Age Group Sprint Nationals, Milwaukee, August 8

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This was the biggest triathlon competition ever in the USA, maybe the whole world with over six thousand competitors over two days. The athletic village and transition area dominated the pretty sea front near the Art Museum and Discovery Center.



I did the sprint distance. Women's age group 60-64 was completely full at 100 qualified athletes! I did not feel particularly nervous, I knew I would not have anything to do with the top. I did a business like swim at 16.50 for 750m coming in at 32nd place. Swimming is not my forte, and if I try too hard, I just get tired without swimming faster. Getting out of the water, I was not exhausted and I passed several people on the run between water and bike. 

Rather than pressing the leg time button on my smartwatch, I pressed finish. On the bike, I fiddled with the watch trying to restart, and I was not totally focused on the ride from the beginning. I passed people on the uphills, and they passed me on the downhills, even though I peddled like crazy. I am not totally happy with the 37th place on the bike, I think I maybe could have done a little better.

But I had it back on the run, I was relatively fresh and passed quite a few people and finished at 27.35 for 5k and 23 place. 

It's always the dilemma how hard to do each discipline. There are times I have pushed myself too hard on the bike, which only resulted in a slow run and a lot of agony. I don't know if I got the balance right this time, maybe I should have pushed more on the bike? 

Overall I got 24th place. I am not in the lower end of my age group anymore and it shows in a tight and experienced field like this, most people ahead of me were a few years younger. I also think standards are improving, this was actually my best swim and run time on a measured full course, but I was maybe a minute slow on the bike. It was probably pretty close to what I can do.

I must stop fiddling with my smart watch during races, though. 

/Gunilla


Location: Milwaukee, WI, USA

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