FUN FUN FUN!!!!! Did the Olympic Kerrville Triathlon on Sunday. Don’t race this distance very much but it’s so much fun! So the plan was just to go hard and see what I had.
The 1000 meter swim was in the Guadalupe River. My AG went off first, which was kind of odd, they usually stick the old chics at the end. But kinda fun to be first in the water. I was the 8th athlete in the water at 8:21. Started off strong. Made the first turn and no one around me. Told myself to keep up the pace, but with this staggered start, not a lot of competition around to feed off of. Hit the two halfways turns and finally some men from a later wave caught me. Saw the flags at the swim exit and just swam hard to those. Every time I turned my head to breath, I saw hundreds of bugs on the water. Ick. Then I swallowed one. UGH. Could feel it on the back of my throat. Tried to cough it out. Breathed again and got another one. Swim hard and get out Cheryl.
Exited and stood up feeling great. Looked at my watch to hit the button to move it to T1 and boo – I hadn’t started it right. Oh well. Started the run up the hill to T1. Got to my bike fast and was in and out quickly.
There wasn’t a cloud in the sky when I hit the water. Now the sky was complete cloud cover. Really very nice outside! Caught my breathe and started passing people. The first 14 miles of this ride were AMAZING!!!!! Fast and flat. I was able to shift into the right gear and get up to almost 30 mph. No wind, not hot, no big hills. Just FUN FUN FUN!!!! Made the first turn and hit chipseal. Not as much fun. Some windy roads, a few short steep hills, an out and back: so average speed went down. Got back to main highway taking us back to Kerrville and was able to push and pick it up again. Flew back into T2 sad this ride was over.
Very fast in and out here thanks to an outstanding end transition spot. The run was on trails around the river. Couldn’t figure out how I was doing because almost no one around me. At mile 2, a herd of white-tailed deer darted across the trail in front of me – very cool. It was very hot, but some nice shade spots on the course. Miles 1 and 2, I was at 10:45 pace, heartrate 163. A little high but I felt like I could keep it up. On mile 3, my Garmin died. Ugh – I had forgotten to charge it. So nothing to tell me my pace or HR – bummerssssss. Hard to gauge those things after a hard ride. Just keep your cadence up and push yourself I told myself. Got a side stitch about this point too – probably didn’t drink enough on the bike because it was so nice. So I made it a point to stop at every aid station and drink and dump some water over my head. They had aid stations every mile. Got back to the T2/festival area and then still had a 1.5 mile out and back to finish. UGH – it was hot. Without my watch, I had slowed down and my overall average pace was 11:15.
But despite the run being a little off what I wanted, my ride and swim were almost exactly what I wanted! I had hoped for a range or 3:04 – 3:18 finish for this race and I finished with 5 seconds to spare from my goal. I firmly believed I could do what I had planned and I did!!!!!
Very thankful for Coach Jana working with me on my run and bike. Run has a way to go, but feeling so much better about it right now. And I’ve made some good progress on my ride that past few months as well. And I won’t complain about a 24 minute swim – solid effort and I felt really strong and got out of the water in great shape!
Didn’t worry about the competition or stress about where I ranked at this one. But very grateful and happy I came in 3rd in my AG with that 3:18. I know I still have a lot of improvement in me but this was a good step in the right direction.
This was one of the best organized and fun races I have every done – highly recommend!!!!
Now it’s off season. Gonna to do some strength work; lots of yoga; keep training but not as hard or long. Couple of 5Ks. Cool bike camp in Moab in November. Will put together a plan for 2023 soon and set about crushing those goals.
Headed to Kona next week to watch the World Championships. Several friends and coach Jana racing – this should be crazy fun for someone who LOVES TRIATHLON.
ironcheryl2018 