Dallas Athletes did it again, they put on another great race. The vibe for this race was totally different than previous races I've attended. First, we started at 9:30 am so I felt refreshed and ready for the day. Second, because the start was so late transition set up was in sunlight! That was a whole new experience. And finally, the overall feeling from the athletes was chill and pure joy to get one more race in before the end of the season. Even the announcer noted that there was a confidence with this race as no one was asking him which sport comes first!
I woke up at 6:30am took Gordon for his walk, ate a chocolate chip waffle with strawberries and an Ensure. Since I've been getting water belly on my runs I chose to use the Ensure as the only liquid consumed that morning and then just sip water as needed on the bike (thankfully that seemed to do the trick). I had already packed everything up so I just choked down my nerves about further injuring myself and got on the road.
There were no lines for body marking, check in or timing chip pick up. The announcer said there was only 254 athletes competing today. I think that definitely impacted the cool/calm vibe that I really needed. I met a lady who was wearing a tri kit that I've been wanting and was relieved to hear it was comfortable (and cute!). I met up with my friend Noel and my parents before the start for some encouraging words.
I woke up at 6:30am took Gordon for his walk, ate a chocolate chip waffle with strawberries and an Ensure. Since I've been getting water belly on my runs I chose to use the Ensure as the only liquid consumed that morning and then just sip water as needed on the bike (thankfully that seemed to do the trick). I had already packed everything up so I just choked down my nerves about further injuring myself and got on the road.
There were no lines for body marking, check in or timing chip pick up. The announcer said there was only 254 athletes competing today. I think that definitely impacted the cool/calm vibe that I really needed. I met a lady who was wearing a tri kit that I've been wanting and was relieved to hear it was comfortable (and cute!). I met up with my friend Noel and my parents before the start for some encouraging words.
This line up was the easiest it's ever been! Probably due to having such a low number of athletes but also because everyone knew what to do. The swim went great! I felt confident and my breathing was regular. That is until I got totally blocked by several swimmers. They were all roughly swimming at the same pace right next to each other and I just couldn't get past them!
I swam the 250 meters in 4:56 and got 4th in my age group. I really think I could have shaved off more time if I was able to get past the clump of swimmers, but oh well.
Transition went well even though I threw on a long sleeved shirt over a wet torso. I was out of there in 1:49, the fastest in my age group. I owe Matthew big time for teaching me to roll my socks off my feet during transition set up so I can quickly roll them on my wet feet and go. I'm also loving the transition method described in my training book to take everything off top to bottom and then put everything on bottom to top. It takes all of the thinking out of transition and I remember everything!.
Hopping on the bike I felt nervous. I didn't want to be in pain for 16 miles. Thankfully. there was a strong tail wind with lots of rolling hills so I allowed myself to coast while going down them to give my hip a break. But, whenever there's a tail wind there's going to be a head wind and sure enough as soon as I turned around for this out and back, there it was. It generally didn't give me too much grief except for the last 3 miles where it was strong and there was no rest for my hip. On the way out I was averaging 20 mph but on the way back, every time I looked at my speed it wavered around 15-13 mph. I decided to not push and instead give it my all on the run since generally my hip feels ok running.
The roads were nice and the turn around was in a school parking lot so it was easy to keep up speed. For the Old College Tri, the turn around was on the road and you had to slow down a lot to make the sharp turn so this was a perfect solution.
Hopping on the bike I felt nervous. I didn't want to be in pain for 16 miles. Thankfully. there was a strong tail wind with lots of rolling hills so I allowed myself to coast while going down them to give my hip a break. But, whenever there's a tail wind there's going to be a head wind and sure enough as soon as I turned around for this out and back, there it was. It generally didn't give me too much grief except for the last 3 miles where it was strong and there was no rest for my hip. On the way out I was averaging 20 mph but on the way back, every time I looked at my speed it wavered around 15-13 mph. I decided to not push and instead give it my all on the run since generally my hip feels ok running.
The roads were nice and the turn around was in a school parking lot so it was easy to keep up speed. For the Old College Tri, the turn around was on the road and you had to slow down a lot to make the sharp turn so this was a perfect solution.
Transition from bike to run was pretty slow, much slower than usual for me at 1:42, 6th in my age group. What slowed me down was a cramp in my left foot as I was putting on my running shoes. At first I tried to get it to stop but then figured it would work itself out once I start running and thankfully it did.
Because this was such a late start and breakfast was forever ago, I had a honey flavored Honey Stinger Gel on the run out, which is my least favorite flavor of Honey Stinger Gel but it's what we had at home and did the trick.
My run started out strong, every time I looked at my pace it was right around 8 minutes per mile. At first I thought to myself, 'you're pushing too hard, you don't normally run this hard, you might throw up.' But then immediately I started thinking, 'this is the last run of the season, just run as fast as you feel you can, don't worry about what your pace is.' And I did just that. The sun was warm so I eventually took off my long sleeve jersey and passed it to my mom.
My run started out strong, every time I looked at my pace it was right around 8 minutes per mile. At first I thought to myself, 'you're pushing too hard, you don't normally run this hard, you might throw up.' But then immediately I started thinking, 'this is the last run of the season, just run as fast as you feel you can, don't worry about what your pace is.' And I did just that. The sun was warm so I eventually took off my long sleeve jersey and passed it to my mom.
The run course is two loops around the Denton ISD stadium and down a street. I've been spoiled by the Keller triathlons because the run course is in a gorgeous wooded park so running in a parking lot wasn't super engaging BUT the finish was so great here. You finish in the stadium, making it feel so official :)
I finished 5K in 24:47, second in my age group and with a 8 minute mile pace. I had to walk it out for a bit to let my body get used to the idea of not moving but I felt great! I had pushed myself just hard enough to feel exhausted but not far enough to feel sick.
I found my parents and Matthew (who came home early from his camping trip to cheer me on) and we chatted while I waited for my times to post. I can't explain how thankful I am to have parents who come out and cheer me on at literally everything I do. It's so awesome having such a supportive family. And of course I am so appreciate that Matthew not only came home early to cheer me on but hung around waiting for times even though the Cowboy game was starting soon.
When I went to go look at the times, I didn't think much about my rank, just wanted to see my overall time. But there it was, I was ranked 2nd! With an overall time of 1:35:57. I was so excited! I had spent the previous 2 days worrying about my performance due to my hip and it was all for not. Lesson learned: there is no point in worrying about something because in the end you have no idea how it's all going to turn out.
When I went to go look at the times, I didn't think much about my rank, just wanted to see my overall time. But there it was, I was ranked 2nd! With an overall time of 1:35:57. I was so excited! I had spent the previous 2 days worrying about my performance due to my hip and it was all for not. Lesson learned: there is no point in worrying about something because in the end you have no idea how it's all going to turn out.
What a way to end the season! Just the confidence boost I need as I get ready for New Orleans 70.3!