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| Awating the gun- me on right |
The DC triathlon is the 5th race in the 5150 series (I have raced 3 of them). Pros earn points at each race in an attempt to qualify for the championship race at Hyvee. Once downtown on race morning, I understood why the pro start was 3 hours after the first age group start- it was a constant stream of racers making their way through the city streets. We were very fortunate to have the city streets all to ourselves.
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| I am the dot in the middle heading towards T1 |
Though the age groupers had a time trial start, ours was a water start. This course was BY FAR the best marked swim course. HUGE marked, orange buoys every 100m to let you know how far you’d gone. Why don’t all races have this?? I could tell I was a bit sluggish by 200m, but felt I had a strong swim. I came out of the water 9th with a 19:15 split. I could see about 4 others just ahead of me in T1, and was determined not to let them out of my sight. My bike mounting is still not perfected, but I know how to fix it now.
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Initially I was quite nervous about the bike course. This was a 2-loop urban course, each with several turns and 4 out-and-backs (including 180 degree turnarounds). It had rained earlier so the course had potential to be very dangerous! Thank God the roads had dried up because we were moving! I caught the other women partially through the first lap, but couldn’t make any distance past them and they entered T2 right in front of me. Referees were in full force on the course, but I weaved along the streets to keep within the rules. Legs reminded me of last week’s workouts about halfway through the 2nd lap. I LOVED THIS COURSE!! Bike split: 1:03
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| Felt soooo good! |
T2 was quick and I headed out sandwiched between Amanda Stevens and Pip Taylor. I settled into what felt like a decent pace. That’s never a good sign in this race distance- I should’ve been focusing on turnover, form and keeping the next racer as close as possible. However, I was struggling by mile #2. My body quickly felt the effects of the humidity and the fact I left 2 of 3 GU packets untouched. I was running on fumes the last mile. Run split: 42 and change. Bleh!
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| Cousin Ryan and Uncle Fran were all over the course- thanks! |
Total time: 2:08 with a 12th place finish. ehh.. Thankfully the volunteers allowed me to jump in one of the ice tubs to recover. I highly recommend this race (or Nation’s Triathlon Sept. 11 which is held downtown DC as well). The course was very well marked, the venue is spectator friendly, and how cool to ride/run in our nation’s capital! Huge thanks to Ryan (my cousin) for shuttling me around before and after the race. Great to catch up with some friends before and after the race (Abby, Lou, Chris, Mike, Erica, and Carter)- great to see you and hope to connect again soon!
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| Run around National Mall |
I am staying a couple extra days doing the tourist thing, and am heading to Philadelphia to race this weekend. Later will post a “Top Ten” list of my trip -Lots of crazy things happen in big cities.
miss
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