My Second Tri - Race Recap

Yesterday was my second triathlon.  It has been 3.5 months since my first one. Again I entered the sprint triathlon -  Half mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and 2.8 mile run.  Unlike the first time, this race was co-ed. It was held at Moss Park in Orlando, FL.  

 The good news is I improved my time!!  I dropped 13 minutes in the bike portion alone.   I attribute this to my new bike and the fact that I have actually spent a good deal of time on it.  I improved my swim time too, but I knew what it would be like swimming in open water this time.  

I wasn't too pumped about this race because I knew it would be hard, harder than I push myself in training.   I got to the race @ 6am got my body marked and set up my gear in the transition area.  

We met on the beach @ 6:45 for a pre race meeting and the first group went off at 7:00am.

I was in the second wave(yellow caps).  The guys went first.  The water in the lake was brown.  We did have thunderstorms the night before, so maybe that made it worse, but I didn't expect to see anything anyway.  Unlike my first tri, the thought of swimming in a lake with alligators was on my mind. Other racers where telling stories about alligator encounters.  I told myself that if I wasn't first or last I'm sure I didn't look any more delicious than anyone else.  I preferred the ignorance of my first race as far as this was concerned.

The water was warm and I tried to find an open space to swim. Swimming in a straight line isn't as easy as you would think.  I gave it all I had and was happy to be back on shore. We had to run down the beach and through the woods to get back in the transition area.

I  dried my feet, got my socks and shoes on, put on my helmet and sunglasses and grabbed my bike.
Once on the bike, I went to start my odometer/speedometer and it wasn't there.  I was bummed because I wanted to track my distance and speed.  I thought I may have knocked it off in the transition area.  The route was a back and forth, so I at least I would know the halfway point.  I tried to find a maintainable speed and worked on hydrating.

For the majority of the race I was neck and neck with a 55 year old man who would speed up every time I tried to go by him.  I found this annoying especially when he decided to spit when I was behind him  EEWWW!   That was the final straw for me I dug deep and kicked it up enough to pass and stay past him.  Pheww.   While riding I noticed my socks were soaking wet.  I don't know if I didn't dry off enough or if sweat was dripping down my legs.  Either way, I was hoping it wouldn't interfere with my run.

Upon entering transition I went slowly looking for my lost odometer...no luck.  I racked my bike, dropped my helmet and headed out for the run.

The running path was mostly tree covered, which was great.  The surface was packed gravel and dirt with some puddles.  I usually run on cement so this was different for me.   The first mile was tough, but I found my pace and just kept putting one foot in front of the other.  I so wanted to walk, but didn't want to disappoint myself, so  I kept running.  I gave one last push at the end and finished with a time of 1:22:05.  Good enough for 4th place in my age group.(2 seconds away from 3rd, but I'm trying not to regret the time I wasted looking for my odometer. Especially since we found it in the back of the truck after the race.)

I was exhausted at the end and didn't really feel too well.  I was drinking G2 during the race and don't know if I had enough or too much.  I am not very good about properly fueling...something I need to work on.

I am happy to see improvement in my performance, and I didn't have any contact with an alligator so it was a good race.

Tomorrow starts my marathon training so today I am enjoying the day off :)