Race Report: FleetFeet SuperSprint Triathlon

Lexie, my cheer pug, and me on race morning.

On Saturday, I competed in my second triathlon (not counting the relay because I didn't do the whole thing). This was also my second time doing the FleetFeet SuperSprint Triathlon, part of the Chicago Triathlon weekend. This is a great race for beginners and new triathletes, so my goal was to just beat my time from last year (about 54 minutes).

CCUC-N Triathletes Pre-Race

This race was a lot more fun because I was doing it with a bunch of friends: Pastor Luke, Callie, Dan, Maria, Tiffany, and Josh. I loved watching all their swim starts (except Tiffany's because I was swimming at that point) and cheering them on in the bike and run if I saw them on the course.

Here's a brief little recap of my race:

Swim - 375 m - 10:32 (including swim to bike transition)
This year's swim went MUCH better than last year's for me. For one thing, the race weather this year was PERFECT. Sunny and in the 70's compared to last year when it was cloudy at the start and like 65 degrees. It was FREEZING. The water this year was still a little cold, but I had a full wetsuit (great investment) and it not only helped me stay warmer, but it helped me float. I could feel my body floating closer to the surface of the water. So this year I didn't feel like I was drowning and didn't resort to breaststroke for the entire swim. I did freestyle the entire time (except for a few breaststrokes when there were a bunch of people in front of me), but I breathed on every stroke and didn't bother with bilateral breathing. It went pretty well though and I felt pretty good about it. I looked at my watch when I finished the swim so I did it in about 5 minutes, which was great. My transition was so slow though--that took about another 5 minutes. Luke & Josh dominated on the swim (they both did it in less than 5 minutes), but they're also both swimmers.

Me & Tiffany waiting with our waves before the swim

I look so happy to be starting out!

Still happy because the swim is over & I had a pretty good swim!

Tackling the bike course

Bike - 6.2 miles - 26:03 (including bike to run transition)
Rode my own bike this year, which was nice! I had a pretty good bike time, but the four hills (that we had to go over THREE times) were exhausting. I was getting tired and as I thought about how I want to do a sprint distance triathlon next year, I was wondering how I'd be able to do it!

Run - 1.55 miles - 16:13

Sprinting toward the finish line

Did a quicker bike to run transition and started out slowly. I was pretty tired by this point. I'm still not sure how I'd be able to run a 5k after biking 12 miles and swimming half a mile for the sprint distance (*sigh* but I guess that's why you train!). There was this elderly man who was in wave 21 (I was in wave 19, so he started after me) who started the run at the same time I did and he finished before me! I know this because I was behind him on the run and I never passed him. Just goes to show you're never too old to do triathlons! But good for him. I decided to keep a slower and steady pace on the first half of the run until the turnaround. Then I picked up the pace a little bit. I saw Josh sprinting to the end when I was just starting and then I saw Dan while I was running too. I saw Callie closer to the turnaround and then a little later I passed her, but I didn't know it was her that I just passed until she said something to me! I kept going until I started seeing the orange cones and heard the announcer at the finish line, so then I sprinted with what energy I had left, passed a bunch of people, and finished strong.

We all finished!

Overall time: 52:49; 348/804 finishers overall; 126/451 out of the women; 41/139 in the 20-29 female division. I beat last year's time by 2 minutes, so I'm pretty pleased with my results. I wished I could've run a little faster at the end, but it's okay.

Next challenge: to train for a sprint distance triathlon for next year!

What are your race goals for next year?