Packed up my stuff, had my usual pre-race breakfast (Oatmeal Raisin PowerBar, banana, coffee), and headed down to the race. Kristin was kind enough to drop me off, and with only being 4 miles away, she was able to go back home and sleep more. Win.
After struggling to get my bike number on, I got set up in transition. Snagged a spot on the close end of the bike rack and was set to go for quick transitions. Strolled down to the swim start and got ready. About 3 minutes before, I realized I still had my wedding ring on. Too late, I'd have to be careful in the swim to make sure it didn't slide off in the colder water.
The swim went well. I failed to seed myself in the fast wave, so we got to swim through the two slower waves ahead of us. Thankfully they were small waves, but not being seeded meant more of a race against the clock than against the fast guys in our age group. Lesson learned. I was one of the first out of the water in my wave, ran up the hill to T1, and was out on the bike in no time. [Strava Swim]
This was my first time doing this race, and I was excited to slay the rolling hills on the bike course. The route goes down Fulton, which is typically a raceway of a divided highway, but the inner lanes are closed and you get to fly down without worrying (as much) about the cars that would normally be flying by at supersonic speeds. I took off onto the bike which winds around the the South and East sides of Reeds Lake before spilling onto Fulton. With relatively calm winds, it was fast riding. In no time, I was already to the turn around and on my way back. Kept the effort steady and strong on the way back and was back to T2, ready to run. Loving the new bike! [Strava Bike]
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| Photo Credit to Stellafly! |
This was my first time doing this race, and I was excited to slay the rolling hills on the bike course. The route goes down Fulton, which is typically a raceway of a divided highway, but the inner lanes are closed and you get to fly down without worrying (as much) about the cars that would normally be flying by at supersonic speeds. I took off onto the bike which winds around the the South and East sides of Reeds Lake before spilling onto Fulton. With relatively calm winds, it was fast riding. In no time, I was already to the turn around and on my way back. Kept the effort steady and strong on the way back and was back to T2, ready to run. Loving the new bike! [Strava Bike]
T2 was pretty quick, and off on the run. The run was lonely, not starting in the elite wave meant that I was off the front and running alone. This made keeping the tempo up was more mentally challenging, but with this being the last race of the year I was eager to put down one last solid effort. I passed through 5k just under 20 minutes, a solid pace. With another 2 miles to go, I focused on keeping my turnover up and my stride long, arms pumping. I finally started catching people from other waves, which gave me a clear boost: my last mile was the fastest of the 4.9! Across the finish line and season over, what a great race to end the year. [Strava Run]
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| Photo Credit to Stellafly! |
I would end up in 3rd place for 30-34 AG and 13th overall! Thanks again to Michigan Awesome and the team for all of the support and camaraderie, to PowerBar for providing the best nutrition, and to Kristin for her tireless ironmate support! It was a great year, looking forward to building on this next year...until then, keep dreaming!
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