On Saturday, September 6th I decided to race in the Iowaman Triathlon which was held at Scott County Park. I love to support local triathlons. This was the first year for Iowaman. I knew I would have to leave right away since my cross country team at Pleasant Valley was racing at 9:30.
My plan for this race was to push the bike really hard. Since Chicago two weeks ago I've only ridden twice and haven't swam at all. I've mostly just been running with our cross country team. I was the first one to enter the 400 meter pool swim. I could tell that I hadn't swam in awhile as I was tired only 100 meters in. I was passed by 3 guys. One of them finished 2nd to me at the Crossroads Triathlon and I knew he was very good. I had a good transition to the bike and left the transition area in 2nd. I took the lead early on in the bike and then decided to pedal in tougher gears than I was used to. The weather conditions were perfect. It was really cool and not windy at all. Once we were out of the park I pushed very hard on the bike. Through the 1/2 way point I was averaging 26.5 mph. The second half was a little tougher ride and I finished at a 25 mph average. I had a good transition and was 2 minutes into the run before the next biker coming in. As it turned out I had the fastest bike split by nearly 4 minutes. I knew I would not have to run real fast to win. My legs were pretty tired since I haven't done a brick workout in 3 weeks and I had used more energy on the bike than I typically do. I got into a good rhythm and finished the run in 6:05 pace to win in 1:03:20, which was 3:10 ahead of 2nd place finisher Chris Scott. I was pleased with this because last time I race him I was only 2 minutes ahead of him at the Crossroads Triathlon. My plan is to run from now until November 1st when our cross country season ends. I hope this training will help me keep my fitness up while keeping my weight down before I beign full time triathlon training on November 3rd in hopes of earning my professional license next summer. DREAM BIG!
