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Kerrville 1/2 Full Distance Race Report

Kerrville 1/2 Full Triathlon 2014 Report
Kerrville, TX
Swim - 1.2 / Bike - 56 miles / Run - 13.1 miles
Start time 7:30 a.m.

Overall time 7:15:07


Pre-Race
Race weekend held many surprises - two if my dearest friends traveled from Maryland to watch me race, it continued when I received a "Good Luck" video from family and friends, car decorating and signs from my cheering crew (Rob, Joy, Sue, Janet & Roger).

On Saturday I was very nervous, the hubby had to talk me off the edge a couple of times but race morning I was pretty calm, taking silly photos and trying to be as positive as possible.  

Weather

Initially I was worried about the heat but as the weekend got closer I was worried about cold weather and rain but it turned out be a beautiful day

Swim

Time - 50:05

I didn't think I did well on the swim so I was surprised at my time, because I thought I was going to be over the hour mark.  The start was an individual time trial that you run into the water, which I don't like.  I like to be in the water before I start to get comfortable. I started off well, because there were only 20ish people in my wave then all the guys started coming and that made the water choppy and brutal.  I did some breaststroke and sidestroke for a bit and tried to find some calmer water and was able to go back to freestyle heading into the home stretch.

Swimming in the wet suit was a different experience,  I was so buoyant that my feet were out of the water so trying to kick was very difficult.  I will need to work on getting more practice in the wet suit to help out with this.  I did experience the pulling in the neck that many people complain about but I think it was worse because I was just agitated at some of the chaos.  Before the chaos it was not bothering me that much.

Bike

Time - 3:13:24

I think this was my best leg of the race.  Going into the race, many people told me the bike course was tough because of high winds and steep hills.  So that we a big concern.  Well it wasn't windy and the steep hills were not bad, I only needed to slow down for 1 of them.  The course was 2 loops that started in town, then circled back to town on back roads.  The ride out was fast, the ride back was a bit slower but still a good pace. The police support were AWESOME, in town we had a lane to ourselves and they were very protective of all of us riders.  I tried to say Thank you to as many of them as possible because their support is very important to a safe race.

I felt my Olympic distance races and training in Boerne, TX really helped me get through this course and it was a much easier ride than I expected.

I think I could have pushed a bit more on the bike than what I did but was concerned about burning up my legs for the run.

Run

Time - 3:00

The run is my new nemesis (old nemesis was the swim).  Going into the race my longest run was 9 miles so I didn't think I would be able to run the entire distance.  I decided I would use the Jeff Galloway approach and do a modified run / walk combination.  The course was nice because it was 4 loops in town with out and back on the same road so it made it very easy for the cheering crowd to find a spot under a shade tree and see everyone multiple times and the crowd was plentiful!  The finish line was amazing, great music and they call out your name with plenty of folks cheering you to victory.

I haven't downloaded the data from my watch but I'm pretty sure my last 2 laps were better than my 1st 2 laps.  

Overall

I'm super proud of myself for this accomplishment!  The only BAD part of the race was my failure to apply sunscreen, so 3 days later I still have a pretty bad sunburn on my back an arms.  I was a bit sore Monday and Tuesday and have several blisters on the bottom of my feet but I definitely could have worked out today, but I didn't.  

This is a race that I would love to do again - I think I actually enjoyed the entire day and I want to go back and take some time off my bike and run.

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