speedvegan

1 mile run – 10 mile bike – 2.5 mile run

Early 30s podium girls

Total Time: 57:55
Run 1: 7:26
T1: 0:54
Bike: 29:08
T2: 0:39
Run2: 19:48
Overall Place: 24 out of 88
Gender Place: 5 out of 32
Category Place: 1 out of 3

Today’s race was pretty uneventful. I had a very good night’s sleep. I normally toss and turn until less than an hour before I’m supposed to wake up. This makes me feel tired and groggy when the alarm finally goes off which makes me even more anxious. Not having that problem this time, I was almost anxiety-free before the race. I think a few butterflies in the stomach are inevitable and even necessary for good performance !

The first run was one mile. I held a steady pace and tried not to over-exert myself. I took longer than I would have wanted in transition, but I’m a bit out of practice since this is my first multi-sport race since last October.

The bike leg consisted of two laps around the same twisty, curvy course. The first lap wasn’t too bad since I was doing the Duathlon and only the top dogs were done with the swim. The second lap was sheer chaos. First, the “direction” sign wasn’t very clear about where to go. The left side of the sign said “Lap” and the right side said “Lap 2.” OK. That’s very helpful. Do I go right to Lap #2 or do I go right if this is my second lap ? It was very confusing, not just for me. Additionally, all the people done with the swim were merging into the narrow bike lane as I started my second lap. I was surprised not to see any accidents the way some of those bikes were flying out of transition. Thus, the second lap was congested, almost like being in traffic. If the USAT official was taking his job seriously, he would have had to penalize everyone. There was no way one could keep 3 bike lengths distance from the bike in front. I enjoyed being on the bike anyway, as always and was happy to finally crack those 30 minutes, though I could have done better under more organized conditions.

Finishing the first lap of the bike leg

The second run was awesome. I’ve been getting stronger and stronger with my runs and couldn’t have asked for better results. I came in under 20 minutes which was my goal.

Overall, it was a happy day. I was glad to have Geoffrey there, cheering me on every chance he got. It gives me a boost of energy every time I see his smiley face on the course, even if at the time I can’t acknowledge it.