2/3rds of Life Time

If there are three parts to a triathlon, I had a great race for two-out-of-three on Saturday morning at the Life Time Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis, Minnesota!
My alarm went off at 5:30am…I had time for my secret pre-race breakfast and loaded up my water bottles with LOTS of ice (the predicted temperature of the day was somewhere between 95 and 100!). The chartered buses departed the hotel at 6am for the race course. It was about a 25 minute drive this morning because there was light traffic on the roads so early in the morning.
First thing I did when we unloaded was take my bike for a test ride…since Dad and I did a lot of adjustments last night to the derailleur and shifting tensions, I wanted to make sure that all my gears were shifting properly. I did a few accelerations and spin ups on a side street…went through all my gears…and was happy with how I felt and how smooth the bike was working!
I rode over to the transition area to set up my gear…we were lined up on the bike racks in the same order as we chose for the swim start at the pre-race meeting. I was third from the right side (between Debbie Tanner and Lauren Groves). I went for a short jog with some running drills and then headed down to the lake for a short swim.
After the skydivers landed in the lake right in front of us (where it was shallow:)…the race start was right on time at 8:00am. We had 9 minutes and 49 seconds head start on the men…and I made the most of that time by hauling butt in the water!! The swim course was a good distance (not too short!) and took me 18:06…and I had about 50 seconds on the next women. I hopped on my bike and took off…right behind the lead police motorcycles…and right next to the NBC video motorcycle:)!
At mile 8 (I know the exact mile because they had signs marking every mile) I was passed…and then again a few minutes later…and then again a few minutes later. But when I was passed by Emma Snowsill and Laura Bennett, I was able to up my pace a little bit and keep them in sight. It’s hard for me to keep a strong pace on my own, but when I have motivation right in front of me, it’s like a carrot on a stick (or chocolate bar on a stick for me…that will get me to do anything:)!
So I had a great ride…the roads were a bit rough and bumpy…but it was mostly flat with a couple of rolling hills. I got into T2 in 6th place (only women…no men had caught up yet) and headed out on the run for 2 loops around the lake (5k each loop). I think the temperature was getting up into the 90s at this point so I made sure to get lots of water and ice at every water station…most of the water went over my head and the ice went in my suit to keep my body temperature down. And then I started counting the women (and now the men) that went by. I knew that the prize money went 12 places deep for each gender so once I was the 13th woman I turned my effort down a notch so that I would not have another ‘meltdown’ during the race. I was pretty close to going right past my ‘red line’ and into the ‘hospital bed’…so I am very proud of myself for finally recognizing that feeling and controlling it!
My Dad was all over the course cheering and waving a “GO SARA” sign…I tried to give a smile every time I went by. I was able to have a big smile at the finish line, even though I was near the end of the pros. I gave a big congratulations to Sarah Haskins (my roommate) who was the 4th woman…Sam McGlone (training partner) was 3rd woman…Hunter Kemper (swimming buddy) was 1st overall and took home the BIG check and the Toyota Rav-4!
After a bit of relaxing time in the shade with yummy food from the hospitality tent, my Dad and I rode the buses back to the hotel. He had a flight home later that night so we watched a movie and got some lunch in Downtown Minneapolis. I packed up my bike and my bags in preparation for a 5am departure from the hotel to catch the Light-Rail to the airport. It was easy and quick to travel on the train at 5am…I got to the airport with plenty of time to check in, get some breakfast, board the plane, and then fall asleep until we got back to Colorado!