Thirty-eight degrees!
In a sport where we pay a lot of attention to a lot of numbers, 38 was the number several of us were focused on last week after Meteorologist SanDee reported the forcasted temperature for the morning of the race. So, yeah, it was cold. Reportedly, this is the last tri of the season on the East Coast.
Two other numbers I thought were exciting:
50--the percentage of female competitors
40--the percentage of first-time triathletes
I like to think that TRIgirl plays a significant role in increasing these numbers. I also think there is such a high percentage of first-timers because then most people know better than to do such a chilly race again!
And, finally, 12.
That's the number of minutes I took off my time from last year!
The pool deck was a sea of pink as TRIgirls gathered for the time trial start. Thank goodness for the pool swim this time of year. My goal was to swim 300 of the 400 meters freestyle, since I rely so heavily on breaststroke in race situations. I din't quite make it, but I was pretty happy with my percentage. I swam the first 50 and the last 25 completely freestyle, and the rest of them time was probably evenly split between breast and free. The best part of the swim--Lynn handing me my towel as I got out. Grandison was so smart to tinitiate the TRIgirl towel station! Swim time: 8:29. Including the breaststroke and the long-ass run back to transition, a pleasing time for me!
Although Triboi Bobby was disappointed that he didn't catch me sooner than he did on the bike, I felt like my ride was pretty uneventful. The first couple of miles I concentrated on the searing pain from the little daggers being thrust over and over again into my thighs. Then I realized it was just the cold air. I had by far my longest T1 time ever, but I thought it was worth the extra couple of minutes to try to make myself more comfortable out there. If there's a next time in this kind of weather, I will probably wear even more clothing. I hadn't ridden the course since the race last year, and while the hill was still long, I felt much better prepared to tackle it.
You know it's a cold day when SanDee says she's looking forward to the run as the "best part" of the race. As I started out, I looked at my feet--no lie--three times to make sure I had changed from my bike shoes to my running shoes. I hadn't realized how cold and stiff those dogs had gotten on the ride!
As always, TRIgirls were representing at the finish line. A couple more numbers here...
18 TRIgirl competitors!
4 TRIgirl volunteers!
More TRIgirl cheerleaders at the finish line.
If you want all the numbers, check out the results page.
http://richmondsprint.richmondmultisports.com/results.php
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