What a gorgeous day for a race: clear and cool with warming temperatures. I signed up for this race at the suggestion of my coach, Nicole, at the last minute. It was a 5K run, 19K ride, 3K run, with the run portion being partially on road and greenway. The bike course was a 2 loop course with rolling hills. Even though this was not a large race, I ran into quite a few people I knew and it was nice to catch up with some folks. George, who I know from the Galloway training group, turned out to be the USAT official for the event. Tracy Sproule, my friend who I ran the Freedom Park 24-hour ultra with was there, too. She had signed up to race, but a possible stress fracture forced her into a volunteer role. Note to readers: everyone needs to volunteer!! I also ran into Len Fumi, past president of Charlotte Track & Tri and former Team USA Duathlon member. Although we've stayed in touch, I'd not seen him for over 2 years. And, as is the case with any race, met a lot of new folks. And Ron Zurinkas, a fellow Charlotte Athletic Club member was there, too.
The run course started off as a downhill and was a typical hilly Charlotte run. That is until we came to the last stretch on the greenway, which had a short, but monster hill just before you come back out onto the road towards the transition area. I was not slow in T1, but I was deliberate as this was my first multi-sport event since 8/24/07 (Lake Norman Tri). Grabbed some water with Gu Brew, got into my cycling shoes relatively easy, and was off. I felt very strong on the bike and was passed by only 1 person the entire time - and I passed him a short while later. There were 2 good climbs on the course and I mentally stored that away since I would be tackling them on the second loop. I attacked the downhills and was conservative on the turns. While I'm confident in my physical ability on the bike, my road skills need some work. The 2nd loop was actually better than my first; I thought I might struggle a little on the those 2 hills again, but I must have been getting warmed up - they weren't as bad as I remembered. Came to the dismount line just behind the #1 female. It was a bit of an awkward dismount; I clipped out on the right side, which I never do. Just out of practice, I guess. Lost a few seconds re-racking the bike as I tried to slip it on the back of the seat rather than the front. Again, just out of practice. Some more Gu Brew and I'm off for the 3K.
We start out on the road, but quickly enter the greenway. I'm bypassing the aid stations since all the distances are so short. about the 1 mile mark, someone in my age group (AG) passes me at a pretty good pace. I quickly calculate I will have difficulty staying with him and am resigned to a 2nd place AG finish. However, as we start up that last big hill, I begin to gain ground, but still not enough to give me any hope of passing. In fact, I was completely gassed on the hill and walked for 5-10 seconds. Once we exited onto the street, there's about 250 yards to the finish line. I find I do have an extra kick and pick up the pace. I probably closed about 5 seconds in the last 100 yards and he and I cross the finish line at the same time (there was no timing mat at the start line so it was all about who crossed the mat first). I thought I might have edged him out because he let up a bit and I led with my left foot, which had my chip on it. We ended up with the exact same time of 1:17:54, so the timer had to go to 100th's of a second to determine a winner - and he beat me by 12/100th's of a second. Oh, well. Very happy with the finish as I found a gear I didn't think I had at the end.
And kudos to the race committee: very well run race (with excellent plaques for awards). Would definitely run this one again.
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