Held at the world famous Ft. Desoto park, it was beautiful but hot. Waters were flat and the course was well marked and easy to navigate. Learning my lesson from my first tri, I started off to the side and stayed further away from the crowd. I think I ended up swimming extra, but I exited the water without any new bruises. The swim was 1/2m mile and I came out 6th in my age group.
A long run to T1, and watching my step on the black top, I shaved off quite a bit of time from before. Mt transition was 1:35, which I was pleased with. The course was flat, but we had some head winds to contend with. On my husband's bike, since I have not replaced mine yet, I paid the price for reaching into an areo position. My arms, neck, shoulders and back were killing me. The ride covered 11 miles and I had the 10th time in my age group.
Finally the run, which is suppose to be my strength. I was starting to feel the effects of the heat and humidity. My wave started 30 minutes after the elite and it was quite sunny now. Within the first few minutes of the run, you encounter a nice set of stairs. Probably equals about 3 flights. And those steps are more like half steps, so it is hard to keep up any kind of rhythm. Running steps on bike legs was a shock!
The rest of the run course was flat, but offered zero shade. I'd rather have hills and cooler conditions! I struggled through the run and passed a few folks walking. My lung was feeling a bit achy, but not bad.
I crossed the finish with the 11th fastest run time, which wasn't fast at all.
But the effort managed to get me an 8th place age group finish out of about 30 women. Not too bad for my 2nd triathlon.
Afterwards there was lots of good fruit and beverages available.
If you plan to do this one next year: bring change for two toll booths you have to pass. I had to beg for coins from passing cars. And be prepared for the stair climb.
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