Jamestown International Race Report

So I am so far behind on race report but I will try to fix that. So I signed up for Jamestown International for the entire goal of qualifying for age group nationals.  I was going down solo which is a first in a long time that I haven't done a race with friends or my team.  I hadn't been run training much since I was swimming so often so I wasn't sure what to expect. I had intentions of training enough for this race but of course, that fell through.  On top of the lack of training, it was gonna be a hot race.  I drove down the night before the race and enjoyed Noodles for dinner and Dairy Queen for dessert and then tried to head to bed early.

Race morning was nice weather and I got there pretty early just so I didn't have to worry about parking. Sadly there isn't much to do at the race site when you don't know anyone.  I set up transition and went back to the car to hang out and listen to music. I realize how much I love team races and having so many friends there.

Swim: 30:40
I decided not to use my wetsuit because the water was 77 degrees and I thought I would overheat. It wouldn't save me enough time and I knew I could handle it without. The swim seemed super short thanks to my long distance training but I also had only been doing distance training since I slept through most of the Team Z swims. I didn't expect my endurance pace to kick in as much as it did but it was a slower swim than I expected but at least it was easy.

T1: 3:02
Yes this seems high but honestly the run from the swim to transition was long and I couldn't get around someone in front of me. Easy transition though once I got there.

Bike: 1:07:14
My goal was to crush the bike since it was flat.  I hadn't been training as much as I should have on the bike either (Yes there is a trend there). I went out hard and never really let down. I was super impressed with how well I was able to keep the speed up and I felt mostly good. I knew my bike fit was off but I already had a fit scheduled for later that month so I couldn't do anything about that. I played leap frog with a group of about 5 guys and it was fun. I really do love biking.

T2: 1:05
Nice and fast. Here came the dreaded part of the race though.

Run: 56:47
So I don't remember breaking an hour in a full international race (maybe at Nation's tri but I didn't have the swim). I really wanted to hit at least 9 minute miles and it started well.  It is a semi shaded path and super flat. I did 3 miles really well and then the heat and exhaustion from the bike ride set in. I started having to walk.  I felt horribly sick and couldn't mentally convince myself to push. I made it almost 5 miles before a girl passed me but then several did. I knew the walking was going to run my qualifying but even knowing that didn't help push me. I need to work on my mental toughness and oh yeah, I need to train. Small details though.

Overall: 2:38:47
Yes I think this is a PR for me. I saw so many ways to cut another 5 minutes too and that is a positive. I realized how important full training is to my goals and I will try to stick to it when I have a time goal. I didn't qualify at this race but missed it by minutes. Amazingly I had qualified at an earlier race (which I think is a mistake but oh well). Even with qualifying, I decided not to go to age group nationals. My friends decided not to go and I am just not at a point where I am dedicated to training. I don't want to waste my time going to Milwaukee just to say that I raced it. Qualifying was the goal and I did it.

This was a great race and I would love to do it again. Super fast and flat which is always a nice thing for me but next time, I will bring friends.