Mesa Tri--race recap!

Race Start!

I decided, at the last minute, to sign up for the Mesa Tri through trifamily racing.  The race was on Sunday.  I signed up for the sprint distance.  I hadn't raced in a nice short tri for awhile and I had tickets to see American Idiot Sunday afternoon, so I wanted to make sure I was finished with plenty of time to get ready for the show.

The race went pretty well.  I placed 2nd for the Athenas--though I also would have placed 2nd in my age group.  I have been working on race nutrition and hydration (one of my goals for Ironman is to be very prepared in terms of nutrition and hydration) and the Sunday race proved to be a good testing ground.  I continued using the Herbalife 24 products.  I've found them to work well for me.  I don't feel heavy or bloated after consuming them and I feel like I have energy during the race and afterward.  I did, however, find that I need to time the hydration better.  I had too much to drink before the race.  I made several restroom stops before race start (anyone who has participated in a trifamily race knows that the race start time is a moving target).  As I was standing in line to start the swim, I thought--"I need to pee."  But, I didn't want to run in to the restroom and be rushed at the start so I figured that I could make it through a sprint race without a potty break.  I was wrong.

I forgot about needing to pee throughout the swim and for most of the bike.  It was on the run that my full bladder would not be ignored.  So, after about a half mile of bladder bouncing with each step I decided to detour to the restroom in the park next to the course.  After that, the run felt much better.  The downfall of the potty break--the Athena who took first was only about a minute ahead of me--easily beatable had I not detoured to the restroom.

Otherwise, I felt pretty good during the race.  I did have a hard time starting the bike again, but I am now wondering if this is more due to my lack of swim training than bike training.  After I regained my breathing, the bike went well.  I was riding at a pace that I would be happy to sustain for IMAZ.  In fact, I placed first for the Athenas on the bike, so that was kind of exciting.  I think the swim may be taking more out of me than I realized.  I know I haven't trained the swim--I take advantage of the fact that I'm a decent swimmer and then focus more on the run and the bike. 

Overall, I think it was good to get out and do another tri.  I did so many last year that I felt very comfortable no matter the distance.  I hope I can get a few more in this summer. 

Next up, I have the Tour de Fire in Nevada this weekend (we'll see what distance I end up completing--I was too ambitious when I signed up) and the MedCity Marathon in less than 4 weeks!  I need to start building distance on my runs again and hitting the pavement with more regularity.