Rev3 Westfields Sprint

Leading up to this race, I went through some big life changes, such as me figuring out the life of a vet tech wasn't for me. It certainly is not for a lack of love of the animals, but rather a disconnect between different learning styles and something I was not familiar with. Having been a social science major in undergrad was very research and writing focused and trying to switch to a very fact bases science was too stressful for me--leading to tears nearly everyday. People at work treated me as if I were an idiot and I didn't feel the promised "family dynamics" of the work place. The anxiety and stress of it all became too overwhelming to handle, so I withdrew from school and put in my two week notice at the hospital, and began applying to the recreation-aquatics field.

The day before the race, Dan and I went to Lake Anna for a Peluso Open Water clinic for newbie triathletes. It was my first clinic co-coaching and I loved it. Dan and I joked that this could be the life we life - I'd honestly be okay with that! Form the clinic, we had lunch at an amazing Mexican place, then I continued up to NOVA to packet pick-up. Rev3 races are very personal to me since I know a few of the workers from masters, and it got even more personal when my boss, and the national race director of Rev3 told me that I had an interview with SwimRVA (a place I had just applied to), which was so very exciting!

Race Morning
The morning of the race, I had a cinnamon raisin bagel with butter, two bananas and a bottle of Infinit. I met Katelyn, my teammate, at transition and we went about with our morning race routine. I lined myself up at the front of the swim line (which was a mistake) and waiting for the start.

Swim (3:17: 250 yards)
I was the 8th person into the water, which was clearly a mistake. Apparently when I have flip turns taken away from me, I don't know how to swim...or this time was just very very off. I pissed a lot of the guys behind me off and when I got our of the water, there were a lot of them cursing at me.

Transition (1:39)
We had a nice run from the pool to the transition and in that time I allowed myself to look at my watch to see my HR, which I have never done upon getting out of the swim: 145, a solid Z1 effort, not bad. Little did I know that would be the lowest it would be all day. Transition was a quick one, did what I needed to do and I was out.

Bike (33.04: 11.8 miles)
The things about me and how I race is that I have the speed but it develops over a long period of time, so these twelve miles was pedal to the metal and it hurt bad. The whole things was so rushed, I was just pedaling as fast as I could and enjoyed the few people I was around for my first lap of the course. It was so quick that I only was able to take in half a bottle of Infinit.

Transition (0:39)
This was quick. I can honestly say that the biggest help to my transitions was when in middle school, I acted as my sisters triathlon coach. I remember heading to the middle school track, having her set up her bike and run gear and practicing transitions over and over again. Having that knowledge and the "think slow, act fast" mantra that Dan preaches, I was able to get out fast.

Run (22:26) 

Oh crap that hurt. Nothing like springing for 3.1 miles. That's what I call flat line on the max heart rate. I was so happy to finish and was so close to breaking 1 hour.

Overall (1:02:04) 

I've always said, before racing a sprint, that it's "just" a sprint. I apologize to anyone who does those on a regular basis because the appropriate phrase is "just a heart attach" in a race. There is nothing easy about a sprint, it's just all out until you hit the finish line. I placed first age group and 7th woman overall. It was great being on the podium with a friend and teammate and allowed me to get in a solid mindset for overload and taper, my next training block.