Double Trouble - Race report

[Wahine]

So most of you know I did two races this weekend - back to back. I did a Sprint on Saturday and a Olympic distance on Sunday. So here it is...

The goal - to race an Oly on tired legs. Achieved. I have never hurt so much on the first 3 miles of a run. Well maybe I have, but I don't remember it being that bad.

The Sprint

Got to the race, perfect timing. Wave start. Cool as a cucumber.

Swim - Went really well. I caught up to a lot of the men in the wave ahead of me. Finished 800 m in 13:37, official pace was 1:33 for 100. The best I can figure is that they either did not include the run to the transition in the pace time or it's given for yds instead of metres. I passed at least 2 women in the chute headed for T1. Moral of the story - run through the chutes.

T1 - a little slow, but the runs between mats for the timing chip were long. 2:53. Body glide on the calves is essential.

Bike - I held my HR at just below lactate threshold, around 165. Pace 19.3 mph for 12 miles. Dead flat course and very little wind. I got passed by 3 ladies and passed 3, so overally held my placing. The lesson here, it's really easy to let your HR get too high. I had to really discipline myself to hold back a bit, knowing I would have to race again the next day.

T2 - uneventful. 1:57. Moral here, by having a quick transition I gained 72 spots over the entire field. Fast transitions matter in sprint races.

Run - OK, not as fast as I wanted, my official pace was 8:18 for 3 miles. I could've run harder but I held back, not wanting to toast my legs too much.

Total time : 1:21:36, 9/44 for my division.

Part 2 - Oly the next day

Did not sleep well, metabolism heating me up. Woke up to my Aunt flo. Arrrrrgggggghhhh!! I showed up a little late, thanks to my ride. I barely got it together to get my wetsuit on with about 3 min to spare before my wave start. Interestingly enough, I was still as cool as a cuke.

To be continued....