This race was an extremely emotional one for me. My grandfather passed way unexpectedly two days prior to the race so not only doing the race but being on the start line was difficult.
Race Prep:
This race was within 45 minutes of home so I was again able to sleep in my own bed the night before. My family and I had been dealing with funeral arrangements the past few days so I not only wanted to do this race in honor of my grandpa but also to get my mind off of everything that had been going on. The sport of triathlon has such a big mental aspect to it that I wasn't able to get my head in the right place for this race. Physically I felt great, but mentally I couldn't have been farther from the race.
Race Day:
Like I said before this race wasn't an easy one to start and my mind was on everything besides the race ahead. The morning of the race I was notified that the swim had been moved from a nearby lake to an indoor pool because of the drought during this summer. This changed added an element of mystery to my race. I had never done a race with an indoor swim leg before so I wasn't sure how it would go. It turned out to be an alright change after all. On every other flip turn you had to flip under the lane rope...needless to say it's not something I practice during my swim sets so it was a little awkward. I covered the 300 meters in the 6th fastest time of 4:29 (1:22/100). This was the beginning of a very good day for me.
When I got out of the water and onto the bike I could see a car leading the rider in 1st pace a little ways down the road. I made it my goal to go after them no matter what. About a mile later I passed the lead rider and I was now in first place. Being in this position felt a bit weird. I had never been in the lead of a race before. Because of this there was no one to track down in front of me so I didn't know how hard to push. When I road into first position on the bike I never looked back. I wouldn't be passed again for the remainder of the race. Having the 4th fastest bike split of 42 minutes (22 mph) certainly helped with that.
Heading out on the run I had about a 30 second gap on 2nd place. I started off slower than I would've liked because I wasn't sure if I would need to save energy for a kick at the end. As it turns out I wouldn't need that kick and that slower pace hurt my time. The run course for this race was really cool because it was mainly through the camp grounds. It felt more like a cross country race rather than a road race. The run went okay and I was the first person across the line. I had the 8th fastest run in 18.5 minutes so I was pretty happy about my overall performance. When I crossed the finish line I shared a long hug with my father and we both got rather emotional. We didn't speak to one another for a few minutes because we both didn't know what to say. Me crossing the line first was a very bitter sweet moment. It was a moment that I will never forget.
I waited for my fellow competitors to cross the line and congratulated the people who pushed me all day. When I went to check the results I actually finished second and not first. Although I crossed the finish line first I placed second because of the difference of the swim waves in the indoor pool. I was only beat by 27 seconds so even though I didn't win the race I'm still happy with the result. This slim margin will definitely motivate me during training for the next season.
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