4/7 F 11/17 overall
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| Pre Race - ready to go |
Race start was 8:00am -- I'm pretty sure we started on time. My pre-race nutrition was tried and true - oatmeal with banana and Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gel, Hammer Whey Protein and vitamins. 12 oz Heed, 4 Race Caps, and 4 Endurolytes within the hour before the race start.
The sprint race started at 7am... I had arrived at the venue early, so I kind of wished that I had signed up for the Sprint instead of the Oly Lite. Too late to change though.
The wind started to come up just before 8AM - the turn bouys seemed to be very far away from shore and hard to see because of the sun... but that's just how the timing turned out. Our wave took off into the sun at 8:12am, lots of body contact, wind waves and general chaotic rough water... which seemed so unusual for a lake. I carried on swimming pretty much blind, just following other people's feet. For some reason, I kept going off course to the right, left arm stronger? Maybe not sighting enough?
I don't know, but I did want to quit and go back to shore. I stopped to breaststroke and assess where I was a few times, even turned over to back stroke once - this is very unusual for me... but here I was in the water making my way to the elusive finish line - I couldn't see that either until I was maybe 200 yards away. That was also the point at which I realized I was very off course.. way too far to the right. I thought my swim would be 40 minutes or so... turned out to be right around 30 minutes..... shocking that I hadn't spent a longer time in the water.
I walked up to the transition, took my time getting the wetsuit off and bike gear on and took off.
The ride was extremely well marked and attended by volunteers. It was a gorgeous ride, just a little bit longer than I had anticipated (90 mintues). I drank most of my Heed, drank all of my Hammer Gel/water mix from the flask and a very small bite of a Hammer Bar during the bike ride. I came back into transition, changed to run gear, ran out on to the course. I was VERY glad to be doing a 1 mile run versus a 10K. Just a half mile in, sign for the 1 mile turnaround pointed off to the right. A few more yards and I was heading towards the finish line.. thankfully!
I have to say again, Total Body Fitness is a class act. I am glad that they are now sanctioned by USAT and very glad that Hammer Nutrition is one of their sponsors! GO Hammer!
