(Photo courtesy of Deb)
Last year, Mother Nature threw a “temper tantrum”… all nine inches worth of it. 🙁 She wanted a “double-dip” for this year, but thankfully, the weather held off until after awards (minor sprinkles at times).
After a strong swim (about 4.5 minutes faster than my freshwater lake swims) and a decent T1 (glove issues), we headed out onto the bike.
Since the hills in Knoxville a couple years ago, I’ve done better with them (although I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to keep speed on a10%+ uphill grade like there…), so a couple of bridge climbs should be “OK”, right?
Well, then things went a fowl… apparently geese decidded to cross the road in the middle of our bike. Jonathan was able to control the bike as they “leisurely” crossed, and we continued on.
The pending weather also made things interesting on the bike. More than four years after the crash in TX, I still have issues with downhills into right turns. Combine that with 20+ mph crosswinds coming down the bridge at 25 – 30 mph, and I’m sure you can understand my momentary internal concern. But it was only momentary, as I knew Jonathan would help to keep me safe, and it all worked out.
After a decent T2, we headed out on the run. While the time does not reflect it, it was the most consistent run I’ve had throughout the season.
After finishing, I had a chance to talk with teammates while we waited for the Para awards. It was great to see so many on the podium after last year had “delayed” all of their hard work.
And on the topic of awards, I want to give a shout-out to the 89 year-old woman (she is a Presbyterian minister) who won her age group in Olympic Nationals. I hope to still be racing at that point in my life. 🙂
Thank you to Jonathan for all his help, support, and guiding throughout the weekend. Thank you to Dare2Tri and my parents for all their help and support throughout the weekend.
FYI, while Nationals would be the end of most people’s seasons, I still have a lot left before mine ends in December. While the majority of them will be running and OCR, I do have a couple of Triathlons on the calendar. 🙂
