Race report - DACC Sprint Tri

300 yard indoor swim, 13 miles outdoor bike. 5K outdoor run
I woke up to the alarm this morning and really didn't want to get out of bed. I of course made myself since i had a race to get to but all morning I wasn't feeling well. Just tired from not sleeping enough this week and it was catching up to me but i wanted to do the race anyway. I don't think it was nerves because it was a short race. I forced myself to eat half a bagel and then headed out promising to do my best even. It was cold in the mid 40s which isn't exactly triathlon weather but nothing you can do about it. I was a little frazzled at the race start got there just in time for the race meeting and then had a few minutes to set my stuff up and go. Warmup was mostly me running back and forth to my car and transition setting things up. We got in line by our swim seed times. I got number 20 so there was a few people ahead of me but more behind me. I quickly jumped in the pool and swam a 50 mostly just to get the water temp. No time for a real warmup. Swimmers were started 30 seconds apart. You had to run across the mat and slide in the water (no jumping/driving allowed) Then you had to swim a lap down and back in each lane before ducking under the lane line and repeating in all lanes until you exited the pool. Flip turns were illegal and would get you dq'ed. I was really surprised by that. I guess it is because there were so many people in the pool at once but I wasn't a fan of it. The switching lanes thing was a little weird for me because i never did that but it actually worked out really well and was a good idea instead of having someone counting your laps. it also made it more exciting to watch. My form felt horrible on the swim. I never felt like I was anchoring my hand and rotating through. Felt like I had a high turnover. Probably because I was excited with all of those people watching and it was such a short distance no time to really settle into a pace I was just trying to go hard the whole time. I swam in my tri clothes. had to run up a hill to transition and I was huffing! Another strange thing is they had no racks whatsoever to put your bike on so i had to rest damon down in the grass. I put my mat next to me and had my stuff laid out but i was so excited to keep going I was rushing to get my shoes on and then struggled to pull on my riding jacket. helmet and i was off! Forgot to put my gloves on which would have been nice because it was cold. Glad I took the time to put my jacket on because i think it really helped. Only my feet were cold. I certainly wasn't warm but i was working so hard I wasn't concerned about the temp. The best part of the bike for me was I felt really comfortable riding damon. I haven't had much time to actually use this bike and then with the accident this week I was a little concerned I would be tentative on the bike. Not so I was in a good tuck, riding on the nose of the saddle and going for it! On the flat sections of the course I have to admit I was riding as hard as I possibly could and it felt great. Sadly for me there were some serious climbs in the ride. While struggling through those I was wishing I had stefan and my triple gears available! It wasn;t just the steep grade of the climbs that hurt it was that they went on FOREVER! On one hill I was going so slow and hurting so much I actually clipped out and started walking my bike up the hill. I can't believe I did this! I wasn't the only one. The worst part is that I was hurting so much just trying to walk my bike up the hill! My legs were fried, I was puffing and I was a little delirious. At this point I thought I might be trying to go a little too hard so I tried to drink some of the water I took with me. I could barely get it down i was so wrecked so I tried to settle myself a bit while still moving forward. 2 guys passed me on the bike and they were so nice. 1 was like just keep pulling up on the pedals! I am thinking to myself I AM it isn't getting my anywhere! the second guy actually made damon feel sexy because he said really nice bike! After all this climbing it led into a great descent. Which is probably where I am the best at riding right now. I know that sounds silly because who isn't good at going downhill but I find I pass people going downhill because I am not afraid to just go. For the most part I descended well. I did have to be a little cautious in sections because it was a winding switchback and there was still a lot of loose gravel on the roads because they haven't really been cleaned from the winter yet. There was also some water runoff. It made me happy to feel this good on my tri bike sometimes I think my issues with it is I have been riding where there is traffic and it just isn't really good for those kind of conditions. Of course the finish to this bike course had you going back uphill to transition and there were actually speed bumps at the top of the hill as if i wasn't already going slow enough! Transition went smoothly. I left my riding jacket on which i quickly threw off about a quarter mile into the run and told one of the volunteers I would come back for it after the race. I think it was the right call because that jacket holds in a lot of heat. I wasn't cold on the run. However this was probably the worst brick I have ever felt. I think I went so hard on the bike or i was jsut fried from the hills that i literally felt like i was doing the ironman shuffle for the beginning of the run. I knew it would go away so i just kept running through it but it felt ugly. I passed a guy pretty early in the run and he was like u go girl Im still trying to get my legs underneath me. I yelled back, yeah me too! I did not use my watch and had no idea where i was at during any part of the bike or run course. I knew it was short so i didn't need to pace it.  In some ways I think it helped because i just kept telling myself to go hard it is almost over. A volunteer probably trying to help me and the guys running near me told us when we hit the half way point of the run and i was thinking, that's it! I still have so far to go! But I kept going. Part of the course was on trail which I wasn't thrilled about because of my foot. Also as I mentioned my legs were not feeling the freshest either. I was hoping i was getting my feet up enough that i wasn't going to be tripping on things. a couple of guys passed me on the run of course it was on uphills! one woman passed me on a hill too and she was like wow your so strong doing the whole thing Im just doing the relay. Your looking great. Now I know i wasn't feeling great. Back up a hill to the finish I would have liked to sprint it in but after the hill I didn't really have much of kick but I did push it as much as I could. I ended up going 1:30 for the course. I was hoping for a 1:25 but i didn't know about the hills on the course so I am not surprised by my time. I took 1st in my age group. The results are not posted yet so I don't know my overall placing but I believe it was top ten female. I am also curious to see my splits and transition times. Overall it just felt great to be racing again. Was a good training day. It is nice to be able to go through all disciplines. It is also nice to have a traffic controlled course and of course having other people push you too. I was sore after the race. The biggest thing I need to improve on is my ability to climb hills both on my bike and while running. The race was fairly well organized. I got sent the wrong way twice on the run by volunteers but it was only by a few steps. They were directing the bikes and the runners at the same time but i didn't let it bother me. I felt really focused today. There wasn't anything available on the course and I really didn't make a good effort to drink on the bike because i was more set on riding but i was thirsty. Big difference between the bike and run. on the bike i was thanking the volunteers and cheering on other participants by the run I was hurting so bad i would give the volunteers a thumbs up to let them know I understood what they were telling me and I couldn't even thank the other participants that were cheering for me! I used my new thule 9003 raceway platform because i couldnt transport damon any other way and i have to say I really like this rack. It is much easier to use and it seems more stable too. My only concern with it is that i don't get rear ended. gotta get recovered. tour de scranton tomorrow!

meal 1 - 1/2 bagel
meal 2 - 2 clif bars - vega wfo w/coconut water
meal 3 - half bagel, tofu, peppers, zucchini, pinto beans, guacamole, peanut butter