Woke up and ate the regular race day breakfast. I had packed up my race bag the night before, and in the morning we hooked the bike up to the car & headed out, we had a 7am start!
The race was super small (62 people), so I guess that explains the lack of fanfare. There was no pre-race music, and when I picked up my bib & t-shirt, I was surprised to find we didn't get a number to put on the bike, and there was no timing chip! I met up with Debbie, who came to cheer me on since she was feeling sick and couldn't race. We headed over to transition to set up my gear.
10 minutes or so before the race start, I wiggled into my wetsuit & headed to the beach.
The swim
The swim was a 300 yard loop in Spec pond. I positioned myself in the middle inside, and after the megaphone countdown, we were off! I started off struggling, this was my first open water swim since the Danskin Triathlon last September. I was having a tough time sighting and keeping good form. My breathing was tough, heart rate rising, arms getting tired. Just as I would get into a decent groove, I would catch someones foot, or someone would catch mine. I was getting anxious, and had to breast stroke a few times. Finally, I was coming to the beach, thank god! DONE! I ran over to transition to get ready for...
The bike
The bike was listed as a 12 mile course, but actually clocked in at around 13. We headed out across the main round and into Wilbraham. At the first hill, a guy came up on my tail and said "Tough on the quads huh?" I said "Ya sure", and took off from him, never to see him again. This race, I was going a pretty good clip. I got passed by a couple people, but I also passed a bunch myself! I wish I was coordinated to take pictures and ride, because we rode through one of the major areas of tornado destruction. Houses leveled or missing roofs, trees gone. There were a few rolling hills, nothing major. I really enjoyed the ride.
The Run
Next up was the run, which was a loop course. Every time you passed transition you collected a wristband, and you needed 4 wristbands to finish the race. It started with a small hill out of transition, then the rest of the loop was flat or downhill. My legs felt great, my breathing was steady, and I felt ready for the run. Glancing at my Garmin, it looked like I was making good time, but I hadn't stopped the watch during transition. My splits were awesome, even better than my typical tempo runs.
A little after getting my second wristband, I noticed a girl wearing only her bathing suit, coming in on the bike. She had large tattoos covering her back, so it was impossible to mix her up with anyone (remember this for later). I held steady in the run, I passed a few people, got passed by no one. After collecting my 4th wristband, I think to myself, "OMG I can finish this whole triathlon without taking a walk break at all!!" I tried to pick it up a little. At the last minute heading toward the finish line, I hear someone on my tail, but I wasn't about to get passed at the finish line, so I kicked it up a notch and sprinted to the end. Who was behind me? The girl in the swimsuit, which is interesting, because even if she was a fast runner to catch up, she would have had to lap me once to finish right behind me. She most certainly did not. WHAT A CHEATER!!
I was soooo glad that I didn't let her finish before me!
No timing chip, meant no split times so heres overall
1:33:01
40/62 overall
7/17 F 0-39
Overall, it was a fun race! The course was simple with no killer hills which I liked, and the small amount of people made it feel a little less threatening. Bad stuff? No music, poorly organized post race food/water, no timing chips!
After packing up, we headed home to shower before Kevin took me out for a yummy breakfast at Friendly's, YUM!
Next Tri is hopefully Danskin in July!
