Steelman Race Report!

On Sunday, I raced the Steelman Olympic.  I had not raced this distance since 2009 and I was excited for the day.  When I woke up at 4 am, it was pouring rain and super humid...great.

I arrived at the race site and went and racked my bike since it was first come first serve.  Then I went and sat in the car.  By the time it was time to set up transition the rain had stopped but the air was still really thick.

The swim...well I would probably be in the minority to say I wish the swims were longer.  I lined up right at the buoy of the front of my wave and when the gun went off I just took off.  I was with a pack for about 400 yds and then this women pulled ahead and I decided to just stay on her feet.  Swim was 21:39 and was second fastest overall female.  Turns out the women who I drafted off of was the top swimmer and third overall.

In the morning...they announced that they were changing the bike course to make it 24.6 miles.  Well, it ended up being 26.9.  I knew there was at least one women that catch me on the bike.  I held her off until the second loop but she did find me.  The course is two loops and rolling hills.  Bike time 1:23.41 avg 19.3 mph - that is my best yet in any tri! 

   

By the run, I was ready to be done.  The sun was out, it was hot hot hot and humid.  This is a two loop course and it is along a flat bike path.  The sprint tri shared the same course so it was crowded.  I was hoping to have a great run since it was flat but the humidity was my demise I think.  Overall run was 54:38 which was 8:49 pace.  

Overall, I was second in my age group and it was a PR by 10 minutes!  So all in all a good day!