Race Report: Surviving the Pig

Sorry about the short delay, I was somewhat of a veg for the rest of the day yesterday. Here's the full report of the Sprint Pigman:

Pre-Race:

I got to the race site a little late for my taste (the downside to traveling with parents), but after getting body marked and getting my transition set up, I had plenty of time to calm down before my wave started. I hit the john and headed to the beach to warm up a bit and then my college friend Stephanie showed up to support me.

(DuHawks for Life!)

The Swim:
The race did a 3 second interval within the waves so I waited a good 10-15 minutes before I actually got to enter the water. While I was waiting I met Greyt Times and chatted with her and her friends for a bit. She offered me some great wetsuit advice which worked well with the AquaTux. Finally I hit the water and off I went. I was quite pleased with my pace...I was passing people left and right (literally), apparently Clydesdales and Athenas are not fast swimmers! I hit the beach and headed into T1.

T1:
There was quite a long run up from the beach to T1 and I fumbled with my AquaTux along the way. I got into the area and quickly got my suit off and threw my bike shoes on and off I was. Total T1 time was 3:16minutes. 16 seconds shy of my goal, but I was ok with it since it was such a long run.

The Bike:
The bike started out well, overall it was a fairly flat course but there was two big hill climbs. I was averaging 19-20mph on the flats, as was everyone else, but my average dropped when I hit the hills. During the first ascent I had my first 'what the hell are you doing this for' thought of the day...there were a few more of those, twice more on the bike. I managed to take in quite a bit of liquid which was good.

(Heading back to T2)

T2:
I did the sock thing for the bike ride, and they were soaked by the time I got to T2 so I scrapped those. Aside from not finding my spot, T2 was uneventful.

The Run:

This is where my big goal of the day was...keep it under 30 minutes. The run was a simple out and back course with a few rolling hills (where I had more 'what the hell are you doing this for' thoughts). I kept a great pace, hitting mile 1 just under 9 minutes (it was downhill). Mile two came about 9:30 later and I finished as strong as I could slipping under 30 minutes by just over a minute.

(Heading out on the run, passing the family!)

The Numbers (place out of sex division):
Swim: 8:48 (13/245) (That's my sexy-swim split!)
T1: 3:16
Bike: 53:02 (105/245)
T2: 1:25
Run: 28:54 (115/245)
Total: 1:35:53 (70/245)

(Just after the finish)

Overall Comments:
I placed 5th in the Athena division and was quite happy with that. I figured I would be a lot lower than that, there were 28 of us! I was really pleased with this race considering it was the first race of the season and the first race I was really prepared for. I know that I need to really start working on biking, especially on hills, if anyone has tips, feel free to share. My run ended with a 9:18 min/mile pace...that is beautiful to me!

I had quite a few moments during the race where I questioned my sanity, but who doesn't. I'm looking forward to the oly distances but am still worried I'm not prepared...thank goodness I have a few weeks to shape up and ship out!

I'll be back throughout the week as I'm preparing for Saturday's race in Brooklyn!

Keep it real, Yo!

P.S. My better half and my parents took a bunch of awesome pictures but forgot to get a picture with me...that needs to be fixed at the next race for sure. Special thanks to them for their extra support!