I felt pretty worn out until the night before I felt a bit better. I told myself no excuses and went out did everything I could to put myself in a good position to do well. All the pre race stuff went about as well as could be expected given the INCREDIBLY complex endeavor of doing a major triathlon in a foreign country. I'll do a post about just that one day but I pride myself in my desire and ability to execute logistics and this stretched me.
The race: Not sure I can swim faster, bike faster (over what must have been 24 speed bumps), run and transitioned harder than I did for this race. I executed the swim flawlessly for me. First off, it was a dive start. Good thing my mother-in-law taught me how to dive during the pandemic because it was literally the first time just about ever for me diving in. From there my training took over. I finished with about a 1:24 pace.
I ran so hard out of transition I thought I was going to collapse and die. But got to the bike, regained my breath and headed out. My stupid rubber bands came undone but really didn't cost me maybe 3 or so seconds. I was on the bike and luckily knew all the round about cuts (despite getting confusing and incorrect information about the course). Literally before I knew it, I was turning around and coming back down hill at full speed. The bike I rented was a top of the line tri bike that performed perfectly. I hit the turns about as well as I know how to.
Next transition felt slower but I was pushing it at 11/10. Got to my slot, got chided by an official for not placing both handlebars on the bar, fixed that, threw shoes on, took off. My biggest regret of the race was how I exited transition and took the first 200 Meters of the run. You can see in the video below my pace was not sub 6 at that point.
But after I go to the road, I hit a new gear. Once I entered the stadium, I knew Emily and Sofia would be watching so I took it all the way to 200 Meter pace. I got a couple of breaths when someone handed my an American flag and then told myself "no excuses" and did my 100 Meter pace for the last 200. I think it does actually translate in the video.
All in all I was extremely pleased with how it went:
- 5th fastest U.S. time for the race
- Top finishing American in AG
- 9th overall AG finish in the world
With all 5 of my goals now all but solidified, its time to finish with a couple of local races and then decide where/when to travel. 2024 goal #1 may just be my logistical "Sistine Chapel" - an international race in Havana.... tbc.
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