Race not won but not lost...

This morning started at 4:30. Lorelei and I left the hotel around 5:15 I think and headed out to Imperial Beach. I found my rack spot and we walked out towards the pier. I took about 45 minutes to watch the waves crash ashore and the lifeguards tow the buoys out to sea. Before I started the first run Lorelei found a spot to be in and unraveled a surprise banner she made in the lobby of the hotel the night before. =P

Run 1 (1.1 miles):
The first run of the day started at 7. I found a rhythm and kept with the main part of the pack. I came in with a time of 6:30.

T1:
There was nothing special about this transition. I felt I could have been faster but all things considered, I was out fairly quickly.

Bike (9.3 miles):
The bike felt really good. We headed out to one of the local military areas and made two laps and came back to transition. Again, nothing really notable. I came in with a bike time of 24:36.

T2:
I hated having such a long run out of transition with the bike and having to run the same distance back in. I don't like running in cycling shoes. I changed back over to running shoes, visor and grabbed a water bottle.

R2 (3.3 miles):
I don't know exactly if and how much my running routine of late contributed to a stronger run than normal. I averaged 8:08 per mile today. This is roughly 40 seconds per mile average faster than the Strawberry Fields Du. I didn't feel as gassed on the run as I normally do and likely could have run a little faster if I could have put my dislike for running away in the back of my head.

I finished 5th out of 9 people in my age group with a time of 1:00:15. I was 4 minutes behind 3rd place. It emphasizes the fact that good runners will beat a good cyclist any day of the week in multisport. There was no way I was going to gain 4 minutes on the bike or on the runs. So, I keep dedicated to my run training and look for improvements in my times down the road.