Race Report: Trek Women's Spring Tri (2:13:40)

I finished my first full sprint triathlon on Sunday, 9.6.09 in 2:13:40, and I'm a little underwhelmed, but I had a blast with all the girls before, during, and after. I finished 796 / 936 overall and 84 / 96 in my age group. Here's the recap.

Saturday: Kids Run, Expo, and Pre-Race Dinner

We drove to Disney's Ft. Wilderness early Saturday morning to see Isa run her first race: 100 yard dash. She was adorable! We killed some time after the kid's race at the playground, then went to the expo to get our race packets, race shirt, and shop! Sports Beans was one of the sponsors, so I got many samples of my favorite running nutrition in their new resealable package. I bought a new tri top and got the girls matching bondi bands that say "tri like a girl" for us to wear at our triathlon relay.

After the expo, we checked into our cabin, I racked my bike, then went to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch with Lisa and Joe. We chilled in our cabin for a bit after lunch until dinner time. I also had to do a bit of laundry because I put some hershey kisses in my goodie bag that melted while we were at lunch covering the entire contents in gooey chocolate, including my race shirt and new tri top. Chris and David finally got back to the cabin from working the expo all day, then we headed to Giordanno's for the pre-race dinner. We had a blast catching up with friends and eating yummy food, and of course posting for quirky photos =P

Race Morning

Jason and I caught the shuttle to transition area and found MaryLynn on the bus. We got to the transition area just as Kelly was getting there, and got to work. After we setup our areas, we finished body marking each other and headed to the beach.

We quickly found Jason and Joe, and eventually saw the rest of the girls. I was not nervous about this race all week, or even this weekend, until we got to the beach and I saw the buoys. It looked SO LONG! We took some pre-race shots at the dock, where our camera men were stationed, then headed to the beach.  While waiting at the beach, my mom and grandma found me and we took some more pics. It was great to see them there and helped calmed my nerves a bit, but not much. I was still freaking out about how far the swim looked.

Swim = 1/2 mile (880 yds) in 35:00 - 877 / 936

The swim took a little longer than I predicted, but I made it in one piece! I was freaking out while waiting for our wave to start, but once I got in the water I was fine and just kept swimming. I stopped a lot to tread water and see where I was going, switching to breast stroke and side stroke from time to time, but I never stopped completely to hold onto a swim noodle or kayak. It was a little humbling to see everyone I knew in the next wave past me, and before long I was swimming in a sea of blue and purple caps (my wave was orange), but I didn't care. Now I have an official time of 35:36 to beat next time :)

T1 - 00:04:16

We had a long run to the transition area after the swim, and I probably spent too much time putting on socks, shoes, and gloves. I was also a bit flustered and tired from the swim.

Bike = 12.13 mi in 52:00 @ 14.1 mph - 773 / 936

I'm really disappointed in my bike performance. This is my slowest pace in a race. I seem to get slower on the bike with every race I do. I intended to push hard on the bike to make up for the swim, but no matter what I could no go any faster and the hills didn't help. I'd like to blame this on the crowded field, or that I was too tired from the swim and maybe I kicked too much, but the truth is that I did not train properly on the bike the last few months. I commuted to work on my explorer bike, but didn't push myself and rarely did any speed work. I'm going to train specifically for the distance next time and do some drills to improve my speed/power. I'll probably also start wearing the camelbak for longer races as I think I'm wasting too much time reaching down for the water bottle. I think I use it as an excuse to take a break and it makes me lose momentum and takes a little time to get back up to speed. My official bike time  was 53:15, but  that includes 1/4 mile or more run to mount line.

T2 - 00:02:27

Not much to say here. I ran my bike to the back of the transition area, raked it, took off helmet, switched shoes, then grabbed hat and racing belt as I ran out of the transition area. I almost forgot to switch my watch from the bike to my wrist.

Run =  3.15 mi in  38 @ 12:03 min/mile - 620 / 936

The run went much better than I expected. I fumbled with my watch and never set up the intervals, but that worked out in my favor. I started running using 3:1 for maybe the first mile, but I felt good and reduced the walk breaks to every half mile or less -- usually just at the water stops. After the last water stop, I pushed it to catch up to Kelly and I seemed to find my stride so ran it all the way to the finish line trying to get to a sub-12 min/mile avg pace. Cheryl was there at the 3 mile mark and ran with me to end pushing me to dig deep for a strong finish. Thanks Cheryl!!

My Negative Splits pace:

mile 1 - 12:56
mile 2 - 12:23
mile 3 - 11:21
finish (.15) - 8:42!! 

Final Thoughts

So it wasn't the race I was hoping for, and I was a little down about it on Monday, but I need to remind myself that a few months ago I thought a triathlon wasn't even an option for me. I could barely swim and the thought of even getting in a lake terrified me. Being able to complete this was a huge accomplishment, and it certainly will not be the last one. I'm completely addicted! The best part is that I got to share it with a great group of women, and I've met new friends along the way. Here is just a few of them. Thanks ladies and Jason for all your support, and for believing in me. I could not have done it with each and every one of you.

View more race photos