Rose City Triathlon Race Report

This was my last triathlon for the 2014 season and I had been working hard to get faster (especially on the run) so I had really been anticipating this race.  I have also been very busy at work and I was looking forward to going out of town with my friend, Andrea.  We are total opposites, I have an over organized Type A personality and she is a laid back Type B, it works out great! 

I took off work early Friday and had lunch with my husband, mother, grandmother, and Andrea at my aunt’s sandwich shop.  The trip was already starting off great!  Afterwards, Andrea and I drove to Tyler and stopped at Racket and Jog before chinking into the Sleep Inn.  The Sleep Inn staff was so nice and they had hot cookies at the front desk (always a plus for hungry triathletes)!  In previous years packet pick-up was at the hotel but this year it was at the race location in Whitehouse.  Since it was a new venue I was glad that we drove out that afternoon.  Packet pick-up was organized and efficient but it was raining and a little on the chilly side.  We got a nice ladies tech shirt, which was better than previous years where we all got a men’s size shirt.  I’m very petite and a men’s size small hung to my knees.  Next, we drove back to Tyler and ate at Jason’s Deli in honor of our Coach, Becky McMorries.  We made a quick stop at the grocery store before heading back to the hotel.

Race Day

I woke up at 5:00 am and turned on the coffee pot.  Then I got ready and we headed down to the car at 5:30 am.  Because our bikes were in our hotel room we had to make 2 trips.  Then we headed out to the lake.  The parking was very organized but once we got out of the car I realized they had parked me where someone had burned garbage and there was broken glass everywhere.  We very carefully un-racked the bikes, aired up our tires, and headed to transition.  Sitting up in transition was uneventful but as race time neared I could tell that it was getting colder.  I think it was around 62 degrees and for the first time ever I couldn’t wait to get in the water.  The water temperature was a warm 82 degrees and my age group was the last to start.

Swim: 16:31(2:32/M)

I wasn’t nervous at all.  I was just ready to get started.  Overall, my swim was good.  The wind was blowing pretty hard and I got off course a few times but the buoys were close together and easy to sight.  Others complained about the conditions but it was nothing compared to the Half Ironman in Galveston last April.  I finished the swim strong and ran to transition.  I’m finding that I’m not really that disoriented after the swim anymore.  I’m calm and focused on transition.

T1: 1:04

Bike:  41:31 (17.3mph)

I have made a lot of gains on the bike this year so I was looking forward to going fast!  The course was hilly but definitely faster than the old course.  I caught several people on the bike and I felt great!

T2: :41

Run: 25:37 (8:16) 

Ok, this is where I was looking to improve from my other races this year.   I felt great coming out of T2 but we had to run toward the lake and the wind had really picked up.  The course was OK but we kept having to run sown these cul-de-sacs which was really annoying.  I felt like I could really stretch out and run the last mile.

Overall, I placed 4^th in my age group, which is an improvement from my 5^th place finish last year.  With more hard work I plan to be on the podium next year.  Our NET team had a lot of racers and I enjoyed visiting with everyone.  Overall, it was a wonderful weekend.