The positives: I powered through the swim, nailed the flying dismount at the end of the bike leg, and possibly had one of my better run splits. I have wonderful teammates, one of whom absolutely schooled everyone else who tried to keep up with her, (I'm so proud!) and my parents came to watch me.
The negatives: The swim wasn't that long (less of a lead for me out of the water), it was a very windy and U-turn infested bike course, and I felt pretty sluggish (as usual) through mile 1 of the run. Plus there's that lingering feeling that I'm still not quite racing up to my potential.
The facts: First or second (not actually sure which) girl out of the water, 1:06 finish time, 7th collegiate girl out of around 30. Splits, undetermined as of yet.
The thing is, with triathlon racing, you get out what you put in (like many things in life). And in my case, I know I haven't been putting in as much cycling and brick work as I need to be. Knowing what you need to work on doesn't make it any easier, but it does give you somewhere to start from. Right now the bulls-eye for me is on March 25, our conference championship in Clermont. No two races--even at the same location--are ever the same, but I'm gunning for both a good finish and an Olympic distance PR. And maybe one of those FCTC point standing plaques, if all goes well. It's all about trusting your body to do its thing when you know you've put the time in. Guess I'd better get on it...
