Under-19 age grouper Avery Visser surprised us with a victory at Danskin in Austin.  What a great moment for the future of our sport. 

The day began a bit stressful.  Uncharacteristically of me, I didn’t get to the race early enough for me to go through my ‘pre-race warm-up routine’.  Danskin caters to the masses, and the parking-to-race venue busing takes a significant chunk of time.  So, I wasn’t warmed up.  And, for my 37-year-old body, that is not recommended.  For a sprint triathlon, I need to sweat before the race.  This is not an excuse - just a reminder to get the HR up prior to a fast race, particularly for those of us who seek long events.

Pre-race I felt tremendous energy from all the athletes and spectators.  Many women are competing for the first or second time with lots of support from friends and family.  I flew solo that day, as Autumn (my 7-year old) bagged going to the race in favor of playtime with Grandma (Michael was playing in a golf tournament).  She did the expo with me the day before and thoroughly enjoyed the Crocs booth, where she scored a sweet pair of pink shoes with a bicycle, ‘ruby’, dog, and turtle Jibbitz (why didn’t any of us think of that idea).  She absorbed the extra attention the Trek and Bontrager wheels received as we checked in the speed machine.  Trek sponsored the race, so we had the opportunity to meet Julie and her compadres. 

Race day comes quickly and the race went fast — 71 minutes as hard as I can go.  In Austin, you never know if that will land you at or near the top or not.

I have been swimming better, so I was pleased to see that my BlueSeventy goggles helped me gain on the field in that area (relative to last year).  The stunning part of the swim: when Avery came blowing by me in the swim.  I raced with the first wave in this race, so when I felt her come by, I knew she had already put a minute on me (and several others).  She had the fastest swim of the day, and put over 3 minutes on me in 800 meters.  Now, this isn’t totally surprising, as I learned to swim 4 years ago, almost to the day.  So, I’m grateful for the progress my body continues to make.

The Trek and Bontragers ride sweetly, and even without a warm-up, we put down the fastest bike split of the day, just a smidge under 25mph, in the attempt to chase down the race leaders.  I ran smoothly — it was a ‘trail run’ — so that shook things up a bit. It was a bit strange, though, as the gaps ahead and behind me were fairly substantial, I didn’t see racers out on the course.  The support was fantasic, and the energy high.

Overall Results:

1 - Avery Visser 1:08:44

2 - Jeannie Sampson 1:09:09

3 - Katherine Bertine 1:09:44

4 - Juli Fiocca 1:11:31

5 - Joni Moore 1:14:14

http://results.timberlinetiming.com/results/index.cfm