On Monday, I dropped 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and Carsen off at the airport and they spent the week up in Oregon with 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter's' dad. They went camping, rafting, and to the country fair- I was TOTALLY jealous!
Race day, we woke up early and headed down to Lake Mary, I was surprised at how dark and cold it was. While I was getting my transition set up, I realized I forgot sock to run in! 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' started taking off his shoes and giving me his Green Lateran socks, when a neighbor offered me an extra pair of socks she had- that were actually running socks. (This is why I love triathletes! Everyone helps everyone and they're just nice people.) I gratefully accepted, finished setting up, and headed down to the water with 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter'.
I waited for our wave to start with the other women and we all joked how it was warmer in the water. Off we went. I stayed focused and felt really good! About half way through the swim I felt an arm to the left of me and touched it so they knew I was there. I could stokes later *POW* they nailed me on my left eye. They hit me so hard I thought my goggles were going to be permanently stuck to my face. (I am not sure how this person was swimming to have swung their arm THAT hard-- especially when I just touched their arm and it was nothing like how hard I was hit.) I stopped,to make sure my goggles would come off to readjust my goggles and let them pass me. I was determined to not let this ruin my day.
I kept swimming and finished the swim feeling strong. Quickly got on my bike and headed out onto the course I was very familiar with. I pushed it as hard as I could going up the hills and didn't use my breaks coming down (I hate going downhill and usually ride the breaks the whole time). It paid off, I averaged almost 19 mph and finished with a bike time of 39:36!
Before I knew it, I was headed back into transition and saw 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and I left for the run. He told me if I wanted to place I needed to pass 2 people in my age group. Not thinking that would happen I nodded and took off.
((Side note:: I am a super friendly racer and tell everyone I pass (or people who pass me) 'good job!' or 'keep it up!' or something encouraging. It's something SO small- but it really makes a difference when I hear stuff like that, so I try to be that person too.))
So there I was, running away- trying to push the pace as much as I could since I knew it was only a 5K. I saw a women in a SUPER cute racing kit and I caught up to her just so I could tell her how cute it was! She thanked me and I saw her calf said 25 as I passed her. (Apparently, I forgot the breakdown of age groups and thought she was in the age group below me and not in mine.... for some reason I thought my age group was 26-30? Don't ask me why....but I told her to keep it up and kept going.)
I hit the halfway turn-around point and headed back for the finish. I saw a girl that had been walking/running ahead of me and finally caught up to her. Once again, her calf said 25 so I assumed she wasn't in my age group. I told we had less than a mile to go and to keep pushing, we were almost done. She told me I looked strong and tried to run- but then started walking again.
When I could finally see the turn for the finish, I realized I didn't see anyone in my age group and was bummed I wouldn't place. But then it dawned on me that my age group is 25-29 and I passed those 2 girls!! (Your brain doesn't really work when you are racing!) So when I saw 'Mr. Sprinkles and Glitter' and he started to sprint to the finish with me telling me how good I looked, I told him I think I passed 2 people like he told me to. He thought I did too and told me to go hard all the way to the finish and I took off.
I finished in 1:32:17. Not a PR, but I felt really good. We waited around for them to post my results and sure enough- third place. I was shocked. I don't really consider myself fast enough to ever place, but when there's only 10 people in the age group- I guess someone has to finish third! ;)
We hung out and waited for the award ceremony. Where I later left my phone on the table and when I came back for it the screen was smashed to pieces! Such a bummer! I really need to work on not forgetting my phone everywhere I set it down. :)
*Did you do anything fun this weekend?
*Did anyone else race? If so, how'd you do?
I waited for our wave to start with the other women and we all joked how it was warmer in the water. Off we went. I stayed focused and felt really good! About half way through the swim I felt an arm to the left of me and touched it so they knew I was there. I could stokes later *POW* they nailed me on my left eye. They hit me so hard I thought my goggles were going to be permanently stuck to my face. (I am not sure how this person was swimming to have swung their arm THAT hard-- especially when I just touched their arm and it was nothing like how hard I was hit.) I stopped,
((Side note:: I am a super friendly racer and tell everyone I pass (or people who pass me) 'good job!' or 'keep it up!' or something encouraging. It's something SO small- but it really makes a difference when I hear stuff like that, so I try to be that person too.))
So there I was, running away- trying to push the pace as much as I could since I knew it was only a 5K. I saw a women in a SUPER cute racing kit and I caught up to her just so I could tell her how cute it was! She thanked me and I saw her calf said 25 as I passed her. (Apparently, I forgot the breakdown of age groups and thought she was in the age group below me and not in mine.... for some reason I thought my age group was 26-30? Don't ask me why....but I told her to keep it up and kept going.)
I hit the halfway turn-around point and headed back for the finish. I saw a girl that had been walking/running ahead of me and finally caught up to her. Once again, her calf said 25 so I assumed she wasn't in my age group. I told we had less than a mile to go and to keep pushing, we were almost done. She told me I looked strong and tried to run- but then started walking again.
I finished in 1:32:17. Not a PR, but I felt really good. We waited around for them to post my results and sure enough- third place. I was shocked. I don't really consider myself fast enough to ever place, but when there's only 10 people in the age group- I guess someone has to finish third! ;)
*Did you do anything fun this weekend?
*Did anyone else race? If so, how'd you do?
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