Awesome race! I really enjoyed the 1/2 ironman ... but to be back on the dirt ... well, lets just say I felt like a kid in a candy store! :)
Here are the details:
Swim: 26 minutes (compared to 32 when I did it 2 years ago!)
Bike: 1:47 (compared to 1:55 2 years ago)
Run: 50 (compared to 55 2 years ago)
Usually I am not keen to get in the water ... but with the race starting at 9:30am, it was not so bad :) I was chatting away with superstar Danelle Kabush before the start and she initated a swim warm up .. smart girl ;-)
After a quick warm up, we were off. I felt decent in the water, and was (as expected) in the back 25% of the pack. It was nice not to be swam over :) I came out of the water about 10 minutes off the leaders (Danelle) and then onto the bike. Ah, the bike! I love mountain biking! Black diamond is technical - not big drop, big descent, big climbing technical, which I LOVE, but still technical - very tight corners, baby-head rocks, and lots of roots! So in a nutshell, it is a good course for me. I spent the first lap (we did 2) passing. I felt like a broken record ... " can I get by?" .. "I'll pass when it's safe" ... etc. Most people were pretty good about it and let me by as soon as they could. The course is pretty technical, so you are limited more by your abilities than your fitness ... so coming out of the bike, and into the run, I barely felt tired :) The run was great - I love trail running! I feel like a little kid on the technical trails, jumping over logs, airplaning around corners, and sprinting up the hills. A solid run at around 50 minutes! As usual, I was surprised by all the people I passed running ... makes me feel like a fast runner ;-)
A great race on the dirt, and good reminder that I am better on the technical dirt than the road!
