Cooper Summer Sprint Tri- Missed 3rd in AG by 4 SECONDS!

[KSH]

So, it only took me 5 years to become pretty decent at this stuff. HA! This race was a PR for me. I have NEVER run this fast in a race. Ever. EVER.

Triathlon - Sprint
Total Time = 1h 11m 6s
Age Group Rank = 4/36

Swimming
00:06:13
382.76001 yards
01m 37s / 100yards
Age Group: 2/36

T1- 1:13

Biking
00:36:24
12 miles
19.78 mile/hr

T2- 1:30

Running
00:25:46
03.1099999 miles
08m 17s min/mile


Pre-race routine:

Got to race site, and setup my transition area. I look and there was Dave Young (a Masters swim coach- and a fast swimmer!) beside me. He's talking and says, "WOW, some people really fudged their swim times. We have some liars in this group. Ha-ha." I was agreeing with him and then realized, I was seated 5 spots above him. He was seated #29 I was #23. CRAP! Maybe I was the liar!



Event warmup:

Once my transition was all ready I headed over to the pool to get warmed up. It takes me a good 1,000 meters to really start feeling good in the water. I did 800 meters as my warm-up. I felt OK, but not great in the water.

I just knew that once I got in that water I would have to HAUL BUTT.



Swim

Got in line and when it was my turn to go I hopped in and hauled butt. I was so worried about the guys behind me swimming over me just to be @ssholes to the girl who put down her swim time a little fast... my poor little legs were shaking as I was swimming!

I don't do flip turns in races, because it's a hassle going under the lane ropes. So each turn off the wall was pretty slow. I was also checking behind me at the turns to see who was going to overtake me.

Although not a great pool swim time, I did a decent job of holding my spot. Only got passed by 2 people... or was that 3? I do know that Dave Young did not pass me until around the last 25 meters. So I was happy about that.

Even though I didn't have a great swim, I was still 2nd place in my age group. Although, the ladies in my AG aren't really fast swimmers- which is nice for me!


Bike

The bike course was very odd. A lot of turns. I was out in front of the pack so luckily I didn't have a lot of people to dodge. I can see where that course would get very crowded and hard to maneuver though.

I got passed by a few guys on the bike, it's to be expected. No girls passed me. Not one.

My goal was to keep a 19-20 mph average and I was doing it perfectly. I felt like I pushed it as my breathing was pretty labored. I was worried how that might affected my run. Usually when I'm breathing that hard on the bike, I have a horrible run with a miserable side cramp.

Towards the end of the bike I guess I got warmed up some, because I wasn't panting like a dog anymore. HA!

BTW- I ranked myself at 4th for the bike in my AG, but 3 of us had a 19.8 mph average. If I can get over the 20 mph average, I'll be good for ranking top in my age group.

Saw the bike finish, ran in and racked the bike.



Run

Started out on the run and my goal was to keep a 9 minute mile or faster. I was hoping for close to a 8:30-:40 minute mile.

Since I was so far in front of the pack, I was out there alone for the most part. I had a few guys pass me, but no girls.

I passed some volunteers and was told, "You are second place female". WHAT? I have NEVER been told that on a race course! But I knew that didn't mean I would win anything, since it was a pool swim.

Kept running and focusing on my pace. Came to the second aid station and walked for a few seconds to drink. There was 4 seconds lost. Started running again.

There were some long inclines on the run course but also some nice downhill sections. Of course the word "hill" is rather strong. Not really hills but noticeable sections where I had to work harder or where it got easier.

Finally saw the finish line coming up and pushed it till the end. I crossed and saw my time. WOW! I PR'ed! YES!



Post race

Walked around, chatted with Jen and then Jonny and Gary showed up! It was so nice of them to show up! Jonny meant to watch me finish, but I was just too fast for him, ha! It was nice getting to talk to him about my race though!

I decided to wait for the awards because I felt like I MIGHT have placed in my age group.

I heard the time for master's female being 1:11:04. I was 2 seconds off her time! But when I heard it I missed "masters" and thought I was almost the overall female winner. Ooopsss!

Then my age group came up. AND... that's when I learned that the girl who got 3rd did so with a 1:11:02. My time was 1:11:06. Yep, missed placing in my age group by 4 seconds. Great.

So, while I PR'ed I guess it was bitter sweet. I shouldn't have walked on the run to drink. I should have kicked it harder. Blah-blah-blah. Oh well, I did PR this race and I'm proud of my performance!

[Tri Girl]

Holy smokies!!! That's an AWESOME time!!! I can't believe you missed 3rd by only 4 seconds. You could always do the "what-ifs," but you kicked some serious tail out there. You PR'd- that's INCREDBILE!!!! I can only dream of being that fast, so tremendous kudos to you.

Sorry you didn't get 3rd; I know that's very disappointing.

[colby]

WOW, nice work KSH! Awesome run (I'm all about admiring the fast sprint run)

4 seconds off, so frustrating. But dang, SPOT ON everywhere else. Congrats!!

[KSH]

Holy smokies!!! That's an AWESOME time!!! I can't believe you missed 3rd by only 4 seconds. You could always do the "what-ifs," but you kicked some serious tail out there. You PR'd- that's INCREDBILE!!!! I can only dream of being that fast, so tremendous kudos to you.

Sorry you didn't get 3rd; I know that's very disappointing.

Well in a pool swim it's so hard to KNOW who is where. I didn't know I needed to kick it in a little bit more to move up to 3rd. *Sigh*

I mean, I was 2nd female on the run and no females passed me on the run (or the whole race!). I just had no clue where I was age group wise.

Oh well, I had a great race and I'm still completely pumped about how awesome my run went.

[Alex]

Congrats, KSH. Glad no one swam over you. (I was just reading the swimming over thread on BeginnerTriathlete. Yikes!)

Alex

[HillSlugger]

Congrats on a great race and an awesome run!

[OakLeaf]

Great job KSH.... amazing run especially!

[divingbiker]

I'm impressed!

[fatbottomedgurl]

Wow you are fast! Thanks for posting those numbers- something to aspire to!

[Iris616]

Congratulations!
Great race report. I'd be relentless on myself about the 4 second stop for water...I think it's natural.
Really great job, and if you hadn't stopped, you might've slowed down in the end anyway

[KSH]

Thanks for all the kind words ladies!

I just want to say... if I could get better and faster... ANYONE can!

That 8:17 mm on the run came from a girl who was doing walk/run sessions in the 11 mm mile range!

I got a stress fracture at my marathon in May and I think it was a blessing! I took 6 weeks off and I came back... and it's like I'm a runner now. Something flipped in my head. I have a focus now on the run that I didn't have before.

Now, I still worry about injury from running- I'm paranoid about it... because I have dealt with getting injured year after year.

So yeah... it only took me 5 years to get decent at this tri stuff... HA!

My friend said that next year I need to ditch the distance stuff and focus on the short stuff. He might have a point!

I'm eyeing my next race and thinking about how I can trim off time. First thing I need is some shoe laces that I do not tie. That killed me in T2 on this last race. The socks took time too, but I won't ditch those.

[JH-NV]

impressive!! I ran 8 min/mil......18 years ago !!!! I liked your detailed report. I like details.