I have several ways I mentally approach an upcoming race--usually it's "PR would be great", sometimes "Do better than last year", maybe even "Get through it" or "Don't fall down". I allowed myself for this one to be sucked into a new and quite dangerous thought--"I have an outside chance of pulling off some AG hardware here."
It all started when I was shopping around for races this season. Proximity to home and participant number prompted a closer look at Cap View. I checked out the results from last year. Hm. Not a very big AG. That bodes well for me. I look closer. Hey, I could pull off 2nd or 3rd place with my bike time. My run time would fit around 4th place. Swim? Who knows. But my transitions are okay. And so it began. I trained in earnest with the goal/miracle wish of getting in the Top Three.
We arrived that morning bright and early. The girls wanted nothing more than to frolic. Way too much energy for bright and early.
I took one look at Transition and started to adjust my goal. With a T area this large, how on earth could I place in the Top 3? There's a lot more people here than I thought. *Sigh*
No matter. The weather and my spirits were good as I prepped for what I imagined to be a fairly quick and perfectly lovely race.
The wetsuit doesn't fit as well as it did two years ago.
With my wave starting over an hour after transition closed, we had plenty of time for sunscreen all around.
Finally, time to get the party started. The swim was a very shallow rectangle--dolphin dives all the way out and back. I kept my standards low from not being in a pool (or a lake) in ten months. Luckily it turned out to be a FOP (Front Of the Pack) swim finish. More importantly I still know how to swim.
Onto the bike. I had practiced to near perfection the shoeless mount and here was my chance to show it off. My goodness, feet are much stickier when they're wet. Slow start.
And wow...these hills are steeper than I thought. I envisioned similar grades to the ones I practice on, maybe a bit steeper but also shorter. "Yes" to the steeper, "Doesn't feel like it" to the shorter, and to top it all off a fair number of the downhills ended in a 90 degree turn on the road, thereby requiring brakes and losing the full effect of the downhill. Frustrated. The MPH average I was hoping for on the bike--the one I can pull off in training rides--didn't come. Still FOP, barely.
Off to run. The first half was compacted dirt trails with tiny but steep up- and downhills in (mostly) shade. Tolerable. Second half: It's getting much warmer now, and the novelty of the trail has worn off. All grass, glaring sun. No. Way. I will pull off a run split to write home about. Thankfully (but not in a heartless way) the others are suffering too.
In the end I'm in 6th place for the AG out of 20. No hardware, but a good start to the season. Next up: WI Triterium.
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