Dover-Sherborn Boosters Tri

Dover, MA - September 2017

Pre-Race

            My maiden voyage! The first foray! The genesis of my passion! Today started in my BC dorm at 4am – yuck… This race featured split transitions, so I Ubered to the packet pickup/T2/race finish spot with my bike and then rode over to the swim start with the rest of my gear.  I used to have pre-race or round butterflies when I swam and golfed in high school, but the nerves that hit me at the race start were next level.  As I racked my bike and collected my timing chip, it suddenly hit me that I had one season of cycling to pair with my swim career and non-existent run training.  I figured getting in the water would soothe my nerves, so I headed down to the swim start to gather my bearings.  This was the only triathlon I successfully warmed up for in my first year of racing – it took me a while to understand the importance of properly warming up before a race. I swam most of the swim course with Robbie and Allie, who were kind enough to take me under their wings and talk me through how the race would work.

Swim

            This started with a “standard” swim of ~500 yards, except it was my first ever open water swim! My AG started middle of the pack, so getting knocked around by other competitors was an interesting experience.  I focused on finding clean water and controlling my breathing. Upon exiting the water, the now familiar feeling of “jelly legs” greeted me as I began the jog up the hill into T1.

T1    

            I stopped to talk a bit with my parents while I put my socks on and “slammed” a Gu.  I couldn’t quite get my legs to cooperate, but I eventually headed out to start the bike course.

Bike 

            In my first ever cycling race, I had this sensation of pumping out endless watts while cruising along in a pack.  The start of this ride felt very similar… except in both cases, the watts were considerably lower than where I currently ride at and the speed was under 20 mph.  I honestly felt invincible as I biked way too hard for my current fitness level and threw caution to the wind trying to chase down the race leaders.  The course was fun and hilly (honestly, I’ll call any course with more than 500ft of climbing “hilly”) and brought me through many of the roads from my BC Cycling team days. I distinctly remember how happy I felt being part of a triathlon - I knew I had found something special.

T2

            I saw my parents again coming off the bike and had a blazing fast T2 (honestly better than most of my T2s since then).  As I set off for the run, I couldn’t get my race belt to fasten and ended up with a stitch in my side trying to fix it on the go.

Run

            This was a tough slog.  I had previously run two 5ks for fun and spent one summer going for weekly runs with my sister, but my running mileage leading up to this event hovered somewhere around 2.5 and 3.0 miles per week.  Rest assured, I thought that was enough!  The run course meandered through some local neighborhoods before placing runners along the bike course. A good series of bunny hills allowed for some needed variation to help me focus on my form and cadence. I surprisingly held 6:46/mile over this course and crossed the finish line 15th overall.  The endorphin rush in the final 100m and walking out of the finishers’ area was something I hadn’t experienced before… it hooked me and hasn’t let go since.