Race morning came, and my alarm did not go off. I woke up 30 minutes late and got to the race site with only 30 minutes to get my gear ready and warm up. While getting set up, I heard the Race Director state the swim would be cancelled due to rough ocean waves and currents. personally, I believe that it being a State Championship, the race management should have let those in contention for the prize purse or state championship do the 1,000 yd. ocean swim. Instead, we were instructed to ready for a 1 mile run instead, thus effectively turning the race into a Duathlon ( 1 mile run/ 19.5 mile bike /4.5 miles run).The swim is where I can separate myself from the majority of my competition, so I was upset, but only for a second. I knew there was nothing I could do but to begin preparing to the race start.
The first run started slow for me ( I am not a great runner unless I am running off the bike), so I was in 5th place. I had a very speedy T1 and got onto the bike in 2nd place, only seconds away from first. I had a worse than normal bike ride and lost a few too many positions, but got stronger near the end and picked off some of those who had passed me early on. With a 4.5 mile run to go, I was in 2nd for the State Champs. I was running sub 6min/miles early on, but decided to turn on the afterburners at miles 2 and 3 in order to take 4th overall, but first in the State Champ title by 20 seconds.
After the race I went out for a 2 mile jog and to cheer on those who were still tackling the course. I a now back home and will enjoy an easy evening before I begin preparing for the Tri-America New Orleans race. I really want to do well there, so I will be putting the hammer down starting tomorrow.
