Other than that, I really didn't want to wake up for this race. Transition opened at 5:30, so my first alarm went off at 3:45 am. Then my next alarm. And my next few. Needless to say, I finally rolled out of bed a little after 5. I got ready, ate breakfast and left the house at 5:45.
Thankfully, I live right down the hill from Cherry Creek High School where parking was, so I got up there and parked in about five minutes. I pumped up my bike tires and walked into the park to pick up my packet. I would estimate I was probably in transition about five after six.
Sunrise over the bike out arch.
Only one on my rack.
There were two races going on - a long course race (5k-30k-5k) which also happened to be the Rocky Mountain regional championship for USA Triathlon and a short course race (1.2 mi-12.8 mi-5k) which I did. My rack was the short course rack and we were also some of the last waves to go off, which is why no one was there that early.
(There was a double transition close - at 7 for the first two waves and at 7:25 for the last four waves.)
I mostly hung out, tried not to freeze and waited for Jenna to show up as she was racing the long course.
Her wave went off and eventually ... mine which was a bit after the scheduled time of 7:50.
Run #1:
My wave was all short course females. We had a 1.2 mile run - out the arch, around on a trail, short out-and-back, meet up with the long course athletes and then into transition.
It seemed really short ... because it was. I was pushing it pretty hard and on the edge of being able to manage breathing and all that and on the edge of crashing and burning. Made it back ... barely.
Time: 10:14 (40th overall; 18th gender; 2nd division)
T1:
In, out, whatever. Duathlon transitions are so nice and simple.
Time: 1:10 (32nd overall; 13th gender; 2nd division)
The Bike:
The bike course was a two loop course. It was supposed to be inside on park roads, but the weather/flooding last year caused problems with the irrigation (or something) so there is a lot of construction going on ... forcing the bike course to be loop course on the Dam Road instead. This actually worked in my favor as it was a flatter course.
So the reason I signed up for the short course as opposed to the long course was because I'd barely been on my bike in the past month (34 miles in April) and I knew I could BS my way through 13 miles ... but not 18. The first loop and half of loop two felt really good - keeping my cadence high and my speed fairly ... speedy. Second half of loop two? Felt like crap, making me really happy I only signed up for the short course.
Down the hill into the park back into trans.
Time: 42:56 (37th overall; 16th gender; 1st division)
T2:
So I'm really bad about not loosening my laces when I take my shoes off, making it harder to get into them when I try to put my running shoes back on. I need to not do this anymore.
I also ditched my ear mitts as it had warmed up nicely outside.
Time: 1:09 (31st overall; 11th gender; 2nd division)
Run #2:
The second run was a 5K and oh lordy, my lungs did not want to cooperate with me. The run starting uphill also didn't help.
This was a weird run. It was on fairly familiar territory - the one mile marker was about two miles away from the house - but I never felt like I could get a decent stretch of running in. Stupid walking.
Still, a 5K is a 5K and thankfully, they're over pretty quickly and soon enough, I was rolling on into the finish.
Time: 31:57 (42nd overall; 20th gender; 2nd division)
After the race, Jenna and I grabbed a picture together
and then waited around for the official results to show up. Subway was the post-race food; I ate a cookie and tried a bite of sub - nope, wasn't happening.
Then, the results got posted ...
Overall Stats:
Time: 1:27:28
1/7 division (F30-34)
13/39 females
34/71 overall
Yep, I actually won my age group. It was a clear fluke - all the speedy people in my AG raced the long course - but still! I won!
I got my first award - a Barkin' Dog pint glass - and got to stand on my first ever podium.
I have a lot more musings on my reaction to this random win ... but I'll leave those for another day.
In any case ... I'm starting to think I should avoid triathlons and stick to duathlons because I seem to do better when I don't have to flail around in water ...
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