Saturday morning the rain continued to fall and it was cold, but by 5.20am we were on our way to Emmett for "Emmetts Most Excellent Olympic Distance Triathlon. I had not completed an Olympic Distance Triathlon since March. I knew I would be able to swim and cycle no problems, but today I was going to attempt to run the 10km. I had no idea what to expect.
The rain continued to fall lightly throughout the morning and the 2 different transition areas required some forward planning to be ready of time. After dropping my shoes at T2, John and I made the decision to ride to T1. It seemed like a good idea at the time, except half way there the skies opened and the rain came down. By the time I had reached the start line I was soaked through and shivering cold!
Lesson Learnt!!
Finally, I realised I would be warmer in my wetsuit so changed early and "borrowed" a volunteers shirt to wear as well.
I was in the water early (which was actually quite warm) and felt good during my warm up, and ready to go!
3,2,1, we were off and so was I! I went hard at the start and then was conscious of trying to find some fast feet to hang on to. There was one girl in a team who went flying past so I tried to hang on but she was too quick for me. It was to be a solo 1500m TT. No probs, just what I need!
Running into T1 I actually had one of my better swim to bike transitions! Finally I am getting better at taking my wetsuit off!
Compared to last weeks race the bike was relatively flat. But it was deceiving with a nice tail wind on the way out, then after a few out and backs there was a lovely head wind. I felt good on the bike and as always warmed up and felt better as the ride continued. One mistake I did make though was not drinking enough! Fine, I can get away with this in an Olympic Distance race, but anything longer and I would have suffered later on.
My T2 was not so as smooth as I would have liked! Entering transition I had taken note of land marks of where my gear was, considering that most shoes were all wrapped in plastic bags everything looked the same. But with the crowd blocking my land marks, I stuffed up and took a good 30-45 seconds longer than I should have! Bugger!
No big deal you may say, but I knew that there were some fast runners behind me (Jenny Tobin!) and I knew that if I wanted any chance of maybe winning I would need a huge lead off the bike. I did not think I had enough!
The first few steps after cycling hurt, I was limping a little bit and the groin seemed to be pulling, I took it easy, one foot in front of the other and found as I went along it began to feel better. Not completely pain free but a dull ache. I was conservative the first lap of 5km and was concentrating on high cadence and my technique. I was no longer concerned about winning, but more excited about just completing the event. At the turn around I all of a sudden saw Jenny and she was flying, it didn't look like her feet were even touching the ground! We run passed each other and I commented "I will see you soon!"
For the next lap I was continued to concentrate on my form and was waiting for the flying Jenny to come past me. With a mile to go I decided to look back and I couldn't see her! Maybe I do have a chance. I picked it up a bit and found another gear for the last kilometre or so and was so excited to cross the line only 3 1/2 minutes from my PB over the Olympic Distance.
Boise Tri Cub Members dominated the podium which was an awesome effort as the race also doubled as the Idaho State Championships.
Kyle dominated the men's race!
It was so exciting to be back into it! Yes, I did pull up a little sore! More so in my right bum cheek from the initial limping than anything else. The groin feels exactly the same, no worse, no better. Which I see as a good sign.
An easy recovery spin today and a challenging Yoga session really stretched me out and I will continue to ice and stretch a lot over the next few days.
It is now time to start doing those 1% that I have been neglecting but still continue to enjoy this amazing adventure which is my life!!
P.S. YAH! The Eagles had another victory! Better late than never!
