Memphis In May Sprint Tri

This is part 1 of my first double ever. I am not doing the amateur challenge (sprint + oly), but I am doing the bike portion of a kick ass female relay tomorrow. So, this is my first weekend to ever race back to back. Bring it!

First- and most importantly. I have GREAT friends. I saw so many people today that I love- what a great crowd at the race. Chad (thank you for the help this morning), Darin (thinking of you), Melanie D. (what a kick butt race! you are looking great!), Joel (thank you for bike support!) all of my Thunder friends, all of my Terrapin friends, all of my Infinity Multisport friends, Rachel R (sucks about the flats...we will get them tomorrow), Lindsey A (great job on your first tri!), etc, etc, and especially to my team Los Locos- a huge, awesome support group (with the exception of Miles who didn't bother to tell me good job or go Damie or anything as he passed me on the bike- he has already been reprimanded for that one). I love my teammates!!!!!!!

Damie and Laura- no Joy. She is on her honeymoon. :)))

Laura and I wore our team SPLISH suits! We love, love them- and no one else is wearing one, so we are like twinkies! They were so comfortable and easy to wear- AND- if you need to squat behind a tree on a covert bathroom mission, you can- unlike a tri-suit. I'm just saying....

So, I went out extremely easy on the swim to the first turn buoy. I was determined rid myself from last race's swim curse, and I made a plan to get to the first buoy like I was warming up, and then I could hammer home. I didn't panic at all, so curse over, and next race I look forward to taking it out a little faster. I know I can net an overall faster swim time than I did today, but I was willing to sacrifice some time to have a happy swim. Came out 6th in age group.

The bike was an easy, flat course. I unfortunately had to play leap frog with a girl in my age group for half of the bike, and I finally gave up, dropped back and just stopped trying to pass for a while since she would just immediately pick up the pace to get back in front. Towards the end, we picked up another girl in our age group on the course who joined in at our speed. I waited until we got to the last hills, I mean bumps, and pushed hard to get over them and away from the other two girls. It was a good tactical move- I left them and had a clear ride to T2. Jumped into 3rd place in age group.

And then the run. Humid and tough cross-country run. The two girls from the bike caught me pretty quickly- so much for my smooth move on the bike! I really did try to keep them in my sight, but they KILLED me on the technical parts of the cross country course. Well, they really killed me on the whole course- they were at least 30 seconds per mile faster than I. I never did pick it up out there and never felt like a runner. I was quickly facing the facts that I am no longer a runner, I am the girl that everyone runs down. I started to have some negative thoughts creep in, but I was able to rein them in and just tell my legs to do the best that they could, and we would continue to work on the run through out the year. And you know, my run is not horrible, it is just not competitive. I dropped back to 5th place in my age group for the finish.

And it is all good stuff. :) I did break my goal of sub 1:09- with a 1:04:42. I enjoyed the competition so much- it is so nice to have a break from the local scene and just get in the mix with some really great athletes.

And of course I am super motivated to improve my run, but I have thought it through and there is NO shortcut and NO easy way there. So, I cannot expect huge improvements this year and I must be realistic with my expectations. And I am cool with that. I know that it takes TIME to drop time, especially if you have been running for a long time. But, I am definitely feeling mentally ready to work on the run- and the knee did not hurt today which is a good indicator that maybe I can start adding in a few miles or another run per week. No pressure- no worries.

And- on to the BIG day tomorrow, as I again am stoked to have some great relay partners- and I mean they are so awesome I am totally the third wheel that will have to work hard to not screw it up. :) I am not sure how to TT 23 miles tomorrow after racing today, and I am sure it will kind of suck, yet be rewarding at the same time. So funny how athletes justify craziness.

Time for a nap!!!!!!!!!