This morning started insanely early for me since I had to get up at 0415 to get to San Marcos by 0615. The transition didn't open until 0645 but I wanted to have ample room for getting lost, gas, etc. My girlfriend had to keep me calm because I was pinging all over the place due to being anxious about setting up my gear. I hoped to be one of the first athletes in the transition area so I could put my bike somewhere close to the T1 exit.
The swim was slightly nerve wrecking only because I have never had training on open water or how to sight. Maritza gave me a crash course on it and told me that the water was clear and to look for a sandy path that would help keep me out of the seaweed. The water was pretty chilly but not to the point where your muscles freeze up. It was wetsuit legal but I did not feel the need for one. The water was extremely clear and I could see seaweed, fish, the sandy bottom and the buoys easily. The water also wasn't extremely packed like I thought it would be. All in all I did pretty well on the swim and that was probably the best swim during a triathlon I have ever had. Made me never want to compete in a pool again, that's for sure. My time on the swim was: 12:27 for 500m
T1 was better than my last race. Ultimately, what takes me so longs is the fact I have cycling shoes and not tri shoes. Once I make that investment I know that my transition time will decrease significantly. This time I knew exactly where my bike and gear was and had no trouble getting out of T1. Of course it sucked that I had to stop and get on the bike instead of just hopping on but that will come once I get my shoes. T1: 1:53
The bike was not too bad except the road we were on had a lot of potholes, gravel, and was one lane for most of the ride. Cars would zoom past us and I thought one was actually going to clip me. I was doing great and after about 2 miles, Danny caught up to me and passed me. I knew that I would not see him for the rest of the race. Everything was good until about mile 6 when the hills started to come more often and for some reason it was hard for me to find the right gear. I put my chain on the small ring going up the hills which seemed to help but I kept hearing a really weird noise every time I did. Soon as I went back into the big ring the noise went away, so maybe I need to get my bike checked. The front right brake was rubbing up on the wheel without me pushing the brake in which startled me for the first 5-6 miles because I was not sure if it would press completely in or not. I rode aero most of the way which was nice since the wind was to my back on the way down. Once we did the loop and started going back there was a headwind that was terrible once I was in the open. My dismount was perfect this time and I was relieved to be off the bike but was glad that I was able to drink water. I kept getting really hot though and I also had a bee fly into my helmet and sting me which sucked, but I kept pressing through. Bike time: 46.24 for 12 miles
T2 was way better than last time! I was able to grab my race belt and slip on my shoes and get out of there in 19 seconds! Best T2 ever!
The run however, was horrendous! I thought it was on the trail which didn't seem too bad at first. There were a couple of huge puddles in the path which I ran through to cool me off a little bit. Then all of a sudden we were going up a trail...almost like a hiking path but there was a lot of vegetation to use as shade. The beginning of the trail was pretty slippery and I saw a couple of people slide, so I tried to be careful. At the top of the hill I asked on of the volunteers to pull the bee stinger out coz it was burning and I am allergic to bees; thank goodness I didn't have a reaction to this one! My optimism is hoping that maybe I am not allergic anymore...lol! The run had several hills on paved road which I was not expecting but they were not too unbearable. Then after the top everything was downhill except for one last hill right before the turn to the finish line. I saw a bunch of people struggling on the hills but I was struggling too. My calves kept tightening up and felt hard as a rock. They were not to the point of cramping but definitely were too tight. Once I passed the last turn marker I tried to look for the finish line and figure out where I could start my sprint. After I crossed the finish line my girlfriend came up to me and I began to lay on the ground in the shade, when she told me to walk it off. She took some amazing pictures of me even though my face looks terrible in them! My run time was: 29:53 for a 5k.
So as far as results go I placed 2nd in my age group, which is awesome! I had the fastest swim, T1, and T2 time in my AG as well. I placed 21st out of all females, which is not bad but I need to try and do a lot better than that. Overall it was a good race the only complaint I think I (as well as everyone) else had is that the chip timing reports were all messed up. People's chips did not match their bib numbers in the system and even after an hour after the last person they still had not figured everything out. Oh well, hopefully next year will be better.
