine :/

Even if I was 1 minute faster with the swim, I could have caught her before the finish line.

I can't believe we are at the very end of July :( I also cant believe I raced 6 races this summer. It was a good summer of racing and I'm sad to see it come to an end, but looking forward to some rest and focus on other things in life.

One day I'll get that overall win ;)