Stonebridge Ranch Olympic RR - 10/3/04

Executive Summary:
Swim: 33:27.30
T1: 2:08
Bike: 1:10:33.00 (21.14 mph)
T2: 0:56.60
Run: 48:33.25 (7:49 min/mile)
Total: 2:35:39.00 (PR by 1:01)
1st Athena (out of 1 - hehe)
3rd Female Overall
Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/TriFilly/Stonebridge04/photo#s5118327605666173682

Long Version:
This was a new race run by Michelle Boyer & three other race directors in McKinney, TX (35 mi. north of Dallas) and a location that I've never raced in before. Loaded up the car about 5:30, arrived, parked, got set up and all were uneventful. It was nice when the sun finally started to come out about 7 and provided a bit of light. My racing/training buddies Todd & Cari were racing the Sprint & I was racing the Olympic (hardware shopping & also needed a longer workout than the Sprint, as have a marathon in a month).

The Sprint went off in three waves first with Todd in the first & Cari in the second. Todd came out of the water not too far behind the leaders and Cari was the second female out (by 2 seconds), right on Todd's tail. It was nice that my wave hadn't headed to the water, so got to cheer them on. Finally, the all female Oly wave gets together & I look around... I state to the rest of the women, if we were all different ages - we would each be guaranteed a medal - there couldn't have been more than 30 females in the entire race! Water temp. was about 74, so I had on my wetsuit. Get in the water (deep-water start) and it wasn't too cold... Swam a couple strokes & off goes the air horn. Had a good feel in the water, but trouble getting my bearings and had to stop quite a few times to verify I was still on-line. The turn buoys were a bit smaller than I'd like, but otherwise, had open water most of the time and the swim was uneventful (although probably a bit long).

Onto the bike & immediately realized I'd forgotten my arm warmers. Oops, but w.in 5 min. I wasn't cold. Also w.in those first 5 minutes, I knew my legs were very tired from the Half IM last weekend and the 5 mile run I'd done the day before... But, by about the 10 mile point I think they'd gone numb or my brain just stopped listening to the constant screaming from my muscles. Bike was rolling, much like KC the week before & I think I had the fastest female bike split :)

On to the run which is two loops of the sprint run course... Since I've been doing triathlons, I've worked hard on my run, although I don't think it shows as much as my improvement on the bike. I decide I'm going to go out fast & hang on as long as I can. I think I was the 3rd place female out of the water and know I passed one female on the bike, so should be 2nd overall going into the run. But, I know my friend Julie is about 3 minutes behind me and Tanisha is about 3 minutes behind her. As I start out on my second loop, Todd & Cari are there to cheer me on & Ahmed (another friend & Race Director) let me know I'm about 30 seconds back from the leader (but I think that was actually the 2nd place female & I was in 3rd). Anyway, Julie catches me at about mile 3.5 and off she goes. Eventually, I catch the female who was 30 seconds in front of me and am able to hold Tanisha off by about 30 seconds. I think the run was short, as my best pace ever was 7:59 at a sprint in August and here I averaged 7:49.

Overall, a great race on a good course and free beer afterwards (although we had to wait until noon - that kinda stunk). I think my overall time was about right as the long swim & short run offset each other. Got a nice beer glass w. the Race Logo on it & a $25 gift certificate to local running store for 1st Athena!

Katie

PS - Todd & Cari both got hardware in the Sprint too! It was a good day all around!