Queen of 4th Place Strikes Again....Twice!

Well, we all got back from Chicago last night (me, mom, dad & Jake) and had a great weekend of exciting races. My timing results are above - click on the image to see a closer view. I'll post some pictures tonight.... 

Race Recap: Saturday SuperSprint Race 

Well, the race on Saturday was a lot of fun... it is half the distance of a sprint race and I signed up to do this as a "warm-up" for Sunday. Note: the transition times are mashed into the Swim and Run legs of the race, which is deceiving. 

The swim was NOT a 1/4 mile - I was getting out of the water when the wave behind me went off, which was at 3 minutes!!! Michael Phelps would have some trouble with that split! Needless to say, I did come out of the water 1st in my heat. Yeah! 

Bike was decent, but with a 3 loop course (at a mile long) you just get up to a good speed (over 20 mph) and you have to slow down to make your U-turn. The run was flat, short and decent - I ended up finishing 4th place in my age group (of 142 women)...19 seconds from the girl in 3rd place. Was about 9 minutes faster from last year - but it was a different race last year as a duathlon (no swimming). 

Stats:

• 4th place out of 142 in my age group
• 9th Female overall
• 71st out of 742 total racers

After the race we met some friends of Jake's and had a late lunch and then walked around and did some sight-seeing at some parks in Chicago. Afterwards, I totally missed the expo for getting body marked for Sunday - so dad had to put my numbers on with a sharpie in the hotel room and we had to pray that the marker wouldn't come off during Sunday's race. Early to bed! Up at 3:45 to get to transition by 4:30 AM! Ouch!!! 

Race Recap: Sunday Accenture Sprint Race 

Well, made it to transition early to get all setup with about 8700 other people. Wow, there's a lot of bikes! In transition some of the girls were calling me "Pro Jen", since I was helping them with their questions and setting up their transition areas (a LOT of first timers at this race). 

I met mom, dad and Jake down by the swim start - all in their matching Team Pink Lightning T-shirts. So cute! Alright, down to the race... 

Swim is in the marina against the wall - so people can walk along and watch you the whole way. I could hear them yelling for me and I had a decent swim...staying in the front of my heat and passing people in earlier heats. I came out of the water with a few girls ahead of me - but not too many. 

Then we have to run .25 mile to the transition area on cement sidewalks - I had some shoes at the end of the swim I slipped on and hauled butt to Pink Lightning (Note: swim split = .5 mile swim + .25 mile run for this race). I was about 1 minute ahead of last year's swim. Good start. 

I got on Pink Lightning and took off. Lake Shore Drive had SO many potholes and grooves - you had to be careful. Rules for this race is if you get a flat tire - you are out of the race. No repairs. So I was passing people "on the right" (this race is backwards) and making good time. There was a headwind going out (which I was hoping would be an awesome tailwind for the last half of the race). I passed 2-3 girls that I know of, that were in my age group and just kept going. I ended up finishing going 20.8 mph (which was my goal of going over 20 mph) - and I was the 2nd fastest bike time in my age group (missed 1st by about 15 seconds). My bike time was about 3+ minutes faster than last year. Woo hoo! 

Getting back into transition was sketchy - I had to carry Pink Lightning part of the way, due to people lolly-gagging in between racks and stuff EVERYWHERE. I scoped out my rack and I was the 3rd bike in. NO PRESSURE! 

The run was good - my legs felt GREAT! It was just my breathing that was heavy. I kept telling myself all the tips for keeping my run fast (high cadence, shoulders down, run on clouds, etc). At about a mile and half in one girl passed me with a number "7" on her calf (which is my age group wave). She was booking and I was sure I couldn't maintain that pace for the rest of the race. So kept with the pace I was going. 

At mile 2 we turned at a cone down by Soldier Field and headed towards the finish line. I was bumming a bit in my head, because I calculated I was in at least 4th place now. But then I realized that the top 3 female finishers get plucked out of age groups! What if one was in my heat? I could then get bumped up higher in standings and make the podium! 

Well that lit a fire under me and I hauled it in for the rest of the race. I finished in the :25 min range which is my fastest 5K split (8:10 ave mile) and about 3 minutes faster than last year. I even beat mom, dad, and Jake to the finish line from their viewing spot on the bike-in! 

Well, we went to watch awards and when 3rd place was called - she was 1 minute faster than me. I was happy with my race and all my splits - and I was almost 8 minutes faster than last year. I got home and logged on to see my finish placement - of course.....4th place! 

Stats:

• 4th place out of 170 in my age group
• 24th Female overall
• 146th out of 2050 total racers

But I made all my goals (see previous posting):

1. Drop my time (almost 8 minutes faster!)
2. Go over 20 mph on the bike (20.8!)
3. Place higher than last year's 5th place finish (got 4th!)

All-in-all the weekend was a blast and a major success...is gonna get harder and harder to top these times. Man I love these Chicago races!