General Smallwood OLY

I went into the race with realistic expectations. I knew the amount of work I had put in over the past 7 weeks, fully letting my mind and body recover from Ironman. I decided to race the OLY over the HIM about 2 weeks ago, after busting  my knee as well as admitting to myself that 70.3 miles didn't sound like fun in any way. I made it my goal for the day to come off the bike as high up in the women's field as possible and not give up on the run.

Swim was cold - perhaps the coldest open water swim I've done. I felt pretty good once we started, but (not surprisingly) didn't have the extra gear to hang with the fastest eventual female swimmer. I watched her slowly pull away after the 1st turn and I just tried to stay strong and swim straight. Really nice 2 loop swim course, it was very easy to navigate and I felt like it went by quickly.

Bike was windy. Passed a female about mile 2 or 3 and was pretty sure I was riding in 1st. I tried to push the pace and keep my efforts up, but I went through miles 10-20ish without seeing a single other person. Based on the results, I had swam through most of the male field (all went in Wave 1), had a few pass me back in the first 10 miles, but after that - I was all alone for a majority of the race. Couldn't see anyone in front, no one behind. Hardly any cars. If it wasn't for the cops guarding the intersections, I would have thought I was off-course. So it was a bit hard to keep my focus and I a little bit wished I had a bike computer/HR monitor to gauge my effort. Looking at the results? Caroline and the overall winner put about 3 minutes into my on the bike. Oops.

Off the bike leading the overall race. Mission accomplished. Knew Caroline couldn't be far behind. Decided to leave my Garmin in T2, as I was racing for place, not for time at this point.

Was passed by eventually overall winner a bit after Mile 1, passed by Caroline quickly after. Wasn't surprised, was happy for my training partner and encouraged her to go after the woman in front. Was one of those strange runs/races were I had no clue how fast I was running - 7:30 pace? 8:30 pace? All I know is that it was hilly, hotter than I had expected and I was running hard. I focused on keeping my legs and arms moving, and the goal became to stay on the overall podium.

After the turn around I realized I had a very large margin over 4th place, knew I wasn't catching back up to Caroline as she disappeared in the distance, so I began to ease up a bit. Turned off the main road in the last mile, and tried to focus on just getting through the final few minutes. Through the woods, heard lots of footsteps coming up from behind and turned to see a female in a big pack of guys FLYING up from behind. DAMMIT. But then I realized the course was now shared between the OLY and Sprint - as the girl FLEW by, based on her number, I knew I was in the sprint and I was OK.

Happily crossed the line in 3rd, 2:32:56, to end my season. Perfect way to end a great year. I have surpassed many of my expectations this year and am ready for a mental and physical break. I honestly started the physical break after Ironman, but I have mentally been a little stressed about this race, and am so happy to clear my mind for the winter and just enjoy. Even better than the results - I was so happy to be able to share this race and podium with Caroline. I feel so lucky to have met such great training partners and even better friends this year.

This was far from my best OLY time, but I have learned over the past year - I'm not racing the clock. Every course is different. Conditions vary. All you can do is race yourself and anyone else who shows up.  I also think this was the quickest I have ever removed my race wheels and cleaned my bike after a race. The tri bike is hung up and taking a breather for at least the next few weeks and after that will be attached to the trainer through the winter months. HELLLLLO fall running, road bike and coffee rides!