Cville International Tri - 7/27

Ok. So, when you are feeling a little bored of your normal work-out... what do you do? Ah... sign up for another race. This time it was the Charlottesville International Triathlon. It was also an opportunity to participate in an event with friends from my morning Tue/Thurs run group.

Road Triathlon, Denelle? Are you serious? Yes. .9mi swim; 24mi bike; 6mi run

Sunday morning, Shawn headed to work... me too. I racked my bike next to a few friends and headed to the water to stretch. There were over 2o0 participants, but solid competition... enough people in Cville and Richmond talk about who plans on showing; many of the competitors were people I didn't know. For me... this was a work-out... low pressure... driven by the need for a little exercise. Heck, I had to remove the cob-webs from the road bike in order to prep for the event.

Women 30 - 39 were the 4th launch of the event... the water felt cool as we entered the water and prepared for the start. The first lap was ok... it took a while to get comfortable, but by the end, I started to coast and not only pass other girls, but people from other heats as well. I tried waving to a friend of mine under the water second lap... but he didn't see me... oh well.

Transition was hard... road shoes are slippery... note to self. However, I was excited to get on the bike. Yeah legs! Legs felt good... a little sore from mtb ride w/ Shawn and folks the day before, but still nice. I saw Joy about mile 4 and was happy to see that she was doing well. A little after, I was passed by a woman in my age group... incentive to pedal harder. Yeah legs! I chase down the cyclist for a number of miles. I pass my friend Jake who was having a solid race and wished him well (and teased him a bit too). A few miles from transition, I see this woman toss a full bottle of drink at a mail box; not cool... but whatever. Jokingly I say, 'Awe, I am telling on you...' Wow... what stress does to a person... she flips and starts yelling at me about my negative attitude and that she threw her bottle there so that the owner of the house would find it... oh... or so she could go back and pick up the bottle later (right). Either way, I congratulated her on her great bike leg and wished her well on a race that must have been less than optimal... Oh... then I dropped her and finished minutes ahead... I didn't even see her during the next transition.

Trail running shoes on. Race belt on. Water in hand. Its 500 m later when I curse myself for not putting on a hat to protect my eyes from the sun.... but manage without. The run is two 3 mi laps on the Dam loop+. Lap one I see my friend Kate who is spectating. Hi Kate. I also learn that I am in 2nd place. Cool. Lap two... I'm glad that I'm almost done.

End result: 3rd woman overall. 2:32:23. Swim... not so great 14th overall. Bike leg... 2nd by 10 sec and 5th place run. My T1 was a whopping 2:06... whoa. too long. It was good training and great to see friends doing so well. Another note to self: Road biking is fun; I should do it more frequently. Any mtb takers?

Morning Run Group Stats:
Joy 5th/11
Jessica 8th / 11
Annette 4th / 9
Hank 9th / 17
Jake 4th / 18