My First Win!

After the Redman Halfmax National Championship was done and over, I immediately got to eating and drinking as much as I could stand in the hopes that I could get my weight and glucose stores back up enough that I might be able to race the Redman Sprint the next day.

Possibly, it was a good thing that I felt tired, sluggish and like my legs could seize at any moment, becuase, I had no expectations on race day morning. During the pre-race meeting at the swim start, I realized I didn't have my chip. No worries, I simply jogged the half mile to transition and back to get it. If I missed the start, oh well. No expectations. Just start the race and enjoy it.

As soon as the gun went off though, my body was moving. I was off to a great start by lining up on the shallower end and next thing I know I'm sitting in a small front group with only a few off the front. It gets shallow again in the middle and I dolphin dive for a bit, but realize I have nowhere to go as the guys off the front are way off and not remotely catchable, so I settle back in and let myself get pulled to the swim finish. Without my heart exploding through my chest.

Transition goes well and fast as usual despite struggling with coordination quite a bit more than normal. That is until I jumped on my bike and somehow managed to slip off the top of my shoe and have to come to a complete stop for a second before getting to speed again. At the time though, I wasn't worried, I could feel it in my legs and they just were not there. For the first two miles, the half-Ironman watts I had easily put out yesterday were a struggle.

But then, instantaneously, everything changed. My legs woke up. I mean really really woke up. All of a sudden, I was putting out more power with ease than I ever had. I caught a first guy and then a second and looked to the next, so far ahead I could barely see him. Within a mile he was mine. And then another one bit the dust. And another one, until finally, the last one was in sight.

But he was moving. I had been barely gaining the whole time. I made the pass, but we were too close to transition, there was going to be no time to gain additional ground on the bike, I was going to have to do it on the run.

I flew through transition as fast as I ever have and immediately surged out onto the run course at a pace I knew I couldn't keep for long. After a few minutes, I chanced a look back. No one in sight. I stepped it down to threshold and held on as I blazed through the run course with my first lead in a race ever.

The whole time my legs were threatening to seize up and stop me from moving, but I couldn't risk slowing up, I had no idea who might be behind me. At the turnaround, I saw the gap I had on the others and knew I had it, as long as I could hold this pace. I kept the pressure on and held it all the way with a determination I'd never felt before. The legs held up, and I flew into the finish with a big lead. That feeling, of running into the finisher's area past all the triathlon clubs and spectators, is one I will never forget. My first win in an outdoor triathlon!