First TRI of 2018! I love this event. However, it's usually very cold on race morning. We've typically been standing around glad to be in our wet suits to try to stay warm! But this year was totally different! A huge front came in the area on Friday night and led to rain most of the night and Saturday morning. I debated on not even driving the 90 miles to the race. The forecast was still calling for 80-90% chance of rain at race time with high humidity. I even thought about just stopping in Hattiesburg on my drive and running the half marathon there that was also the same day. I hated that both races were the same day because I like to do both of them. I decided to go on to the coast and hope for the best at the TRI. Maybe because now that I have a coach I feel a little more accountable to what I do... hee hee Otherwise I might of just talked myself into staying in that warm bed until mid day when the rain went away. :<>)
It rained off and on the whole drive. I was so dreading the bike ride on the wet roads! When I arrived at the race site and headed to transition, I heard them announcing that they had pushed the race start back to 8:30am because the weather looked like it might clear at the point. It was 6am when I got there so now I had a good long wait till race time. It was still raining so most of us sit in our cars. Heck, no one even put there stuff in transition until the last minute except for their bikes. Most went ahead and took their bike in, but did not take their running shoes, etc. No one wanted them to sit there in the rain while we waited for race time. So I sat in my car and read my devotion and prayed. I actually hoped they would just cancel the race and then I wouldn't have to get on my bike on the wet roads. I couldn't remember exactly how hilly the bike route was, but didn't look forward to flying down a hill when the road was wet. I get nervous enough flying down a hill. Yep, I'm one of those crazies that will actually tap my brakes to slow myself down when going down a big hill. Have you ever looked at how skinny those bike tires are??? LOL
This was my devotion. and I'll never forget what my coach, Lisa said... "remember... y'all are all in it together". I wasn't the only one dreading the rain at the race. Matter of fact, after the race I heard so many talking about how they almost didn't come due to the rain. :>)
As we finally lined up to start the swim, I heard one man say, "I can't remember the last time I swam in the rain". It was still sprinkling, but by the time they made the announcements and was ready to start the race, the rain quit. But I was still nervous about biking. LOL When I entered the water and my face went under...boy it was a shock. It was COLD> ha I had not done a practice swim due to the rain. It seemed everyone just sat in their cars. Usually you'll see people jogging or swimming to warm up. My swim was ok. No panic attacks. My time wasn't as good as last year, but close. I was however thinking about my ironman that I'm training for and how I was going to have to swim over 4,000 yards for that and this sprint was only 600 yards. Talk about scaring me. LOL Thankful that I have a good 25 more weeks to train before ironman. I will accomplish that 2.4 mile swim somehow! I may have to swim on back, side, free style, whatever.. but I plan to finish it!
Ok.. back to this race. ... Once out of the water, I hurried to transition. Because it was still raining at 8:15 when we had to leave our stuff in transition, most people had left their stuff in garbage bags to keep it dry. I had done the same. So I had to start getting my stuff out of my bag to get ready to get on my bike. Took a little longer than I would have liked, but best I could do due to rain. I was finally off on the bike. The roads were wet and I was COLD after coming out of that water. I quickly warmed up though once I hit the main road out of Traditions subdivision. The rolling hills started. They were constant. I kept reminding myself to just pedal and stay alert due to the wetness. I was shocked when I looked down at my watch to see that I was averaging a pretty good pace. At times going up the hills it felt like I was going 2mph. I had to stand up on 3 hills to push to the top. I actually didn't feel like I caught my breath since the start of the race until about mile 9 on the bike. It was then I finally felt like I settled in on my breathing. I think all that sitting in my car was a bad thing. I should have warmed up and got my heart pumping before the race started!
Boy I was shocked to have this pace on a wet road. I was just thrilled! I think it made me hurry in transition to get on the run. :>) I kept thinking that it just might be possible that I could come out in the top 10 in my age group. There are usually some very fast TRI women in my age group! Seems the older we get the faster they get! Last year my hip was bothering me so bad that I mostly walked the run so this year I was determined to have a good run. And I did. It felt good to run even after getting off the bike. I managed a 9:36 pace overall on the run. I was just tickled pink about that too! :>)
It felt good to cross that finish line and I was so shocked after I went and changed clothes and came back to find out that I had placed 3rd in my age group! Wow!!! 2nd time for me place in a short distance TRI.
Notice that I'm 6 mins behind the 1st place winner... these girls are fast!
Our cute award. An alligator painted on a piece of wood. :>)
My cousin was also racing. I couldn't find her anywhere when I finished which was unusual. She is so much faster than me in swim that she normally finishes way before me. I finally saw her coming in and went and meet her at the finish line. She had a flat tire on her bike. She doesn't like to change her own tires so she waited for someone to come do it. She laughed and told me how she knew I could change a tire because she's watched me do it on the trace before, but she had no desire too if someone else could do it for her. LOL Somehow, even with her flat time, she managed to get 2nd place in her age group. :>) We had someone take our picture before we loaded up to head home.
She always encourages me. She's done a full ironman and has been giving me all kinds of tips.
Well, that's a wrap for the race. I was glad the rain had tapered off and I felt really good about my performance and couldn't wait to tell Lisa so I sent her a message. She was just thrilled.
If you would have asked me 5-6 years ago if I would be doing TRIs, I'd say HECK NO ... boy time can change a lot. You are never too old to go for a new dream or new goal! Especially with God by your side. :<>)
HAPPY TRAINING!
D
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