As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I know to rediscover my love of triathlon, I'm going to need to race. A lot. Well why not kick off my racing season in January, right?
T and I woke up to very cold temperatures, but sucked it up and headed to Cherry Creek Reservoir. It was going to be 19 degrees at race start, but whatever, right? We got to the res, I checked in and got a bib, then we went back to the car to stay warm. Hung out in the car for nearly an hour, and then headed back to transition to get ready for the race.
The format was interesting. It was run-bike-run, but the runs were short (1.25 miles and 2.75 miles) and the bike was 10.8 miles. Also, the dudes started 4 minutes ahead of the ladies. T and I decided to have a bit of friendly competition (whoever won would be "Champion of House"). We walked down to the start, said goodbye, and off I went.
Run 1
I knew running 1.25 miles would be easy, even with the cold. That being said, I refused to go out fast. Coach reminded us to save a lot for the last run, so I took it very very easy. I held a sub-10 for the entirety and before I knew it, I was back at transition. Time - 11:52
T1
I need to work on transitions. Time - 1:20
Bike
I like this bike course and generally ride it pretty well. I also knew to pace it properly, because even being a 10.8 mile course, it wouldn't be easy with the cold. I also wanted to stay far enough ahead of T so I could push in Run 2 and ensure my victory.
So early on, I was pleasantly surprised at my speed. Woo trainer sessions paying off! I even climbed the stupid hill of doom pretty well.
Shortly after making the loop on the tower road, I saw T and knew she wasn't 4 minutes off. Therefore, I'd have to make my move on the second run.
I got back to transition in pretty good time. Time - 38:49
T2
This went a bit better, but still...need to work on transitions. Time - 1:42
Run 2
Run 2 did not start as well as Run 1 did. I was a bit sluggish out of trans and it took awhile to find my legs. I knew though that the push needed to come in the final 1/2 mile, so I didn't worry about it too much.
With .4 or so to go, I took off and pushed hard for the finish. I beat another dude who was ahead of me, which felt good. Time - 29:16
Post-Race
T crossed shortly after I finished, and we congratulated each other. Then we walked over to trans to get banana bread, cup o noodles, and water. While we grabbed our food, we checked the results. Not seeing our stuff, we waited a few minutes and then a new sheet was posted. We found that I beat her by 8 seconds, thus crowning me "Champion of House"! However, we determined that racing in the cold, both having a great race, means that we are co-Champions of House.
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