4:00 AM came very quickly. I hopped in the car and made the 90 min. drive to Socorro, NM. I have done this race many times and didn't feel particularly nervous..I was mostly exhausted and not too psyched for this day..
Pre-race: Seemed like a big rush to get my stuff ready. The race started early this year. I jumped in the pool and warmed up. There was a time trial start and I had seeded myself pretty fast up near the front-number 86. I felt really confident about the swim. I have been swimming more than anything else these past 4 weeks so wanted to do well at least in the first leg. Before I knew it I was off! I took off at a medium pace and after about 50 meters, a guy passed me. I thought I could draft off of him for awhile to save energy. I think this was a mistake as he slowed down eventually and I passed him again. I picked it up the last 50 meters..Thinking I had really nailed the swim, I looked at my watch and alas, I was about 40 seconds slower than I wanted to be.
400 meter swim time: 7:59
T-1-I forgot where my bike was. How many times have I made this mistake? Geez!
time: 1:50
Bike: I took off and almost immediately fell off my bike getting on. Not a good beginning..The first half of the bike is much uphill so I felt like I was going a snail's pace. A few folks passed me but I managed to pass a couple of people. There was much of a headwind on about half the course but thankfully on the downhill..After what seemed like an eternity, I finished the bike zooming down the hill and I was in T-2. I did not look at my watch, I was so afraid my time was so slow. Mentally, I was so tired and trying to psych myself up, telling myself I was not really on my "A" game today, this was just for fun and I would probably not have my fastest time.
To my surprise I found out later my bike time for 20k: 42.21 min. Not my best but surely not my worst..
T-2: Again seemed like it took me forever to get all my stuff on and head out to the other end of transition for the run: 1:42
Run: I really need to work on my mental game for this leg of triathlon. I started out with the Oh shit I hate this! My left leg, the one that has been giving me fits for weeks now, immediately started hurting. Oh crap and now another death march! I made myself run and just kept running, walking the water stops and part of a short hill. I passed 2 people, surprisingly. I looked at my watch when I started the run and it said 50 something minutes..hmmm...maybe not as slow as I thought! I knew if I could do 10 min miles I would finish under 1:30, which would be a good day for me. As I rounded the corner to take it on in to the finish, I picked it up and passed another person. It is hard to tell how you are doing in against your competition in this race, as everyone is seeded differently but I did see one woman in my AG at the end of my run, just starting out, obviously injured or something, because she was barely running, more like hobbling so I knew I had beat her..
Finally I made got there.
Run time: 31.22 min. Not quite 10 min. miles but almost. I'll take that..
Total time: 1:25:11
Much better than I thought I would do, given the circumstances. There were folks who were seeded way back that were just coming in from the bike. I knew that H was back holding down the fort with one tired 5 year old, so I hightailed it back to ABQ, not knowing where I placed or if the team had won the title.
Back to reality at home, I was kept very busy by Lane, who seems to have the energy of 100 triathletes. Maybe we should have had her race? After a bit, I got the news that I placed 3rd in my AG-Whoo-hoo!!! My first podium award of the season. Finally!!
While we were at Chuck E. Cheese with Lane for dinner, (which I do not recommend going to on a Saturday night), Mark emailed me with the final results. I looked at the hobbling woman and saw she had beaten me by 33 seconds! What?!? I found this hard to believe. As I looked at the results, I saw that I beat her on the swim, transitions and bike. Then it showed her having a 23 minute run?!? That is wrong, I know it. Now this is hard to believe as I have raced her many times and know she does not run 7 min miles. ALSO I saw the woman HOBBLING on the run..So now I got pissed! How could she get the award if she really did not get 2nd place? Did she know it was wrong and didn't say anything...
After mulling this around in my head, I emailed the RD. I am not sure if she would come clean but if she doesn't then I would be robbed of my second place! Not that it makes any real difference but it is the principle of the thing at this point..
So today I am hanging out with Lane, our last full day together..She has been a joy however Grandma is tired!
Next week back to Ironman training as my monthly totals in July were very low because I took 2 weeks off. Back on the horse!
OH AND WE WON THE TROPHY!!
