Danskin Recap

Pre-race-

Woke up around 4.  Had coffee and  peanut butter/banana toast for breakfast, got dressed and headed out.  I met up with Erika around 5:15 and we walked down to transition.  I was worried about parking but it was pretty uneventful.

We arrived at transition a few minutes before it opened. That has never happened before.  Once it opened I got my stuff set up.  Again, uneventful. 

Since I registered the day before I was stuck in the last wave of individuals.  This was about an hour after the first wave.  Thankfully they didn't close transition, so I was able to keep my warm clothes on until the last minute.   

Swim-

I knew this was going to suck. Being in the last wave of a big "first timers" race is not the best spot to be in if you're a decent swimmer.  The first quarter wasn't bad.  Then I hit a traffic jam.  I ended up swimming REALLY wide to try to avoid everyone.  I was extra cautious not to run into or over people because I knew most of the ladies still in the water were having a hard time.

Time-15:38

Rank- 112/1529 over all

They don't break down each event by AG.  There were too many people for me to figure out my AG rank. 

T1- 

The run from the lake was pretty far.  I was pretty quick getting my shoes and helmet on.  Not much I could have done to make this faster.  Maybe run faster from the lake.

Time-2:42

Bike-

I really wanted to ride fast.  The course was pretty flat except a short steep climb up to 90.  This was tricky because there were a few people riding very slow and a couple getting off their bikes to walk. I was able to get around everyone without much of a problem.  There were a lot of people on the course but the lanes were wide enough that passing wasn't too much of a problem.  There was a crazy crosswind coming back across the 90 bridge.  Other than that it was a pretty easy ride.

Time-38:02

MPH-19.4 (This is really fast for me)

Rank 84/1529 (my bike rank has NEVER been better than my swim)

T2-

This is slower than it should have been.  It took forever to get my socks and shoes on.  I also had problems running with my bike.  Not sure if my legs were tired or what.  I need to work on this.  

Time-1:46

Run-

My legs felt much better than I expected. It took a few minutes but I found my stride pretty early.  I looked at my Garmin at mile 1. I was at a 8:50 pace and was super happy about it.  Shortly after that, my Garmin died.  My legs felt good the whole race.  My lungs were a different story.  I'm coming down with a cold or something and breathing wasn't easy.  There was a hill at 2.5 miles.  That sucked.  I forced myself to run the whole way, but a few people passed me on the hill. I pushed as hard as I could after the hill.  All in all, a great run for me.

Time-26:24

Pace- 8:30/mile

Rank-183 (sucks to lose 100 places on a 5k run)  

Overall Time-1:24:33

Overall Rank- 70/1529

Age Group Rank- 10/142

I am super pleased with this race.  I couldn't have asked for more.  I'm hoping this race will give me the motivation I need to jump start my training.