speedvegan

Time 1:06:50 | Overall 115/509 | Gender 11/139 | Age Group 2/21

I couldn’t think of anything other than “disappointment” when I wrote about the last time I raced this course. If I had to use one word today, it would be “redemption.” But in reality I felt so much more than that. I felt sore and I felt tired. I felt angry, for a second. I felt grateful and oh so proud. But in the end every emotion was obliterated by the happiness that came over me as I crossed the finish line in my goal time.

SWIM | .25mi | 9:10

How I managed to shave one minute off my swim is amazing to me. I did get back in the pool this week and felt quite good so that’s one possibility. I also decided I wasn’t going to wait for EVERY person to get in the water before me this time. I’m slow, yes, but I am faster than some of the girls in my wave. I spend a lot of time waiting for them to decide where to swim sometimes and I constantly have to maneuver around them when they decide to stop and doggie paddle mid-swim. This time I ran in, swam balls-out to the first buoy and tried to hang in the middle as long as I could. And it worked ! I think I will continue to improve my swim time if I keep working on it. Enter Cathy, my new swim coach. I am meeting her tomorrow night for the first time. So excited !

Obviously puzzled by my faster swim time.

T1 | 3:07

BIKE | 10mi | 29:39

My bike time is an improvement from my last race on this course, but definitely not great. My legs were burning as soon as I got on the bike. I felt every sore muscle from Friday’s hard ride and yesterday’s 5k. I’d like to think that I could have done much better on rested legs, but who knows ? What I do know is that I left every bit of energy I did have out there, hoping I could still run a decent 5k afterwards.

Cooked.

T2 | 0:55

RUN | 3.1mi | 24:00

This time did not feel as “effortless” as the last. I felt every step it took to get to the finish line. Fortunately, I didn’t forget my watch this time so I knew where I was at every mile mark. Knowing I was on target gave me the encouragement I needed to keep pushing forward. Once I passed the second mile mark and knew there was a 99% chance I’d make my goal time, a flood of emotions came over me. Regardless of the distance, goals are goals. Little accomplishments pave the way for bigger accomplishments.

Still on target !

My first time on this course was over 1h 12m. Today’s time is a 6 minute improvement in less than 2 years. I am constantly amazed at how our bodies respond to even the slightest shifts in training. That said, although I am ecstatic with today’s PR, I know there is much room for improvement and I’m very excited about the possibility of breaking this record at some point. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait until next year since I’ve decided to do the longer distance being offered by this series during its last event of the season next month.

As always, Geoffrey was wonderfully supportive. The first 2 races of the season resulted in lots of post-race crankiness so this time, I found myself looking around for him at all the usual spots to let him know I was doing OK. I’m pretty sure he’s hoping, perhaps even more so than I am, for more races like this one !