Goal: Breaking 2:00 would be nice
Actual: 1:52:21 - 2nd Place in my age group!
Ah...the joys of a sprint triathlon. A mere 750 meter swim; a nice 15 mile jaunt on the bike; a quick 3.1 mile walk-in-the-park-run. I signed up for this race on a whim just a few days before, thinking how nice it would be to do a short distance for a change.
Priscilla picked me up at 5:30 AM and we made the 2 hour drive to Rock Hall. A road trip with P is always a blast :). The weather was gorgeous too-- clear skies and about 70 degrees. We arrived to find plenty of parking, no parking attendants, and a t-nincy transition area! This was a small race for a change-- only 180 or so contenders.
Swim: 18:47
When I first laid eyes on the swim course, all I could think was: That's it? That's as far as I have to swim? It seemed so short! Still, the swim is always my least favorite part of triathlon and I knew I couldn't take it for granted.
Melissa had said that I needed to get myself really worked up before the race -- get mad and take it out on the water, Sally! But I was so laid back--I mean, this was the shortest distance I would do all year! So I really had to make an effort to get myself pumped up and pissed off.
The horn went off and I was surprised to find myself actually swimming near other swimmers. This was foreign territory for me...usually I've got plenty of open water around me as everyone else pulls ahead. But this time I swam in a pack of people the whole way. My thoughts went something like this:
Pull harder, remember how pissed you are! You're mad, dammit---act like it!
Don't pick up your head when you breathe, for crying out loud! Pull!
C'mon, snap that rotation! Reach over the barrel! Pick up the pace!
Before I knew it, I was pulling myself up on the dock and running for transition.
T1 3:36
Bike: 53:04
The bike was pancake flat and windy. Great, I thought, now's your chance to practice using your aero bars. So I laid down the mandate:
Sally, you will not raise up out of the aero position unless you are braking or making a sharp turn. Failure to comply with this rule means you are not worthy of owning a tri bike and therefore, must stop shopping for one. Only when you grow up and learn to ride with the big kids can this rule be revisited.
We had a headwind going out...and a tailwind coming back, so any time I lost during the first half of the ride, I made up on the last half. I managed to comply with my aero bar mandate and all was well as I headed for the dismount line.
T2 2:12
Run: 34:45
Did I mention how much I love to run? Well, I love to run. Yes, it was getting hot and no, there wasn't any shade, but I was happy to be in my comfort zone. My focus, at this point, was on staying ahead of this woman in my age group. We had played tag on the bike and initially she was ahead of me on the run; but within the first mile, I managed to pass her and tried not to look back. I kept imagining she was right on my tail and that made me keep up the pace. On the out-and-back stretch, I noticed that she was pretty far behind me, but I still didn't want to let up. I kept thinking how nice it would be not to finish last in my age group :).
I had no idea that I was a contender for 2nd place at that point. I knew there were only a few women in my age group, but when they called my name at the awards ceremony, I was truly shocked!
Finish Time: 1:52:21
Priscilla also placed --taking 3rd in the Athena category! Needless to say, the ride home was great. We compared race notes and laughed about our improbable "podium" finishes. We'll always be back-of-the-packers, but for one brief moment we got to feel like winners....and that was cool.
I interviewed some amazing people: astronauts Ken Reightler, Roger Crouch, Dan Tani, Janice Voss, former shuttle launch director Bob Sieck, and NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden....
