I had been planning on doing the Wilmington Athletic Club sprint triathlon (my 2nd race in the Trysports Triathlon Series) on 6/24, so when I came across a free entry into the Run for the Red 5K on the 23rd I decided to make it another 2 race weekend. Both were super short, and even with races on both days it would end up being significantly shorter than I would have done otherwise, so it seemed like a good idea...
I dragged my poor husband out of bed at 5am on Saturday and we hit the road around 5:45. We made it to the race site in plenty of time, picked up my packet, stretched out a little, and then waited in the air conditioned car for a while. 8:30am and already 80 degrees with 95% humidity - yuck! It was a small field and seemed very recreational, and I didn't really have a plan going in. I kept going back and forth about racing hard and taking it easy since I had the triathlon the next day, and ultimately decided to just see what happened. I ran a mile or so warmup, found a spot in the shade to stretch, and then lined up near the front.
We lucked out with a little cloud cover and breeze for the start, and I started out right around my usual 5k pace just under 7 min/mile. It was a Y-shaped course, so there were 2 opportunities to see who was in front of and behind me. The woman who was leading (the only fast-looking female at the race) was well ahead but there were no other women in front of me and after the first turn-around I could see that there really weren't any close behind me either. The sun came back out around the same time, and with no one behind me, no one to chase, no chance of a PR, and a race the next day, I let off the gas and settled in to a comfortable 7:30-ish pace. The rest was pretty uneventful, considering it was basically a training run from there on out. I finished 2nd female overall (yay for super small fun runs) in 22:19, and I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't at least push myself enough to break 22. After the race they had a nice buffet lunch with bbq pork chops, salads, pasta, and brownies, which of course I ate despite the fact that it was 10am. So I may not have raced well, but I got one good mile, 2 decent ones, and a free lunch, so I consider it a successful event!
Wilmington Athletic Club Sprint Triathlon
Sunday I got to sleep in (5:15, woohoo!) before heading to the WAC for my first sprint tri of the season. The swim was a bit crowded and I had to pass several people, which is annoying in a seeded pool race. For this event I decided to race without my Garmin, with the goal of pushing myself by feel rather than trying to stick to a pre-determined pace plan. I went fairly hard on the bike, and was happy to maintain a speed of about 19 mph despite it being a fairly tight and technical two-loop course. The run was a little disappointing, as I didn't really feel comfortable until mile 2, which was nearly the end of the race! Hopefully more brick workouts will help me feel better running off the bike. My transitions are getting better though, and I finished 4th overall/1st in my age group, so despite not feeling great on the run I was pretty happy with the race. I am really excited about the rest of this triathlon season!
300m Swim: 6:54 (24)
T1: 1:02
11.5M Bike: 36:17 (7) - 19mph
T2: 0:48
5K Run: 23:20 (3) - 7:30/mile
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