Frank Dunn Tri Race Report

Another year in the books! Next year is the race's 30th Anniversary...who's in?? My registration is mailed first thing tomorrow!
We have a cabin about 30 minutes from Waskesiu where this race is held. Up to the cabin we go on Saturday. My hubby had flown down to Reno to pick up his motorcycle so I had the munchkins in the truck and he was on his bike. I guess the 4 days on that thing to get it home weren't enough..? Got my gear sorted out Saturday night, laid around reading and relaxing. The nice thing about these smaller races is that we can pick up our race packages on Sunday morning. Saves me the panic of driving all the way to Waskesiu and back Sat afternoon.
Sunday morning the entire family is up at 5:30am. I had packed them a breakfast AND lunch for the day so my poor sleepy eyed kids were stuffed in their car seats and off we went. They kept asking "Are we going on an airplane?" Because every trip we take on a plane is nearly in the middle of the night...no sweeties, just to mom's triathlon!!
Anyway, got my gear sorted out and package picked up and listened to the pre-race instrucions. Was it me...or were the officials kind of tough this year? They put a snow fence all the way around transition and someone was penalized for jumping over the fence...could you imagine? Before the race even started!! And a buddy of mine was told to put a swim cap on...everyone knows he NEVER swims with a swim cap...They told him he would get a penalty if he did not put a swim cap on. Rules are rules I guess.
The swim: the swim is the swim. My right calf basically seized up for the last 200 meters. Damn it hurt!! And I ran head on into a guy doing back stroke...he was coming the other way and was WAY off course. Second female out of the water...and guess who was first? That's right our own Jenna!! And she got a trophy...I did not know they gave trophies!!!! Now I want one...
And the course was apparently several hundred meters long.
T1: I had a super quick transition. I have learned a few things in these years of triathlons. However my entire right leg seized up and I had to take a few minutes to stretch it out. Annoying. And I started out the wrong way out of transition...so had to double back and go the right way. Annoying. And then I could not get my feet clipped in. I was shaking I was so out of breath and was stressed about my leg. Annoying.
The Bike: Well...I am still a shitty biker. Most of the field passed me. Damn that SUCKS!! I really tried to stay focused and pedaled as hard as I could for 62km. The distance, the bike, the pedalling did not bother me in the least. According to my garmin, I was 5 minutes faster than I have ever been on that course!! So given that I only got ONTO my bike in mid-June...I am super happy with this result.
T2: No issues.
The Run: I have made peace with running. It really came through for me today! I ran the ENTIRE 13km!! I took only two very short breaks to grab water...always two cups...one for me and one for my head. It was hot. OMG it was so hot! By the time I am out there it is almost noon and no shade. It was HOT!!! But I ran and just counted down the clicks. No issues with my leg or anything. I ran on the white line of the road the entire run...just kept looking at it and put one foot in front of the other. I was amazed at how great I felt!!
As I was coming to the finish, I heard the announcer say "There is less than a minute to get in under 4 hours!" OMG I sprinted to the finish...ME! SPRINTED!! I didn't know I could sprint...
Anyway, a very good day for me. My first goal was to get in under 4 hours. I thought this could be tough given that I really only started working on this 6 weeks ago. I thought I would be happy with around 4:15. And being able to run the entire course and with the swim being long...my new PB is gravy!!!