Sprint Triathlon Results – Slippery, Cold, and a Top 25 Finish!

Welcome to part 2 of my sprint triathlon recap (catch up with part 1 here). I left you with a little cliffhanger yesterday because there were a couple of things that happened that could’ve taken my brother-in-law or me out of the race entirely. The horror!! All the training and no race to compete in. The biggest hurdle was a flat tire…. BEFORE THE RACE EVEN STARTED. We were about an hour out of starting and needed a tire asap. This is one thing I’m learning about almost every single triathlete I meet: They’re team-oriented. Kind of odd, right, since it’s an individual sport! If you’re around a triathlete, ask them questions you have and 99 times out of 100 they’ll be happy to share what they can. This was the case with the case of the busted tube. The very first people we talked to not only gave us a tube, but they didn’t take reimbursement, just told us to pay it forward. A few minutes later the bike was good as new. So cool…

---

The next hurdle was a stinky one. Literally! From our 2-hour car ride, I was ready for a pit stop and another thing I’m learning about race morning: There’s inevitably always a line for the private stalls in the bathroom. This time also included the unfortunate circumstance of no toilet paper. Yeah, it was interesting. The line was long enough that my anxiety level was going up, up, up, because I still needed to prepare my transition area AND put my trisuit on. I had about 10 minutes before the transition area closed.

I ran out of time before I could stretch properly or get a short run in with shoes on but at least I didn’t have a DNF getting locked in the bathroom. We gathered together for the national anthem, a bit of comaraderie appreciated by the athletes and fans in attendance. It WAS the 4^th of July after all. With opening remarks out of the way, it was time to go. The water was cold and flat. The athletes were lined up. Nervous anticipation. And then the first athlete jumped into the water.

---

A few minutes later it was my turn. Oh, before the race started I couldn’t decide if I should use my wetsuit (water temp was 68°)… and I ALREADY HAD IT ON! I’m so indecisive. I decided to use it, taking a chance on whatever time it might cost me taking it off in transition. So I jumped in and felt pretty good right away. No water in the goggles, temperature not unbearable. It was a straight swim out then turning back in at the halfway mark. This is where I started to feel short of breath but kept as calm as I could. I think my wetsuit might be too tight. A little struggle but I washed up on shore and took off for the transition area.

---

And yes, I almost fell as you can see in the picture! Because I was so indecisive about the wetsuit, I didn’t apply any Body Glide so taking the suit off was harder than it would’ve been. I’m so dang hard-headed. The cycling portion went fine. I passed some people and got passed by some people. That’s about par for the course. Cycling is the area I can improve in the most (in regards to timing because it’s the longest distance of the three). I never felt like I was overdoing it, just going hard when I could and bearing the uphills when they came. The transition to run went fine. I wasn’t super fast but I was steady and didn’t make any time-consuming mistakes. The run is my favorite part even though the switch from bike to run makes a funny sensation in the legs for the first half mile or so. By the time I finished the first mile I had caught my breath from the bike ride. Then it was just about focusing on the targets ahead of me, I really like picking out someone in front and using them as a marker to catch up to. This run course was mostly dirt and gravel (my least favorites) so I tried finding the most firm ground. It also has a steep dip in the middle of the 3 miles, down and up, then on the way back it’s the same… down and up.

I could’ve pushed more on the run, I think. But I crossed the finish line 19 seconds under my prediction. Wahoo!

---

I reached 2 of the goals I set for myself this race– finishing in the top 25 overall and top 3 in my age group. I even got a medal… (PS. everyone gets a medal 🤪)

There are some fast men and women in these races and as I was doing my bike and run, it was impressive to see all the folks out there overcoming the heat, the ups and downs of the course, and just generally totally rocking it. I love being part of these events!

Thanks to triathlon athletes Daniel and Keith for the race pics included in this post…

---

-Out of the Wilderness