second by a second

Whelp - that goes down as a lesson learned. Went out to the Desert International Triathlon and lost in a sprint finish to the line that I didn't even realize I was entered into until it was too late. Always go hard to the line. Lessons learned every time I race in this most of the time awesome sport.

Packed and got Kermit race ready on Friday, I worked a half day on Saturday, and Kyle and I were off to the desert - Palm Springs area - and set up camp. I love this race for many reasons, but the $15 lakeside camping at the race site is definitely a reason to make this a yearly race. We ate at a little Italian restaurant in Coachella and came back to the new {already broken in by mountain men} tent for a relatively good night sleep.

Race morning brought the usual run around craziness. I left Kyle in charge of packing the food/camping stuff, as the triathlon race packing is enough for me to handle. Whelp, lesson learned. Make sure to check the fuel in the Jetboil before relying solely on hot water to cook the oatmeal for breakfast. He blamed it on {mountain man} Frank for putting an empty canister back in the pot. We had nothing else besides beer. Okay, improvise. I have 3 Gu's and some Powerbar energy blasts that I had planned on using for the race. Maybe someone will have something in transition. I need to get over there to register and get my bib and jerry-rig my bike number on. Kyle was trying to find something when I suggested the Clif tent - where he begged for an entire bar and not just a sample. They begged him not to tell anyone - and so an entire mint chocolate chip Clif bar was breakfast.

what's for breakfast?

Setup transition, ran for warmup, slammed down my pre-race vanilla GU, made my new goggles {which freaking crackled again after putting them on my face!! I've about had it with these sweedish goggles and the layer on the inside crackling upon first use!} and got in for a quick warmup before swimming right up to the beach starting line. Beautiful sunrise over the lake and luckily a bit of puffy clouds to shelter it enough to not be blinded the entire first half of the swim. 3, 2, 1 swim all out to the first buoy 15 yards out. Don't want to get caught in the mess of that. Pretty much a solo swim from there on out. Started crawling over those darn grey caps before the next buoy and through the turn and all the way back to the exit. I really should get better at running so I can toe the line with the elites in these small local races and actually draft a good line during the swim. #swimmerproblems #notarunner

Out of the water feeling pretty good considering Jake and I swam to the pier on Friday. Through transition with nothing notable. Put on the sweet new Giro Selector aerohelmet from the hubs for valentines day. Wow, I can actually say I noticed a difference. I love the visor; it puts me into this zone of aero focus. The bike was awesome. Kermit has been pulling his weight lately, since my ankle/heel have been slacking. I was a bit nervous about the drafting fest  of last year {only reason I don't like this race}, but to my surprise, it was actually clean riding around me, and I was stoked! Another girl and I were trading off {legal} leads and I'm sure we were both helping each other push the pace. Just a very basic 2 loop rectangle flat course with a couple of hairy turns due to the road surface, cone placement, bike traffic, and the handling skills of triathletes. Had 28oz of water from the aerodrink, 3/4 bottle of APX, and 1 vanilia Gu.

near the end. not looking back.

Got off the bike and I actually felt amazing and ready to dread the run. :) Nah, I didn't have any expectations but to just think about my form and only stop if the heel pain went over a 5. Surprisingly felt alright and kept chugging out 8:20s like I was going to be there for a while. Saw Kyle a couple of times and he reminded me to go hard into the finish, after looking back and telling me there wasn't anyone behind me who looked like they were on their 2nd lap. Whelp, lessons learned. Go hard to the finish even if your sherpa has no idea who the competition is.

My foot hit the timing mats before hers, but she leaned into the archway/finish line and squeaked out the win. I'm not unhappy at all with my performance. I'm not even angry about the finish. I've had my fair share of out touching going both ways in my swimming career to know when to get pissed. My swim was faster than last year and the course felt a bit longer. My bike was spot on, and it was actually legit racing. My run was slower, but it was to be expected. Last year I was coming off Panama 70.3 fitness and this year I have ankles and heels that don't agree with my hobby. And that's exactly what it is - a hobby. I graciously accepted my 2nd place by a second tile and enjoyed the 3rd transition at the pool bar.

second by a second, on the stand with a 3?

ah yes. 3rd transition back into the {much warmer} water

 Anxiously excited to see how I hold up at Oceanside - swimming, riding, and running twice the distance. It's only 2 of those. Plus a little more. It won't be that bad. It's only a half of an Ironman...eeek.

Oh, so the tonsils are officially getting the boot, 2 days after Oceanside. And I'm "out" for 2 weeks. So look for some really boring blogs coming up about how much pain I'm in and how much I hate tapioca pudding. I'm currently accepting soft food donations {literally I hate tapioca, so don't even think about putting those "fish eggs" in my house}, good movie/TV series recommendations, and fro-yo dates {delivered to my house, naturally.}