Hot off the press [click on the whole slide show for bigger pictures in Picassa]:
Don't have a lot of time to write but here are some quick impressions.
I've been nervous about this for weeks, primarily the swim, but also just the whole thing. There are lots of details to remember about each segment as well as transitions and I was sure I'd forget something, but nope, I pulled it off. Jim gave me great coaching on all of it, and I read and reread everything, visualized it, and was able to go on a bit of autopilot.
The swim (750m) was great. Not quite the mass chaos I had feared thanks I guess to the wave starts. Yes, I had a few people about swim over me and I about did the same to others, but quickly we spread out and found our rhythms. I swam around floaters, backstrokers, and the like. I enjoyed the 85 degree water, and doing what I had practiced - reaching, gliding, rolling, and before I knew it I was finished and coming out of the water in a sea of blue caps that told me I had finished with at least some of the folks from the previous wave that started five minutes ahead of me. That pushed me on a bit as I ran to transition.
The bike phase was only 13.5 miles, shortened from the original due to construction. There were some slight grades, but riding around the hills here prepares you for most anything. I love the hills, but some of my fellow participants must have had other feelings toward them! I just focused on high cadence and staying aero and tucked. After a successful flying dismount (still new to those), I racked the bike and onto the run!
With the run (5K) I settled into my happy pace pretty quickly and then never left it. Mile splits were 7:18, 7:22 and 7:10. Just focused on cadence, breathing, and passing people. And pass them I did!
Then before I knew it, the race was over, and I headed directly back to the lake for a nice little soak. The awards ceremony was held and shockingly I won the women's master novice division. But we all know a better athlete could have shown up and blown me away so placing is arbitrary. I did run the race we had planned for, crossed my t's and dotted my i's, gave it everything I had, and had a good positive energy throughout. It was a great culmination to a fabulous summer training journey in the gym, on the roads, and in the pool.
This was a definite group effort, to get me from injured reserve to triathlete in one summer. Thanks to Jim, to Jake, to Robert and the kids, my family and friends, and all who encouraged (or refrained from impeding) this experience. I can't explain WHY I am this way, but I definitely love these opportunities to strive, to push, to sweat, to challenge myself. I hope that what I do might help encourage others to seek and pursue these opportunities. I just needed a little push (OK, SHOVE, thanks, Jake) in the right direction to discover this amazing source of peace and contentment.
Look for me in the Virginia Triathlon series next year for SURE!
Results: http://www.setupevents.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=event_detail&eventID=1181#results-text
[Swim 16:25][T1 2:02][Bike 41:09]
[T2 1:18][Run 22:03][TOTAL 1:22:54]
1/36 in Master's Novice Women (7th in swim; 1st in bike; 1st in run)
2/136 overall Novice Women (38th in swim; 2nd in bike; 4th in run)
