With so much going on last week, between getting ready for IM St. George, speaking at the Tri Club San Diego meeting, and the fun of finals week at school, this is a “better late than never” kind of post, but, I didn’t want to miss my opportunity to rave about Rage (say that 5 times fast), an awesome half Ironman event put on by BBSCtri.
This was a nice bonus race, asked for and approved by Coach Paul on Thursday night for a Friday morning departure. It seemed the perfect way to cap off the Tuscon training camp, especially since it was “on the way home” (if you disregard the fact that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, that is). With that in mind, I figured it can’t hurt to ask!
Since it was just 2 weeks out from St. George, I wasn’t fully expecting a “yes”, but the best preparation for racing IS racing, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised. I got the go ahead, with the caveat that I had to run EASY for half of the run. With a hard group ride, followed by a building tempo run, and long swim already on the schedule, I was essentially just turning the day’s normal training into a catered event with training partners and crowd support. . . yes, please!
After a longish car ride, made longer by the 2 hours of traffic encountered going over the Hoover Dam, we made it just in time to grab our race packets from Pete, the super accommodating race director. After the morning’s track workout and the long drive, a shake out workout was definitely in order. The only problem was, it was already o’dark thirty, so the planned 1.5 hour ride was clearly not happening. Instead, the 4 of us settled on a 30′ spin around the lit parking lot of the expo, some of us–ok, just me–in jeans and flip flops, which seemed more fitting for the level of exertion. Hillary and I had a good laugh because back in the day, this would have been a completely normal experience for the two of us. We all followed it up with a 9pm makeshift dinner at Trader Joe’s, and headed for the hotel for a few hours of much needed sleep.
There were a few other debacles, but suffice it to say, it all worked out in the end. The race course itself could not have been more spectacular–crystal clear and glassy reservoir swim, followed by a challenging ride, full of rolling hills and steady climbs, and capped off with one of the best run courses I’ve ever experienced in a triathlon.
I found feet in the swim; even more pleasantly, I found legs right away on the bike. Just after halfway, I took the lead, and was able to enjoy the run as the course wound upwards from transition to a perfectly groomed trail that wrapped around the rim of the reservoir wound through tunnels before hitting the turn around. I was lucky to finish in the lead, but much more importantly–since the main goal was St. G prep–I felt strong and finished with more in the tank.
Now, the goal is to take that training and confidence into THIS weekend’s race! Tomorrow, we leave for Utah. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!