FINALLY...MY CALI 70.3 RACE REPORT

Ended up 8th overall. Was about 14 seconds faster this year than 2007. All that work and only 14 seconds faster...Geez! Anyways, here goes:

Swim: Had a great starting position in the swim and was out fast. Not fast enough to stay on the feet of the leaders though. Ended up swimming solo and was 3rd out of the water.

T1: 3rd into T1 and 4th out of T1. MJ was about 30 seconds behind but passed me in transition.

Bike: May have taken the bike out a little too fast. I think I got caught up in all the action when a couple of top notch girls passed me. I thought it would be fun to get in the mix and pass them back going up a hill. Probably a dumb move but hey...I was there to race. I got pretty tired by about mile 35 and I just wanted to get off the bike. I couldn't believe I still had about 20 more miles to go!

T2: I remembered my socks this year (although I still got a huge blister under my big toe)!

Run: Started the run in 6th place. First loop was tough and I felt as if I had no leg turnover. One girl passed me during the the first couple of miles and then another girl passed me just as I was starting my second loop. Both girls passed me as if I was standing still. I tried to run with them as they passed even if it was for only a couple of seconds but I just had nothing. I was now in 8th and determined to stay in that position as the money only goes to the top 8. I dug deep the second loop and my legs felt as if they were finally coming around. I cruised in to the finish 8th overall.


I can't complain as I'm pleased with a top 10 finish in my first tri of the season and with a very talented group of pro women. However, I do feel like my fitness going into this race was a lot better than what the outcome was. I made some mistakes with my nutrition but every race is a learning experience. Although my run was just so-so (according to some Runtex gossip), I was rather pleased with the effort since only 5 months ago I wasn't running at all. I'm just glad to be running pain free right now and hoping to stay healthy for the remainder of the season.

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