Confidence

Confidence - eh? It can be so elusive at times. Thankfully, I've had some nice affirmations as of late.

Ironman prep is going well, but this weekend I was itching to race - to really race, so I hopped into the Sharon Sprint Triathlon at the last minute. It had a reasonable start time of 8 AM and was on my local stomping grounds, so I thought, how could I not?! Eric said it was ok, as long as I got in a nice long ride afterward.

Race morning came fast (as always) and I made my way to the race site up in Sharon. The weather gods smiled and the sunshine was blinding. I got in a nice long warm-up, run, then bike, then swim. It made a big difference getting in a long swim warm-up, especially with a tired body.

The gun went off and got a kinda bad start, but settled into a rhythm, swimming alone.

At the turn-around buoy, some off-course swimmers ran into me coming the other direction - that was less fun. I watched the pack that was just in front of me, including mister Mike Pyle, take off. Coming out of the water, I saw another pink cap. 7th overall out of the water (yes, I love mass starts!). Off on the bike, I was feeling good and cruising right along. There were no police or marshals which made things a bit sketchy and dangerous, but I avoided death (narrowly). There was another woman that stuck with me - she and I went back and forth. My bib butt seems to go downhill fast, but it was on the uphills I was catching and passing her.

I dismounted the bike holding 7th overall and 1st woman still and was hoping my running legs would come around. The first 1.5 miles of the 4.3 mile run are uphill - and steep uphill - and I felt it. 2nd place woman came around me and accelerated. I tried to stay with her and keep her in my sights. Well, that worked until about the last mile - a steep downhill, where she pulled away from me. I was running like a muppet, but somehow just couldn't take the brakes off. I watched 1st place cross the line and pushed hard in - she beat me by about 14 seconds. It hurt so good and though I would have like to have won, I'm still pleased with my race. I was 11th overall and 2nd place overall woman, setting a bike and swim course record. We beat 3rd place by almost 5 minutes. Pretty cool.

Lots happening and plenty more training, but in other good news, Sam is back!

Pics soon!