2:06:15
5th place elite amateur
5th place elite amateur
www.satriathlon.com
wow! what a day! I did it last year and i was hoping to do better this year, but little did I know that I would PR by over 10 minutes!
I have so much to say about this weekend, i don't know where to start.....hmmm.... everything was great!!! the weather, the water, the wind, the expo, the people,....i just love everything about st anthony's- they put on a top-notch event.....oh, and finally, after a few weeks of me not feeling so good, i was beginning to feel a lot better.
the race:
The morining started off a little hairy, with my stomach not feeling right at all and many trips to the lovley port-o-podies, but i managed to make it to the starting line in the nick of time for my early wave start. this year i was in the elite amateur wave which left just after the pro's, instead of my usual age group which would be leaving over an hour and a half later. the water was 77 degrees and relatively calm which made for a great (and uneventful) wetsuit swim.
my transition seemed to go well, and I was onto the bike in a jiffy and was ready to put it down. however....it seems there were a few other girls with the same thing in mind, and they were tough to shake. in the first stretch of the bike, there are a lot of cobblestones, and i think all the bumps moved my computer magnet around - and voila - it wasnt working. so from the beginning, i would have no idea what my pace would be, so i would just have to go on feel. this has happened once before, and i had a great bike time - so i had that thought in the back of my head - staying positive - 'ill just have to go the fastest i can...'. well, i did. I tried to break away several times, but the others just held on. so, i just went, trying to push the pace and i felt fast the whole way. I ran into some trouble on the bike with some of the elite guys from the wave before raising havoc, blocking, passing on the right, and trying to cut me off --and all of the others girls around me (i found this out at the end).... one guy in particular kept getting passed, then wouldn't drop back, then he would pass and try to clip my wheel. it was surley one of the most aggressive bike courses I have ever ridden, and perhaps thats why the times were so smokin' fast. we were all tryng to get away from each other, but couldn't. plus, there are so many turns, it was hard to pull away over a long stretch. so....needless to say, there were a few of us who came into transition together off the bike - i know this, beacuse i saw them run by me in the beginning of the run! HA!
wow! what a day! I did it last year and i was hoping to do better this year, but little did I know that I would PR by over 10 minutes!
I have so much to say about this weekend, i don't know where to start.....hmmm.... everything was great!!! the weather, the water, the wind, the expo, the people,....i just love everything about st anthony's- they put on a top-notch event.....oh, and finally, after a few weeks of me not feeling so good, i was beginning to feel a lot better.
the race:
The morining started off a little hairy, with my stomach not feeling right at all and many trips to the lovley port-o-podies, but i managed to make it to the starting line in the nick of time for my early wave start. this year i was in the elite amateur wave which left just after the pro's, instead of my usual age group which would be leaving over an hour and a half later. the water was 77 degrees and relatively calm which made for a great (and uneventful) wetsuit swim.
my transition seemed to go well, and I was onto the bike in a jiffy and was ready to put it down. however....it seems there were a few other girls with the same thing in mind, and they were tough to shake. in the first stretch of the bike, there are a lot of cobblestones, and i think all the bumps moved my computer magnet around - and voila - it wasnt working. so from the beginning, i would have no idea what my pace would be, so i would just have to go on feel. this has happened once before, and i had a great bike time - so i had that thought in the back of my head - staying positive - 'ill just have to go the fastest i can...'. well, i did. I tried to break away several times, but the others just held on. so, i just went, trying to push the pace and i felt fast the whole way. I ran into some trouble on the bike with some of the elite guys from the wave before raising havoc, blocking, passing on the right, and trying to cut me off --and all of the others girls around me (i found this out at the end).... one guy in particular kept getting passed, then wouldn't drop back, then he would pass and try to clip my wheel. it was surley one of the most aggressive bike courses I have ever ridden, and perhaps thats why the times were so smokin' fast. we were all tryng to get away from each other, but couldn't. plus, there are so many turns, it was hard to pull away over a long stretch. so....needless to say, there were a few of us who came into transition together off the bike - i know this, beacuse i saw them run by me in the beginning of the run! HA!
the run started of a little rough - i was still hurting from the last few miles on the bike trying to shake the others. the top 5 elite amateur women came out of transition pretty much all together and settled into their respective paces quickly- leaving me trailing behind. i knew i would have to hold on if i wanted to be in the mix in the end, so i kept the last one in my sights for the remainder of the run. i tried to catch her at mile 4, but she saw me too, it was all i had to hang on. the run course was beautiful as usual, and there was a great deal of shade and a nice breeze at times.
i was stunned at the finish line when i saw my time was 2:06. i think it has to do alot with being surrounded by others at the same level with the same goals. the addition of the elite amateur wave was as close to racing pro as ever. just a taste of the fast pace and i absolutely loved it from start to finish. yeah, i could have done without those guys on the bike course, but all in all, i loved how it felt to chase and be chased. what a day!
Did i mention i qualified for Worlds in 2008?
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