I raced in the Madison Sprint triathlon this past Saturday. This has to be one of my favorite races and I think it's because this is where I got my start in triathlons. Two years ago, this was my first ever tri.
I had a too big Billabong shorty for the swim, a pretty decent road bike for the bike and a good outlook for the run. My swim was so bad my fiance thought I drowned out there after she didn't see me come in with the guys wearing my color swim caps, nor did she see me in the reds, greens and whites that came in later. It took me lots of doggy paddling and twenty five minutes to knock out that half mile. I did well on the bike and run but placed 125. After that I was hooked.
With my season winding down this was my second to last race of the year. It was hard getting out of bed at 4 am for the long drive, but as usual, worth it in the end.
Swim - 14:14
There was some hop when the race started a 7 am. I took off in the second wave and found clean water right away. I'm finding that I'm always nearly alone behind the lead pack but ahead of the second pack. .I took in some salt water before figuring out how to time the ups and downs. Hit the turnaround buoy and rode the waves in for a time of 14:41.
Bike - 39:07
The bike is fast and flat. After finally freeing myself of my strangling wetsuit I got on my bike and took off. I know this course pretty well having done it three times so I just tried to hammer my way through. Legs felt great and I caught a number of the faster swimmers in my wave and a ton of riders from the first wave. Cruised into T2 feeling great and barely winded at around 39 minutes. Racked the bike and shot out on the run. Fastest transition yet, 39 seconds.
Run - 21:25
I passed another Heatster right away but then pulled back some and just couldn't get my legs going. He caught me and I held his shoulder all the way to the turnaround. My legs started to loosen up and I decided to open it up more. I caught two or three guys ahead of me and decided to open it up more, maybe a little too late, with about 1/2 mile to go. I crossed the finish with a time of 1:16 good enough for 35 out of 350 and third in my age group.
This was my second age group win for the year. I placed third in my age group at this race last year as well.
