Redfish Race Report

I was pondering the idea of not going. Boy that would've been a big mistake.

I wasn't in shape, really, to do this triathlon. I've been struggling since doing Florida IM 70.3 - burnout really. So I did Rigby... and Blackfoot... and now Redfish... on nothing more than one 3 mile run and a mile swim the week before to prepare! But I signed up for this race... and I wanted to do it more for my buddy GIna than for me! I really wanted her to experience her first real triathlon... and she did! More on that in a bit.

On Friday night Gina and I headed up to Redfish for the mandatory "wetsuit wash". We wanted to do this Friday night so our suits would have ample time to dry. Afterwards, we drove back to Sun Valley to take care of a little business. Then... after a spectacular pizza at Smoky Mtn Pizzeria in Ketchum, we crashed at Wathne's place in Elkhorn (after some struggle getting the code to work!).

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early at 5am and drove the 70 miles to Redfish. That drive is absolutely spectacular! I have to say that the Sawtooths are the most beautiful mountains anywhere! Those jagged cliffs impress me everytime I see them! We also saw quite a bit of wildlife on the drive that made it extra special!

Now the race. The water at Redfish was cold.. 52 degrees, so they shortened the swim. Gina was doing the "olympic" length and I opted for the sprint since I haven't really trained much. I figure by now I can wing it with the sprints! The water there is CRYSTAL clear! You can see a mile ahead of you... and that can be pretty spooooooky! It's odd to see every swimmer around you... and the rocks on the bottom of the lake! Gina struggled on the swim - she's a GREAT swimmer but she really had trouble with the "panic" that every triathlete experiences on that first open water swim. My swim was good. I enjoyed it... and the cold was nothing to be bothered by. I wore a sleeveless wetsuit and had no trouble at all.

I was second out of the water.. by three seconds... and first out of T1. It didn't take long to get passed. The first girl passed me at mile 1 (haha) and three others passed me in the last 2 miles. The bike was fabulous... pretty flat.. and gorgeous!

T2 was smooth. I really felt a lot better on the run that I typically do. I just kept it slow and steady. I did have to walk 4 times for about 20 steps each to pound my left foot and wake it back up. Damn neuroma! I'll get that fixed after tri season!

I finished as the 5th woman overall. I was 1st in my age group - but I was scored as the 1st Athena. Yaay.

After struggling on the swim and hailing three boats to puke 3 times, Gina was impressive on the bike and run and finished 2nd in her AG. yaaay for her. Other Poky TRI clubbers did great, too!

I'd HIGHLY recommend this race to EVERYONE.. beginners to seasoned vets. You can't beat the view.. and the post race meal was craaaazy good (prime rib, stuffed mushrooms, steamed broccoli, elk meat balls... and much more!).

Now it's time for some R&R. I have Blacktail in 3 weeks. I'll probably rest a week then start training again.