Ugh

I know, I know. I haven't posted in forever and a day. It has been a combo of too much work and a fast, furious obsession with a vampire/werewolf book (really written for teenagers - hey, I never grew up!). Work is still busy, but I'll throw a quick post up.

I raced my last triathlon of the season last weekend. I did the Lorain sprint triathlon. As an aside, I think it is weird that I went from Ironman last year to doing two sprints and one Olympic (unintentional duathlon on that one to boot). I certainly am trained to go further, but it was kind of nice trying to be a speedster for a change. So, back to my quick report.

I showed up so early that there was only one other bike on the racks. We could rack anywhere (no sectioning for sprint or olympic), so I racked right near the bike exit/entrance. I'm no fool. : ) My stomach was off, but I just prayed I could hold it together for 1.25-1.5 hours. Ran into many of my friends including TriSara, Jodi and my gal Hallie who talked me into this race (said I'd never do it again after 3 years ago's swim - at least I didn't do the poorly marked Olympic distance this time).

After much waiting around, we finally got to start the race. It was calm in front of the breakwall, but unfortunately we had to swim outside the breakwall. I actually did very well. No panicking when the choppy waves or other participants socked me in the face. No wetsuit. I even went faster than the people who were panicking for a change. I made it through the 400 meters in about 10:40 (not stellar, but not bad given the waves). The run up the beach feels long, but before I knew it, I was in transition. Hallie came in like 10 seconds behind me (she was racked next to me).

I told her to catch me and she said she planned to do it on the run. That lit a fire under me. As the last race, my new bike was ready to hunt. The majority of the race was flat, except for one small hill that took the wind out of most people's sails. Again, the less experienced triathletes were riding side by side, riding on the left side of the road, etc. I yelled "passing on your left" and most didn't even budge. I still whipped past them.

Around mile 5, I see TriSara on the side of the road. I yell "are you okay?". She replies, "yah, stupid wheel problems!" Without her wheel problems, I doubt I ever would have seen her let alone get ahead of her.

I had a blast passing people. With the help of a nice tailwind, I even got up to 27 mph on the flat. Fun! After 14 miles of riding, headed into transition feeling like I could be towards the front of the female pack. Not a place I normally find myself in for sure. Turns out I averaged over 21 mph! Sweet! Love my new bike!

Then, it was onto the run. 4 weeks earlier at the Fairport Harbor sprint, I died on the run, but I did well 2 weeks earlier at the CTC duathlon. Was interested to see how it would go plus I didn't want to lose. It was hot and lacked shade, but I pushed it to the redline. Finally, I saw another woman (and then 4 more) on their way back to the finish. Darn! Not in front. Oh well, takes the pressure off. I only got passed by 2 more women during the run and none of them were in my age group. Overall run time was 27:06 (8:44 pace), an official personal best in a 5k although I have run faster per mile splits in 10k races.

Luckily, the only woman in my age group ahead of me took 2nd overall, which left me first in my age group (out of 7 - 8th female out of 47)! When I showed my medal to Matt several hours later, he said we should celebrate my first age group win. I said "I've won my age group before". He said "not when others were in it". He was right. I won my age group in the Lorain Olympic three years ago. I came in almost dead last, but there was no one else to claim the prize in my age group. I guess it takes me racing in a local sprint race where the fast people (like Jodi who not only won, but also chicked so many men in the Olympic) either do other races or do the Olympic.

Hallie finished a few minutes after I did. She averaged 19 mph on the bike (on my road bike with toe cages) and ran the 5k in under 26 minutes. She's definitely going to be good at this!

After the race, I hung out with TriSara and we had fun catching up while eating the strange post-race fuel (included Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes).

Definitely good to end the season on a high note. I hadn't planned to race at all this year, but I'm glad I did!

Next up is Dances with Dirt! We've got our outfits and decorations, so time to bring on the fun!!