Race Report-Bangs Lake

Fun day is how I would recapture yesterday. It was really a great local race. I really enjoyed waking up at 3am to get there for a 6:30am start (really I didn't). But it was so nice to race with Jenny H. and see here again. I am going to just jump right in with how it went.

They bused us to the swim start which really was only a half mile away but I guess that is too far to walk! Funny how some triathletes freak about walking too far but we put ourselves thru miles of running. As we stood there on the beach trying to figure out where the buoys were I should have payed more attention, but I didn't. I looked a few times into the blinding sun as everyone was making a big deal about it and just figured I would follow the wave in front of me. BAD IDEA. It was a run in start which I LOVE. It is more aggresive to me then starting in water. After a few strokes I felt good and noticed that Jenny, her freind Mary (good swimmer) and I were in a pack. Good! Not for long. Next thing I noticed we came upon the slower swimmers from the wave in front of us and I lost Mary. So I started weaving in and out of swimmers trying to see a buoy. No such luck. I just followed the rest of the people who obviously didn't know where they were going either! But finally I saw a buoy! As I approached it I noticed there weren't many swimmers around, oh crap. Wrong one. I had to turn around and go back to the BIG buoy. You would think since now I am a Pro triathlete I would know a course better or have a magic secret for stuff like this. But nope, I couldn't see sh** like the rest of the swimmers. All said and done I think I added a good 4 min onto my swim.

As I get out of the water my Dad is standing there and says to me, "Did you drown?". He is really very supportive. He told me about 5 min back on 1st person. So I knew I had to work hard on the bike. It was a killer bike too. Who knew Wauconda IL had that! It was interesting b/c it was 2 loooped which I love. The only downfall on the bike for me was saddle sores! Yuck. Riding on your trainer alot seems to have some nasty and uncomfortable side effects. So I kept standing and trying to figure out a more comfy position, never happened. It was a solid ride and I new I was getting closer as I approached transition and he told me I was about 2 or so min back on Jen. I came out of transition on fire. I knew I needed to run hard. I saw her right away so I ran within my limits a little more then so I could reel her in slowly and not explode and bonk. One of my personal goals for the day was to have a solid run to build my confidence for Chicago. As we came to the 5k mark I had caught her and really wanted to slow down. But she yelled at me that someone was coming. After a little bit I dug deep and hauled butt to finish without someone passing. Turns out the girl she was talking about did the duathlon, UGH! Still it was good b/c it pushed me and I won!

I really felt like it was a great race mostly b/c I messed up the swim. As an age group athlete I don't usually have to do alot of chasing on the bike and run. It was a good experience at trying to run down people. I know as a pro now I will most likely be in the middle to back of the pack going into the bike. I am really excited for the new challenges that it brings. It is really amazing how every race no matter what happens you can take away something positive!

Oh and this picture! I carry a water bottle on a 10k (I know it isn't a marathon) because of nursing. I am thirsty 24/7. I can run 1 mile and feel like I just ran 20. Oh the joys of motherhood. And my sports bra under my suit! Well, you can figure that out. I normally don't need any extra support.