Race prep:
This past weekend I traveled down to Tuscaloosa, AL with the Trihawks Triathlon Team of the University of Iowa. The 13 hour drive, each way, was well worth it! We got into town on Thursday, after driving through the night, shortly after noon. We unpacked and got right on our bikes. We had to stretch our legs out after sitting for 13 hours. We went for a short ride through the University of Alabama's campus...which is absolutely beautiful! On Friday morning we biked the run course and then went to the expo. At the expo we got a bunch a sweet swag and checked out the cool amphitheater! After getting our goodie bags we jumped into the river and practice a little bit on the swim course. The water was in the low 60's and felt great in the wetsuit. The rest of the day was all about putting your feet up and relaxing. We had put in the work and now it was time to get mentally prepared.
Race day:
There is no morning like race morning. Waking up at 4:15 is always hard...but on race morning its the easiest thing you'll do all day. We packed up our gear and drove to the race site. Checking in and setting up transition is always a meticulous process. The girls race started first this year, so at 7:30 the Trihawks guys and I watched the girls start their race. The first wave of guys then started at 10:30, with 5 minutes in between each wave....I was in the 4th wave so I started at 10:50.
I HATE open water swimming but this years race I was extremely calm...which set up a great race! I got out of the 1.5K swim in 23:02 minutes (1:25/100). That swim was 4 minutes faster than my swim split last year! I continued to drop time off of last years race averaging 20.8 mph on the 40K bike. 1:11 on the bike was 11 minutes faster than the race last year. My run continued the theme of having a great race and I continued to drop more time. I was starting to feel the hills and was running slower then I would've liked but I was still loving every second...or 44 minutes of it. I dropped 10 minutes off last years race running the 10K at 7:12/mile. I finished with a total time of 2:23:32...bettering my PR by 24 minutes! I'd call that a pretty successful race.
For my third race ever, and only second Olympic distance, I couldn't have been more happy with my performance! The hours of sacrifice and preparation was totally worth it! I accomplished all of the goals that I set for this race, so crossing the finish line felt awesome. This summer I'm looking to continue dropping my PR and qualifying for next years Collegiate National Championship.
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| Finish line |
