Icebreaker Sprint Triathlon 2011 For The Win

A 10am start time is pretty relaxed as far as races go. I slept in till 6am and was relaxed about packing up my gear to hit the race. Transition wouldn't even open until 8am. I was among the first to start laying out their gear on the frosty grass, first come first serve set me up for a sweet spot on the racks. Right across from Dave Warden who yes has his name on his race wheels and yes indeed did win the race. I spent the next two hours wandering around, talking to volunteers at body marking and waiting for my co-worker Kelly to show up for her first triathlon. I took a short ride and run to warm up then took a break from stretching to help Kelly set up her transition area. Once everything was set it was time to take off the gloves, hat, sweatpants and coat then run through the frosty transition to the indoor pool where the swim would be held. The day had begun to heat up from frostbite to freezing. There is a reason this race is called the icebreaker.

Inside the warm dome all the athletes began to line up by race numbers as I finished practicing flip turns under lane lines. A skill I was unable to use in the mob that would be my swim leg. I keep decent pace during the swim portion despite being pined in on all sides and hitting each wall in conjunction with 4 other swimmers. What should have been an easy 300m swim turned out to be a battle. And for once I was glad the swim portion of the race was over so quickly. Running from the pool through the parking lot back to transition I toweled off quickly then unzipped my wet UVU jersey to trade it for a warm dry cycling jersey. I garbed my bike and hit the pavement.

Through the bike portion I felt strong and on pace. There was only one real hill then the rest was smooth sailing including an awesome downhill portion that we got to hit twice on the two loop course. Coming through the 2nd loop I was cruising down the hill when I noticed a car stopped out part way into the course I pulled out into traffic slightly to avoid the car completely confused as to why a volunteer hadn't asked the car to move. As I glanced over my shoulder all I saw was a bike and legs sticking out from beside the car. There had been a nasty crash! I found out after the race that she had somehow T-boned the car. I'm not sure what happened beyond that but I think she is better off hitting the car then if it had been the other way around. The bike portion of the course finished with out a hitch it was time to trade my bike for running shoes and finish this race!

The run was hard. No way around that. The cold weather left my legs feeling tight and less then top notch. Just the same, one foot after the other I was going to make my goal! Though I felt slow and sluggish I finished the 5K in under 30mins which was my goal. As the final stretch came into sight a guy pulled up behind me and remarked, "I have been chasing you for 3miles, I caught you now I am happy you go and finish strong!" With that I put in what was left in the gas tank to cross the line strong.

I lazily strolled around eating orange slices and enjoying the sunshine while I waited for Kelly to finish. Kelly came in strong! Tired but excited about finishing her first race. After taking down some more snacks we strolled over to the times table to see how we did. As we meshed into the crowed I heard Kelly say,"Amber, you got first!" I looked at the sheets and not only had I meet my goal times for the bike and run (mere seconds off on my swim time) I also had won my age group.

This age group win was my first at the sprint distance and a pretty nice way to kick off the season. Next up I am thinking April 16th Telos Tri and April 30th Spring Sprint! Read for a killer season!