Every race is a race against the clock where every second counts and all the little things you do can either help you or hurt you in your quest for a PR. Usually, there all also people in your age group to race and push you, people that make you go a just a little harder when you feel like giving up. That was not the case for me at the Triangle Triathlon. I was the only person in the 15 & under age group and the race was me vs. the clock. All of my competitors had raced the day before and my goal was to beat their times.
When the horn blew for my wave to begin the swim, I was off. I knew I would have to have a good swim and bike in order to have some room in case something went wrong on the run. I was out of the water first, and the fastest woman overall in the swim. It seemed to go by so quickly, but the bike dragged on forever. Even though I ridden the course before, I hadn’t done it as much leading up to the race as I should have, so some hills caught me off guard. The beginning of the bike was fun because I got to race my dad. He started in the wave before me, but I caught him in the swim so we came out of T1 together. I needed to be pushed on the bike, because if I wasn’t off and running in less than an hour, I would not reach my goal time. My bike took me 56: 36, which put me right where I needed to be.
I knew I would have to run under a 25 minute 5K, which I had done in every other triathlon that season. The run was much better than last year, but there were times when I became temporarily unmotivated and wanted to slow down. I had to remind myself that I was almost done and I really wanted to break 1:36. My watch became my friend, and I checked it constantly throughout the last leg of the race. I crossed the finish line at 1:35:06, under my goal and 4 minutes faster than last year. I was very happy with the way the race went, but it won’t be my last time racing the clock. This time I beat the clock, but I need to beware, it is a relentless enemy.
Shannon
13.1 Miles
