On the road, to the mountains…

I headed up to Lake Logan this past weekend for an International distance road Triathlon. It was a new race for me that was suppose to be very scenic. I arrived a few days before with my family because it was not far from where we stay at my mother inlaws Mtn house. The day before the race I went to register and pickup my packet, the area was gorgeous. I did a short swim in the lake, with my wetsuit as the lake was 72 degrees making wetsuits legal to use. It was strange putting a wetsuit on in the middle of August but it would be a speed advantage. The next day I woke up super early due to the 7am start time, and headed to the race site with Alex and Kristen who were staying at the house for the race.
Halfway there I realized I had forgotten my torpedo(hydration unit) that was premixed with Trifuel and sitting in the fridge. I texted Leigh-Ann who was also staying at the house from her race that had been completed the previous day. I had hoped she could bring it seeing that she planned to come watch our race. Arriving onsite, I got my gear together and headed to transition. Then setup my area, went for a warmup run, put on my wetsuit and headed for the start. I didn’t see Leigh-Ann, so I put a regular bottle on my bike.
I got in a quick warmup swim…then took my position. The gun went and were we’re off. 1500m swim was the first leg, I felt fairly strong through the swim and came out of the water 2nd in my group…then made the long run to transition, which went well. While I was running out with my bike I saw Leigh-Ann who had to my surprise, brought my torpedo. I quickly changed it out and was off on the bike. But due to the exchange a couple of riders had gotten ahead of me. I took a mile or two to settle in, then I went about trying to hunting them down. I steadily gained throughout the bike passing one at the halfway point, then catching the other a few miles from the end. In the process a few others were caught also during the 25 mile bike leg. Now, as some of you may know, I have been dealing with a knee injury…it didn’t seem to bother me too badly on the bike but I wondered how it would fair on the run, especially because I hadn’t been running much lately while trying to let it heal/rest. So into T2 I went, a quick transition and I was out on the run.
It was a 6.2 mile course, 3.1 up the hill, then 3.1 back down(actually turned out to be almost 6.4). I came out just behind a fellow competitor, who I stayed with for a mile or so, then he began to pull away. Nearing the turnaround I found myself looking at the leaders now going downhill as they passed me and counting the distance until I would turn and head downhill myself.
I made it to the turn and saw two people on my heels…pushing on the downhill now I held them off until about a mile to go. My knee had began to give me some signs it was at its limit as they passed me. I tried to hang in there but it wasn’t happening. With about a half mile to go I made a final push…and finished well.
The final tally was an age group win and 12th Overall. I will take it!
Now the big question is…What’s next as my late season plans might be changing…