no. 2, on the way to 4

On Sunday (6/8) I did the Yorktown Sprint, my second Setup event in my quest to earn an age group award for 2008 (of course, I'm currently 7/7, but now that I've done 2 events and the other six women have only done 1 each, I'm hoping my standing will improve). The sprint featured a 650 meter open water swim in the York River, a mostly shady and flat 12-mile bike ride, and a hot 3.1 mile run. Because the air temperature at 4:30 a.m. was 78-80 degrees and the water temperature was 76-78 degrees, I opted not to wear my wet suit, as did most of the other 500+ competitors. But the water did feel a little chilly when we first entered, and I had a hard time catching my breath when I tried to put my face in. I swam at least the first 100-150 meters with my face out of the water before I found a comfortable stroke to get me through the swim part. One of the reasons I chose to do this event was to get some open water swim practice before Hy-Vee on 6/22. I think for that one I'm wearing my wet suit.

The bike ride went well -- I was prepared for the small hill at the beginning of the course, managed to pass a few people en route, and didn't fall off at the dismount. When I started the run, the temperature must have been at least 90 and I was grateful for the ice in the tiny cooler that I had with me in transition. I grabbed my hat and my race number and took off. About 1/4 mile down the road I realized I was still wearing the shoes I'd biked in! I guess I hadn't noticed this before because I hadn't worn my shoes with clips. Anyway, it was too hot to go back and change shoes, so I just kept going and did more walking than running. The real downside, however, was that I ended up with some painful blisters on my feet. I finished in 2:01:15 -- 76 seconds slower than I'd hoped for. I got a lovely paperweight for being 2nd in my age group (or, stated differently, because there were only 2 of us, last in my age group!). The woman who took 1st had a slower swim time than I did, but a faster bike time, and we were about the same on the run. I have to wonder if I'd remembered to put on my running shoes if I could have done better, but I did manage a negative split.