The swim was a clockwise rectangle (with turns around the yellow buoys on the horizon) in very cold water. I was happy to have invested in a full wetsuit.
Knowing I had completed a 1500 in open water before helped calm my nerves a bit in comparison to the first one, but I was still fairly anxious about the swim. Once we started though, it was a different story. My other open water swim was at Kerr Lake, which was clean and clear, and the open water aspect didn't seem to bother me. This time, I couldn't even see my hand in front of me, and I had a bit of a panic attack... heart rate: max. breathing: nearly hyper-ventilating.
Not good at all. Somewhere between the first and second orange buoys I seriously considered waving in the kayak and accepting my first DNF. I switched to breast stroke for a bit and tried to get my heart rate and breathing closer to normal. I was feeling a little better at the first turn buoy and things got progressively better on the second half of the swim, but I couldn't wait to get out of the water. I guess the stronger second half helped to make up for my breast-stroke and panic-stricken first half, as I made it back to the transition area in under 31 minutes. Certainly not fast, but 2 minutes better than the last one.
My transition time was not stellar, and I need to work on getting out of the wetsuit a little more quickly, but I was just so happy to have made it through the swim I didn't really care! Another fairly long transition run with the bike, and off I went. It was my first ride with the new aero helmet, and I stayed in aero for pretty much the entire race. There was a really steep downhill right off the bat, and I had to brake because of other cyclists, turns, and wet roads. It was nice to get off to a speedy start without much effort! The rest of the bike course was flat to rolling, with only a few turns, and I hit 21 miles right around the one hour mark, which is a huge improvement for me. Unfortunately we paid for that steep downhill later, climbing back up around mile 23. I lost a bit of time there, but so too did everyone around me... no one looked particularly happy during that climb over an hour and a half into the race! I still managed to finish averaging over 20mph for the first time... not sure if it was the course, aero helmet, cool weather, improved bike fitness, or a combination of all of those; but I'll take it!
The second transition went pretty well, and I was out on the run well ahead of my first race. The run course was an out and back with a gradual climb (200 feet of elevation gain) to the turnaround and then a descent back to the finish. I ate a gu and drank some water through the first mile, I focused on keeping my breathing and heart rate under control as I settled into my run. The next few miles I just tried to stay relaxed, knowing I could push going downhill on the way back. Mile splits to the turn: 7:55-7:46-:7:58. Picked up the pace on the way in (thank you, gravity) to run 7:30-7:13-6:57. Even with the downhill back half, I think the sub-7 last mile means I didn't push hard enough earlier. But it was only my second race at this distance and finding out how hard I can work without hitting a wall or having too much left at the end is something that takes time and practice.
In the end I finished much better than expected, despite the miserable swim:
Overall: 2:34:43 (24/125 women)
Swim: 30:36 (81st)
Bike: 1:14:31 (31st)
Run: 45:45 (8th)
Congrats to Nicki and Evan on their age group awards!
And of course a big thanks to my wonderful husband, who got up at 4am and stood out in the rain all morning to cheer me on. I am so lucky to have such a supportive person in my life!
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