Austin 70.3 Race Report

Austin is a race I have wanted to do for a while, but it never seemed to fit into the schedule. I honestly had no idea how I would feel going into this race. Five weeks after IM Wisconsin seemed like plenty of time and not enough time. I made sure I was well recovered, but really didn't feel I had put in much solid training.

The lake was beautiful race morning. I felt a little lost without Steven there, but thankfully Fast Brian found me in the morning and helped me pump my tires and my friend Josh was racing as well, so I had some friendly faces to hang out with. I also ran into my friend Molly. I love this about triathlon - always friends to see at races.

When I saw the start list (stacked) I decided I would make this race 100% about me and just focus on trying to PR, rather than worrying about what place I was in. Looking back I think this was a great way to approach the day.

The water was beautiful for swimming - not choppy and no sun in my eyes. Out of the water I saw 29:xx on my watch and was pretty excited for another sub-30. The best part was that I came out and there were 4 girls in transition by their bikes. This has been a problem for me all year - I get out of the water by myself and then spend the entire day on the bike by myself in la-dee-da-no-man's-land.

Yesterday I actually got to "race" on the bike - as in I was with other girls for part of the day. This makes a huge difference in motivating me to go hard. I was with another girl and we could see three others up the road. She would go hard, pass me, then I would go hard and pass her. I was hoping that by doing this we would bridge the gap to ride up to the next group of girls to ride legally behind them. The final time I passed her I got pretty close to the group of girls in front of us, but never really reached them. In the process the girl behind me disappeared and before I knew it I ended up all by myself. For a long time I could see the girls ahead, but just wasn't able to close the gap. Nevertheless, I'm really happy I got to actually chase girls on the bike yesterday. Progress for sure.

My favorite pic of the day - Texas rodeo!!

I came off the bike in 2:29, a new bike split PR. Still a ways from where I need to be, but again, progress.

The run was a bit toasty, but I think I came off the bike well hydrated and that helped. I was happy that I didn't feel like death, as I did two weeks ago. LB gave me updates on Steven's marathon each time I passed, which was awesome and motivated me. He ended up running a 3:23!

The Austin run course is over 50% a cross-country race. Trails, grass, bark, dirt with rocks, etc. It was fun, and hard, and I was really confused how last year the girls ran as fast as they did. (Later I learned last year the course was different). I moved from 16th to 11th on the run with my 1:29 run.

My big goal of the day had been to go under 4:30. My previous half PR was 4:35. In the final miles I kept checking my watch and trying to push the pace. I knew it would be close. Thank you to the girl who yelled at me going the other way that she loves the blog. I wanted to say more, but was really working on breathing and trying not to combust in the final few miles.

In the end I finished 4:32. A new half PR and a fun day of racing. Ian had a great day and finished 10th. Fast Brian won his age group and ran a smokin 1:19. And my friend Josh was on track for his goal finish time until some leg cramps forced him to slow down.

A HUGE thank you to my sponsors:

TriSports.com for carrying all things tri. Sable Water Optics - the goggles rock! Rudy Project for protecting my head and making awesome sunglasses. QuintanaRoo for designing a super fast and fun bike, Profile Design for making my great aero bars. Zipp for my fun disc wheel. SCAPE for protecting me from the evil cancer-causing sun. MicroscopeWorld.com for the days off to race, train, etc. GU for making awesome flavored gels like espresso and blackberry. SMACK! Media for keeping me in the loop. And of course Zoot for compression, fun racing and training gear and suhweeeeet shoes! And K-Edge - the chain catcher saved me again!