The swim started like all the rest of my races do. The gun goes off, I dive in, start swimming, and panic sets in. Sometimes it takes minutes or just seconds. Today it was seconds. I stop, stand up, gain my composure, and get back to it. The rest of the swim went well with the exception of feeling like I was swimming on my own for the most part. Coming out of the water I fumbled around trying to find my leash. I remember putting it on my collar before the race, so where is it now? I finally find it after running most of the way up the chute into T1. Now at the bike I quickly put everything on and head out for the bike with no more mishaps.
The bike is a 2 loop hilly course. The bike is definately my strongest of the 3 events so, with that in mind I decided to push it hard from the get go. I quickly started passing people but found my heartrate climbing into the high 170's. The second loop is where I knew I started out to hard. Half way through the second lap I had 2 people pass me back and my heartrate had fallen into the low 160's for the rest of the ride. Coming into T2 I was all alone and sitting in 13th place. I quickly racked my bike, bent down, put on one shoe, and then had my quad go into spasms. There I am all alone in T2 with one shoe on and one shoe off just standing there. Nowhere to hide. Finally it relaxes a bit and I am able to put on my other shoe and head out on the run.
The run is 2 loops on trail with most of it in the shade. The leg didn't seem to bother me after a few minutes of running and I was able to settle into my pace. I had one person pass me early on the run and then found myself alone until the second loop. The second loop was a bit easier/harder because I found myself asking as I passed or got passed, "are these people on their first or second lap." Not once did I look at my heartrate on the run. I was too scared of what I might find. With the finish line 1km away I picked it up and finished strong 17th overall.
I have raced this event 2 previous times and had pb's in both the swim and run today. All in all it was a good day.
