Swim Bike Run Fuel: Rocketchix II

This awesome kit though.......

This race is my favorite race every year, and I get to enjoy it twice a year. It’s a great beginner race. It is a women’s only race and that makes it a little less intimidating and more welcoming for new comers to the sport.

Rocketkidz Foundation offered a VIP option for the race if you made an extra donation. It was a no brainer because the foundation is amazing and does great things for children in our community. So I signed up and became a VICHIX. This entitled me to an extra swag bag, special parking on race day, a special rack in transition {which was full when I arrived} and a fancy yellow bib that had my name and VICHIX on it.

So race day arrives and I had some changes in my pre-race rituals so I was a little nervous. Race day marked 8 weeks training with Freshjunkie Racing and having a coach. I knew I was ready to PR but was still nervous about what was going to happen. I never know what will happen in a race until I start. When I started this race, I knew it was going to be a good day.

For the swim start I decided to seed a little further up than normal, I passed 5 people in the pool for Rchix I and that is exhausting so I didn’t want to be in that situation again. Turned out I made the right choice, I was probably 15^th in the pool and had no problems being near anyone. I felt great for the whole swim and was even able to push it on the last 2 laps. 7:12 later I’m out of the pool and headed to T1- T1 is always so awful for me, I’m often disoriented and really don’t know what I’m doing.

I was off on the bike and feeling good, first order of business is always to get my breathing under control on the bike. It usually takes the first mile or so to slow my breathing and get into a good place. This was my fastest bike ever at 19.4 MPH average pace. WOAH! Me?!?! That fast?!?! Who am I?!? 37:18 and 12 miles later and I’m back into transition ready to go out on the hardest part of the entire sport.

I am a slow runner and it always kills me but I cranked out an 8:58 average pace for the 2 mile run in this sprint triathlon and I am pretty damn proud of that! Toward the end of the run, someone comes up on the side of me out of nowhere so naturally I check her calf. 32. I instantly think, oh hell no. Not today. I pick up my pace a little and we run side by side for about a tenth of a mile. It’s a funny thing sprinting for the finish. We weren’t really sprinting just yet, we were both feeling each other out to see who would take off first. I, of course, was waiting until the very last minute. We started to close in on the finish chute and I knew I just had to go and get what I came for. So I did, and I beat her in for second place in our age group.