When I saw HFP Racing announce they were going to hold a triathlon there for the first time, I knew I wanted to sign up! I did the mini distance last September at Portage Lakes and figured I would try sprint this year. 750 meter swim, 20 k bike, and 5 k run. Sounded like a good idea in January when I signed up at least! As the date approached I just felt my swimming was still verrrrry weak. I swam at least once a week all winter / spring and then everyday once summer hit and I could swim in our pond. I still couldn't go 50 meters without being out of breath. I took the open water swim clinic they had the day before and it eased my mind a bit (I wasn't as bad as I thought when comparing myself to the others) but I still was nervous about how far it was and more importantly how bad I would do. I set the goal of being top 50% in my age group.
The race:
Swim time plus time it took to trudge up a loooong steep, muddy trail (mostly walking per advice from others) = 16:41. I definitely side stroked just as much as front crawl. It seemed to keep me in the ballgame though so I can't complain. Lots of improvement can be made here though!
Bike section was rumored to be realllllly hilly, including a climb over a mile in length, but I didn't think it was bad at all! Time = 43:06 (avg 17.3 mph). It rained the whole time so I braked a lot on down hills and turns since the roads were slick.
Run was way more hilly than my jelly legs wanted it to be. Time = 27:30.
My total time was 1:29 which gave me 2nd in my age group. I was happy!
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| green swim cap. nick took the photo when I was actually swimming right! |
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| up a long trail towards transition |
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| I must have been going so fast, it was a blur ha |
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| Uphill finish! |
