Best in the West sprint race report
Best in the West
We left on Friday morning to try and beat the heat. Sweethome is about 2 1/2 hours north of home. It is a beautiful venue with a great swimming area for kids. It is a double reservoir. With Foster lake being the lower reservoir. The water temp was originally reported at 73 degrees but the water control people were very kind and decided to increase the level of Foster lake for us and dumped the upper reservoir. Thank you very much. Now the temp was 70 degrees maybe colder. 
All I know is that I was very happy with my wet suit when I jumped in. It was cold enough to be shocking. The sprint start was a shotgun start. Really. 12 gauge with blanks it was cool. It was only a 500m swim. So I decided to sprint. Pedal to the metal. Pr'd my last swim by 10+ minutes. Sighting was spot on. ( Thanks Coach P.) Did a much better job of positioning around the markers. No log jam. But boy the body contact! Ya Baby. Nice long barefoot run to T1.
T1- I was dizzy and unsteady from the swim. Took a little bit to get my bearings. Ate my gel. Double checked my front brake. It had been rubbing earlier in the week looked good. Off I went 2:24.03.
Bike- Thought everything was going good until I put my brakes on to turn onto the road. Normal pull for back brake. Very short pull on the front. NUTS! My front brake was dragging again. Well, I only had 12 miles to ride. Time to adjust my expectations and get this done. Rode a pretty hilly course. I was able to out climb 7 people on the only big hill. Averaged 14.7 mph. I know I could have done it faster. Drank all my aero bottle and ate a couple shot bloks. No cramping this time. It was about 87 degrees and windy. Heart rate 150. Part of the course was closed. A lot of drafting and blocking going on. Had to yell at several people to let me by. Total 47:05.07
T2- Uneventful. Found it very difficult to run on pavement with bike shoes on. 1:50.07
Run- My nemesis. The first mile is miserable. My legs are rubber. Heart rate way to high. Had to walk for just a short spell to let my heart rate come down and stretch out a side ache. Good to go after that. Negative split the run. A hilly course but kept in mind " steady as she goes." Didn't sprint up the hills just kept going. Stayed off my toes. First mile sucked 14:30. Second mile- Ok 10:30. Started feeling steady and strong. Third mile- Now i'm feeling the love. Ran the last mile in 9:30. 
Was able to sprint the shoot and out kick 2 in my AG to the finish. I seem to be slow to settle into the run. It takes me awhile to work into good form. That first mile it's just crap. This is what amazes me, I think I could have kept running. I was hot, tired but able to go more. What a surprise.
My goal going into this event was to go as hard as I could. Each leg I gave it everything I had. I had guessed I would be able to pull a 9:30 mile and I was right.
Final time: 1:38:54. That's a 9 minute PR on a hilly, hot course with a dragging brake. Not bad.
Had the pleasure of racing with David Pettigrew and kids. It was a lot of fun watching our kids kick it tri style. Davids' son is a fierce runner. I can't thank my iron sherpas ( mom and dad ) enough for baby sitting me until my brain started working. My mom took great pleasure in feeding me like a baby 
. I am extremely proud of my performance. Thank you EN. 2014 was great. Now it's on to 2015 and " The Beaver Freezer." 
I placed 9th out of 13 women in my AG. 56th out of 94 total women. Not to bad. But can always be better.
Comments
@ Mark- OOPS! The food and beer was great. Sorry. Forgot to mention the most important part. I could hear the band before turning into the driveway. It was cool.
Beer after a race makes this a great sport! That alone would make me come back the next year!!!
@Jackie - Great to read about your race. I was wondering how it went. That brake sounds like no fun but just think how much stronger that will make you
.
It was a lot of fun over the weekend. My kids were amazing. My son is now desperate to do another after succeeding with the try-a-tri. Too bad our season is so short here.
I just posted my race report if you want to read about my race. You going to come up for the Beaver Fever?
I don't know about the Beaver Fever. I am going to do Beaver Freezer. We have it on the calendar for sign up. It is sprint. Oh, I liked the comment on your race report about your "diesel engine". Your too fast to be a diesel.
Your son was AWESOME! I know he was pretty excited about how his swim went. There is a great tri in May in Albany called Heart of the Valley. In door swim. Myah did it this year. A lot of fun.
HOTV Triathlon was my first ever tri in 2012! It is in Corvallis and my local club now runs it. My son did really well with the swim. I am just pleased he had a positive experience and is keen to do more.
Happy Training.