Marquee Race Recap!! (2nd place!)

Holy guacamole! Today was such a FUN day! (I forgot what it was like to go into a race fully prepared and how much fun it is. ;) It's definitely been awhile for me! haha!!)

I decided to sign up for this race pretty last minute, but wanted to do a smaller, easier race as a confidence booster after my first DNF at Ironman New Zealand. I have a few Olympic races coming up, so I signed up for the Sprint.
The night before the race, we went to our friends wedding reception and had way too much fun! I love when all our friends are able to get together- I feel like it doesn't happen nearly enough!

We left the reception around 9:30pm and got In N' Out on the way home- I know, totally great pre-race fuel right?! I kept telling myself it was only a sprint, to try to feel less guilty about it. ;)

The race started ridiculously early, so we had woke up about 4:30am and got down to Tempe Town Lake around 5:40. ('Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' was not too happy about the early start time (especially for a sprint!) and joked that I better PR to make it worth it- or place!!)
I got my transition area set up and then met up with some friends before the race started. So, so, SO unbeleively grateful to have as many friends there as I did cheering me on! (And the entire Arizona crew from IMNZ was there too!!) I told them if they saw me out there to tell me to go faster and push the pace. ;) I was in one of the last waves, so I had awhile to wait.

Tribe's Facebook got a pic of all my people!! 

We finally got into the water and I started at the very front right next to the buoy, hoping I would be able to swim straight buoy-to-buoy. I did and it was awesome! I felt like I was holding a good pace and never felt tired or unfocused.

I quickly exited the water and saw our friend Todd (from IMNZ!), quickly said hi, got my wet suit stripped off and hurried into transition.
I quickly put my shoes, helmet, and glasses on and took off out of transition and got out on the bike. The bike was strange for me. I felt like I was by myself for a majority of the course. I would pass a few people here and see people heading the opposite way, but I've never been so alone in a race before, it was different- haha! When I was finishing up my last loop on the bike and making the final turn back to transistion, 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' was there was ALL of our friends who were screaming at the top of their lungs "GO KIM", "FASTER!" "PUSH IT! EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" I laughed, but threw a gear on and pushed the pace for that final stretch. My friends are seriously amazing!!

I LOVE when races have free photos!! 

Finished the bike and quickly made my way back into transition. 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' was shouting from the fence that I was doing a lot better than he thought, and I really needed to push it on the run. I knew I needed to, but was worried I wouldn't be able to with how hard I pushed it on the bike.
I flew out of transition passing 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' one more time, who yelled for me to "GO HARD!". I nodded and repeatedly told myself I only had to run 1.5 miles out and then I would be headed to the finish.
I tried to push the pace as much as I could (but looking back, I still think I know I could have gone faster). I made it to the turnaround and was happy to be headed to the finish.

I grabbed some water and set off to find 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter'. I ran into my friend Rachel (we did our first Ironman together) who moved to Wisconsin! I was SO surprised and excited to see her!
I found 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and he asked me what my time was- I had no idea, so we started walking over to the results area.

P.S. Do you like my new race glasses? 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter got them for me! (I think he was annoyed with me wearing my regular HUGE sunglasses for races! haha!!)

Along the way, we ran into Jamie (from IMNZ) and he asked what my number was. I told him and he got the most excited and happy look on his face! He was I was going to be pleasantly surprised with my result as I got 2nd or 3rd in my age group.
Shocked, I headed over to the monitor displaying the results, and sure enough I got 2nd place!!

I went into this race wanting a confidence booster and definitely got one! We waited around for the awards ceremony (all our friends waited too- and cheered ridiculously loud for me- I love them!) where I received the biggest (heaviest) medal I've ever seen and a 30% off coupon for Destination Kona- super excited to use that!

Such a fun race, everything went great. Everything was really organized and I don't think I could complain about anything. 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' brought out the GoPro and made this video of the race. It's awesome, check it out!!

*What do you usually eat before a race?

*What's your favorite part about racing? For me, it's when you're close enough to see the finish line.  ;)