The swim starts in a small cove on the edge of the lake. Age groupers were allowed to wear wetsuits, pros were not.
I am closest to the camera in this picture - dolphining. And unfortunately, the only time I was near the front of the swim pack all day. I swam hard, yet still saw almost every other pro girl swim away from me. Oops!
I PRd my swim with a 28:43, although the course may have been short.
Off onto the bike and my main goal was #1 - Keep Nick from catching me as long as possible and #2 - keep the watts up. The bike was windy, but nothing like Boise. It was mostly headwind or tailwind all day. At least we got to mix it up! I held Nick off til mile 40 and felt I accomplished goal #2 fairly well. My 2:41 bike split was not what I was looking for, but I don't feel I had a terrible bike either. I felt strong on the bike, especially toward the end. I came into T2 in 16th place. 18 pro girls had started, so I had my work cut out for me.
Coming into this race, once again my goal had been to get into the top 5. Leaving T2 I revised that goal to top 10, but also figured you never know, so I didn't give up. It was warm on the run. I set off to catch Nick and hopefully run with him. I caught him at mile 2, but his legs didn't want to play, so I kept going.
A few miles later he gave Steven the best racing pose of the day, which could also represent the entire weekend. He spent the rest of his run giving high fives to kids and having a fun run, making the most of a hard day and still finishing 10th (Fast Brian finished 10th as well).
By mile 10 I had moved into 9th place and Fast Brian caught me. I figured there are rare times at home where I can "hang on" so as he ran past I sped up and tried to go with him. It worked, and in the last few miles I moved into 6th. My 1:30 run split was the 2nd fastest female pro run split of the day, but to me the larger accomplishment was moving from 16th into 6th in the course of 13.1 miles.
I am so proud of Ian who finished 10th in a stacked pro men's field. We train a lot together and he's one of the hardest working pros I know. This finish is just a glimpse of what Ian is capable of. It wasn't until after the race I learned that the $ went six deep at this race, so a payday for the job I love is always nice.
A HUGE THANKS TO:
Steven who is by far the best photographer, supporter and husband I could ever wish for. All the awesome pictures I post from racing are a result of him racing around the course with his camera. Not only does he take good pictures, he motivates me to never give up as well.
Nick & Fast Brian - for making traveling to races, working our butts off and hanging out in Texas such a fun time. Racing isn't always easy and these boys are so fun to laugh and hang out with, I feel very lucky to have them for friends.
My sponsors - not only do you support me with your awesome products, but the people behind the products are hard-working, good people, and for that I'm grateful.
Next up is Ironman Lake Placid in four weeks. I do believe I'm ready!
