Kewpee Triathlon 2010

Long overdue race report, but since I am sitting at home with Bronchitis, I thought now would be a good time to do this.  

The Kewpee Tri/Du was a blast this year.   We had quite the group turnout from the MITers which made it even that much more fun!    The day started out grey, overcast, and with a steady drizzle.  Fortunately this actually made it cooler for the race, which was a nice change.  

The water was a toasty 82 degrees, so wetsuits weren't legal.   Also made it for a nice place to "warm up" while waiting for the race to start.    The men got to start 1 minute ahead of the women.    Not sure if this was the best decision, because it didn't take long for most of the women to catch up and pass much of the men's group.   For me, this just meant trying to navigate through more people without getting hit and kicked.   Was challenging around the first 2 buoys, but luckily I found a clear path so the second half of the swim felt good.   I was out of the water in about 8:15 (500yds)!  

Transition went fairly quick, I just had to put on the bike shoes, helmet, and race numbers.   The rain had stopped, but my stuff was still soaked!  Overall a quick transition and by the time I hopped on the bike, I saw the first of my MIT friends (Aimee) emerge from the water. 

The bike felt good.   Aimee passed me pretty quickly into the first leg of the bike and I just saw the backside of her for the rest of the race.   There was only one other girl that passed me on the bike, but I passed her as well and it went this way for most of the ride.   By looking at her, I could tell she was going to be a strong runner, so I really wanted to beat her into transition, in the end I got a few minutes on her.    I have no idea how long my bike was, because once again I managed to stop my watch.   However, I think I rolled into transition just shy of 49 minutes (15 miles).    At this point my wonderful spectating friends told me there were only 3 or 4 women ahead of me on the run course.  

Quick T2 and I was out on the run.   It still wasn't raining but the humidity had picked up a bit.   This always seems to affect my breathing and it was no different on this day.   I felt sluggish and short of breath for most of the run.    The run was on a trail which was newly paved, so this was a nice change from running on the road like last year.   It was also an out and back route, which was great b/c it gave me a chance to check out all the competition.   As I predicted, the girl on the bike, passed me on the run after the first 5 minutes - she looked very strong.   Up to this point, the only person I had seen in MIT was Aimee and I knew she was well ahead of me on the run.   I didn't see anyone else until I hit the turn around.   Much to my surprise, Kristen and Jeanne were only a few minutes behind me.   Kristen, I expected, her running has been kick ass these past few months.    Jeanne, I did not expect to be that close.   Jeanne is a stud in her own right but fairly new to the multisport.   So, I really was expecting her to be a little further behind me!    So, for the rest of the race, my only thought was "I have got to beat Jeanne back to the finish!"    Kristen  passed me shortly after the turn around and ultimately went on to win the ladies Du overall!    I didn't dare look behind me b/c I didnt' want to see how close Jeanne was to me.   I felt like my running was slowing down and I did get passed by Ben at some point, but no Jeanne.    I also got a chance to wave at the rest of my MIT friends:  Erin, Jennifer, Carolyn, and Steve, who were all still working on the first leg of the 5k.    Finally the finish line was in view and I stumbled across it, Jeanne was only about a minute behind me at that point!    Great race Jeanne and thanks for the motivation to push myself a little harder than I probably would have otherwise! 

So, the results of the day:

I finished with a 1:30:44, I was 9th out of 30 women for the tri and FIRST in my age group out of 5 women!  Aimee ended up 3rd overall for the ladies tri and Kristen 1st overall for the women's du!   Everyone else placed in their respective AG's, so all in all it was a great race!