WE HAVE HAD A BREAKTHROUGH! A successful race weekend! As I mentioned last week, I was racing the NJ State Olympic Tri for the 2nd time on Sunday. So on Saturday, Nick and I packed up the car and headed down to Princeton for the night. Once we arrived, 45 min later, laughing quite a bit, because we realized maybe a hotel wasn't totally necessary, we decided if we were here we should have some fun. We walked around near our hotel a bit and headed out for a nice pasta dinner al fresco. After dinner we headed back to the hotel, grabbed a night cap and went up to our room. We were in bed by 9pm and ready for some fantastically bad TV and some pre-race panic dreams, for me.
My alarm went off at 5:20 and I was up and at em'. I got on my racing kit and starting making all of my water bottles. I had to be at the race site by around 6:30 to pick up my packet and get set up prior to transition closing at 7:15, so at 6 we headed out to check out of our room and hit the road. Once at the race site I went over to packet pick up, only to find they had given away my racing chip to someone else. So I got a new race number and timing chip and headed into transition to get set up.
Once I found my transition area, I couldn't help but laugh a bit. I was racked with all men probably AG 30-40 and I looked fantastically out of place. Everyone was looking at my bike and checking my number to make sure I was in the right place and low and behold, I was! It actually ended up being to my advantage, because it was the last row, so it was easy to find and when I was in transition there was no one around me to get in my way, because this wave went before me.
Thankfully, due to the low temps, it was around 67 at the start, the water temps were just at 77 so we were able to swim with wetsuits if we so pleased. So I did. Once in the water, I got up to the front of the group and was off. The swim seemed ok, if not a little longer than it should be, which I heard others saying as well. The only issue I had was with my right side of my goggles. It seemed to be leaking a bit, which has been happening a lot lately, so I think it is time for them to retire and for me to invest in a new pair. All in all, the swim was uneventful, there was a point where I did start to get a little tired, but once I made the last turn heading back to the dock I was able to pull it together and get moving.
T1 was nice and empty and I switched my gear and headed out for a nice bike ride. I was trucking out of T1 and mounted my bike and was ready to get into the groove. I hit the road on a mission to pass as many people as I could. I was about 2 minutes into the bike and the passing began. Then the craziest, yet most motivational thing happened. I am was passing this 53 year old woman, and switching gears. As I tried to pass, her my gear slipped and so I was stuck for a second right next to her. Now mind you, we were on a closed street so I was probably about 4 feet from her on an open road. All of sudden I hear in this snotty voice, "Well if you are going to pass me, pass me already!" At which point I struggled with my gear a bit (she could obviously hear the grinding) and then turned to her and said, "Oh don't worry I will. On your left". And then I knew, I had to book it and make sure this woman did not pass me for the remainder of the ride, because I could only imagine what she would say if she did! But seriously what a BIATCH! If anything she lit a fire under my ass and helped my race, but sheesh, cheer up lady!
The entire ride, I tried to keep my cadence around 95 and pace between 19.6 and 22. My plan worked out perfectly I came in with an average pace on 19.8mph and I felt fantastic. It is relatively flat course with some gradual climbs, which are good because they seemed to be perfectly placed to remind you this was hard work, but for the first time I executed both nutrition and bike perfectly. I flew into T2 an 1:18 later and was ready for some running.
T2 was nice and quick and before I knew it I was fighting with my Garmin to get it to work properly and out for a nice run. The first two miles were fast and I was feeling good. There was one section that was about 15 seconds long where for some reason my legs felt like they just wanted to stop, but I pushed through and the feeling was gone before it got to my brain. I stayed within my zones and suddenly I was halfway done. I ran by Nick at 3.1 miles all smiles and announced, "Only 5k t o go!" and headed back out to run. I felt great, with only slight cramping around mile 4.5, which is reflected in my garmin files, but I was able to tell my body to suck it up and keep moving. I headed into the finishing chute, got my medal and headed to grab my results.
And here they are. One of their timing mats was not functioning some some times are missing/wrong:
Finish Time 2:43:39
Overall: 366/858
Gender:67/312
Div 30-34: 13/43
Swim:29:03
T1: 1:40 ( I was on a mission)
Bike: They didn't have this but I checked my cateye on the way into T2 and it was 1:18:54 average pace was around 19.8
T2: 15 min (this was my favorite error, like I had a picnic before heading out for my run)
Run: 52:39
So an approx 9 min PR from May and an 8 min PR from last year at this race.I will take it!
Then I packed up the car and headed back to the house to sit by the pool and get in some more tv watching.
Now it is on the next race! I actually don't have anything planned for August, but I am thinking that soon may change. I am hoping to maybe find a sprint to get in. If not, I will keep training for my half in September. Tomorrow it is back to the bike!
How was everyone's weekend?
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