I won my Age Group!!!!

I still cannot believe it...but today I won my age group (F25-29) at the Tinley Park Metlife Duathlon!!!! To top it off I beat the second place girl by a minute and the third place by 3 minutes. This is my first AG win and I feel like a rockstar...it's so amazing...let's start from the beginning....

I woke up this morning feeling a tad groggy and quite sore. I had a massage from a very dear friend of mine yesterday and she is amazing, but beat the crap out of my body which I beat the crap out of ever day (IM training isn't easy on the body). I was feeling every area that is knotty and tight, definitely thinking not the best way to wake up on race morning, but couldn't change much about it. Had my oatmeal and peanut butter then out the door to the race site. Arrived with plenty of time to set up in transition, see some family and friends, get in a quick warm up and headed to the start line. Since this race is a very short one, 2 mile run 11 mile bike 2 mile run, I was mentally prepping myself for an hour or so of hell, just letting it all go.

Run 1...I really pushed the first run. I went out hard and was able to keep up/pass most of the women, I knew I had to be in the top 20 at that point. It was super muggy and hot which doesn't make for the easiest run, but I made it through. I did the first run in 15:17 which was better than my time last year of 16:00. I was ready to get on the bike, hydrate and breath...

T1...no messing around anymore in transition...that's my goal this year...I mean business. Caught up with Jim in T1 (sorry) and was out in 1:15 down from 1:18 last year. Not much improvement but I actually wore my bike shoes this year so I had to change them up. Another fear I have got over this year, actually clipping in for races. I was terrified that I would fall and look like the idiot before, now I just don't care.

Bike...clipped in no problem and headed out. Not much longer than that did the wind start...lovely. Crouched in tightly in my aerobars and tried to cut through it. I had quite a few moments on the bike course considering how short it is. I had a kick ass girl right in front of me that helped me keep my pace up. So a little bit into the bike I was noticing all I saw was a sea of men that her and I kept passing, LOVE IT!!!! I should go back quickly, they started us out in 4 waves. Men 40 and under wave 1, 2 minutes later men 40 and up, 2 minutes later women 40 and under, 2 minutes later everyone else (teams included). We picked off a few more women as well that had me on the run. It was then that I realized that there probably weren't too many women ahead of me and I actually might have a chance at placing in my age group. I am finally starting to get over my shit and accept and I am deserving of a win. A little after the halfway point the wind started working in our favor and flew into T2. My bike time was 35:01 down from 37:57 last year.

T2...tried to be lightening fast as I threw on my run shoes, took off my helmet and sprinted out of transition. Took my T2 time down to 1:03 from 1:18 last year once again having to switch out my shoes.

Run 2...started out feeling really good, legs a bit heavy because I really pushed the bike but I knew I was keeping a nice pace. Continued on my journey of passing the guys and finished strong. The most amazing part of the race happened about 1/2 mile away from the finish when it started raining, it was heaven! Run 2 time was 15:52 down from 16:47. So fabulous...I felt amazing when I was done.

Final time was 1:08:27 much improved from 1:13:16.

A little bit after I finished it really started to storm, lots of thunder and lightening, so we decided to leave before the awards ceremony. I really didn't think I placed in my age group anyway because I saw a handful of girls at the turnaround on run 2 ahead of me so I figured of course they will be in my AG because it is super competitive (that my ultra-pessimistic viewpoint for everything that involves me and me only) but I never reason out the truth in my head which is that they could be in another AG or part of a team which would of course make them much faster than me because they don't have to do the bike. So came home and showered, I was absolutely soaking wet from the torrential rain that started on the way to the car, had some yummy food then took a nap. When I got up I checked to see if the race results were up and I couldn't believe what I saw. I seriously stared at the computer screen with my mouth wide open for a minute before I could even talk. It is a high that I will be riding all week long into my much needed week of vacation from work =)

I can't explain how great it feels to win. Not only is it my first and an awesome accomplishment considering how competitive the sport is, but it really gave me confidence. I have been training so hard and so long for this season and this really validated what I have been doing. I do deserve this, I work damn hard and I care about this even more than how hard I work for it. I have the most amazing coaches, family, friends, and training partners around me and they are why I am where I am today. If I can do this than anything is possible.

I am now focused on my big boy...Steelhead. It's coming up fast, 33 days left. My training has been kicked up a million notches and I'm loving every minute of it.

As my coach Val said...we are now walking hand in hand on our way to Steelhead with no turning back. I'm going to kick it's ass!