Race day!

Despite the fact that today was a million degrees (at least!), I decided it was a good day to race. I participated in the Octomax sprint distance race at Hillsdale Lake in Hillsdale, Kansas. Crazy right?!?! Hillsdale, Kansas. It was such a cute little boonie town with an old school saloon from 1912 in the middle of it. Anyway, when I checked the temperature before I left, it was 81 degrees out and that was 5:30AM. We knew it would be roasting today and I'm glad I did the short course, not the long one (very long! too long!). My fan club arrived a bit after I did and the boys were cheering in full force!

The race went well. I have to say that as I was swimming through the choppy waters of Hillsdale Lake, the thought running through my head was "You know, I really dislike the swim." It is my worst discipline of the three and I seriously do not enjoy getting kicked in the face/chest/shoulder or getting grabbed on both ankles while navigating cold, rough waters. I'm glad that the swim comes first so I can get it over with. The bike portion rocked! I felt so fast, aside from the wind pounding at me in the face. Why is it that the wind is always against me when I'm going different directions throughout the race? Finally, the run was awesome. It was completely on sandy, beach-like trails with the exception of a small portion toward the finish. By that time, it was really hot and the first 1 1/2 miles were directly in the sun. At least I got to work on my tan! All in all, the day was great and I placed 3rd in my age group. The prize: a sweet bottle of wine. Because the overall women's winner was in my age group, I actually got a second place prize which was cool. Meanwhile, Daddy did a super job managing our little buds who got to play in lots of dirt! Maybe one of these days Kasey will once again get to join us for a triathlon.

My prize

Flexing like Daddy