Podium Surprise

Last Sunday, August 17 was probably my last tri of this season. I've decided I just really need to focus on improving my run and there is much work to be done. However, with that being said, I got lucky on Sunday! Third place in my age group at the General Smallwood Sprint!

Podium Surprise!

The race was very low key and fun. Not too many athletes, either. Total finishers were less than 200. The day was overcast and not too hot - good racing weather, I think! 

Swim: 18:24 3/6
The swim course was interesting - basically an out and back then over. The water was pretty dark and little 'weedy' - that is there was some hydrilla. I brought a little of it home with me! Not one of my better swims, as I felt a little sluggish, but no matter, it was short and sweet!  

T1: 3:25 2/6 (I am usually never that far up in the ranking on T1!)
It was a long run up to T1! I was thrilled to pieces that I literally ran slowly the entire way and my feet did not hurt! The transition area was a parking lot, which is always nice because it means no mud! 

Bike: 56:31 2/6
My goal for the bike was to hopefully come in under an hour! Therefore, I was thrilled with my time. My watch had my speed at 17.5, so I was very happy with that. It was not a flat course, but it was pretty fun. I stayed aero most of the time. I guess because it was such a small race, I did not see a lot of other people out there. 

T2: 1:26 3/6
Under two minutes? I'll take it! I did practice this the day before, so hopefully with continued practice I'll continue to keep it under two minutes! 

Run: 33:24 5/6
You can see this is where I need to work! I got very lucky getting on the podium! Of course, I'd hoped to break 30 minutes, but that wasn't the case. The course was actually fun though. It was two loops, with the second cutting off a bit of the first and being shorter. Both loops had you run across a wooden pedestrian bridge over water. I walked I think three times overall - up hills. Next year I'd like to go back and run the entire thing. Maybe I need to incorporate hill repeats... The volunteers loved the rabbit ears, as did a few of the racers. I tried to give Team Rabbit a shout out as I ran along! 

Post race had delicious BBQ from George's BBQ in Indian Head, Maryland! I had a pulled pork sandwich. There was also watermelon, chex mix, and sodas and Gatorade. 

Earlier this season I managed to get on the podium, too. This was at the Rock Hall Sprint on June 1. That was also third place. I think 3 is my new lucky number! General Smallwood was my third triathlon of the season. My second race was the Colonial Beach Oly, on July 13. No podium, but smack in the middle of the pack, which is pretty normal. Now, the two Sprint races which resulted in my getting on the podium were in Maryland; the Oly was in Virginia. I think I need to stick to Sprint races in Maryland! 

Hopefully next year I will repeat all three of these races, and maybe do one or two more. It will be fun (I hope) to compare results!

Next up: South Lakes 10k

Happy and Healthy Training!