SDRC Labor Day Triathlon 9-5-11

Yesterday was the annual Labor Day Triathlon at the South Davis Recreation Center up the street from my house.

This was the third time I had participated in this triathlon. I had high hopes with this triathlon. I was hoping to set a new PR with this triathlon, but if I didn't set a new PR, I would've been happy with finishing in less than 1:30:00.

Well...that didn't happen. My final time was 1:30:26. I came in 4th in my age division. Alot of people think I came in 3rd because I guess before ALL of the times were in, I did come in third. My personal trainer's wife and my friend Tawni said they heard them announcing my name as 3rd place. I wish I felt like I could take credit for coming in 3rd, but I just don't feel like I can. I came in 2 minutes after the person who came in 3rd place.

I'm very disappointed with my time, but I know what I did wrong. I started out on my swim WAY too strong. I think partially my nerves got the better of me because I saw 2 of my co-workers right before I got in the pool and I think it was in my mind that I needed to impress them and show them how fast I am, so I started out WAY too strong; therefore about 1/3 of the way through the swim I had to stop & catch my breath. It took me 16 minutes to swim 14 laps. That's about double what it should have taken.

So when I finally got done with the swim I headed out on the bike. I felt pretty good on the bike...until I hit a red light. With this particular bike route, we have to bike through part of Bountiful City, in to Centerville and in to Farmington. Centerville City refuses to give us police presence and we have to go through a major intersection. So, when you hit that red light, since there is no police presence, we have to obey ALL traffic laws. I hit that red light going out & coming back. So, that slowed me down too. If I wouldn't have hit those red lights, I probably would have come in 3rd place.

I finally got back from the bike and Tawni's husband was already done with the race. He actually came in 1st overall. He is an AMAZING athlete. I have to say I find it kind of awesome that even though I'm not as good an athlete as Brice & Tawni, Brice was there cheering me on and everything.

I ran out of transition and I was surprised, I was feeling REALLY strong on this run. I felt like I was running fairly fast and keeping a good pace. There were times where I felt like I was slowing down, so I tried to dig deep & push harder. I hit two red lights on the run as well, but they weren't as long of red lights as on the bike, so I still felt pretty good about my time. When I saw my running time it was like 35:15. I was running slower than an 11 minute mile. I was, and still am SO frustrated. I just don't get it.

I've been doing triathlons now for 2 1/2 years. I feel like I should be better. I'm not over training and I'm following all of the training that BJ is giving me. When I am training, I'm running a pretty fast pace (10:00/mile), but when it comes to race day, I seem to slow down. I just don't get it.

This was my last triathlon of the season, but I've still got 3 more races to go. I've got The Dirty Dash 10k coming up, then the Layton 1/2 Marathon & then my final race of the season is the Las Vegas Ragnar.

Here are some pictures from my race yesterday.


Me trying to get in "the zone" before the race starts. It obviously didn't work.


During the swim


Heading out on the bike.


Running in to the finish.