Very happy to report that I finally got onto the podium in Knoxville with a 3rd place finish!
The race started in the Tennessee River which was 66 degrees - wetsuit legal. My goal for this race was to just swim in the pack no matter what. I got myself in there and allowed myself to be pulled and kicked and did not waste the energy by fighting back. (Someone was grabbing me and kicking me--why??). I finally just went behind and we all came out together pretty far behind Sara M. I was very happy to be with the group and was confident I'd run to my bike and get on it first -until I started trying to take off my wetsuit. Stuck like superglue on my wrists. I ran all the way to my bike with my hands inside the sleeves. I actually thought I might have to ride with it on. Finally I peeled it off- but by then my group was riding away!!I did put body glide on the wrists, but apparently wetsuits age and either absorb the body glide or just shrink. Whatever the case - I won't be using that one again!
I got on my bike finally and rode by myself for about 20 miles when I was happy to see that Nicole and Jessie had caught me and we rode the rest of the way together. These races are really coming down to getting into a group to ride with and unfortunately I missed that opportunity - but I knew that I could make up for it by running a fast 10k.
I heard we were three minutes down so I went out hard to try to make up as much ground as possible. After a mile or so Jess caught me and we ran together for a bit which really helped me pace myself - so thanks Jess! I saw the girls ahead of me at the turnaround and knew it would be possible to move up a few places. As soon as we got out on to the main road something kicked in and I started picking them off one by one. All the way up until the last mile. I think it was a total surprise to the crowd when I arrived to the chute in 3rd place. But never count a Wassner out - we FIGHT tooth and nail til the end!
I have to credit this to my race nutrition- I felt strong the whole way. I used First Endurance EFS in my water bottle and tried something new by using an old flask from an EFS gel shot and filled it with water for the run. That way I was ensured to get a sip rather than spilling it all over me.
Thank you to all of my sponsors and to Rev3 for putting on a great race series. Congratulations for Kelly for her dominant win. Also, congrats to Nicole who also moved herself up on the run to finish 5th. A good day for Team Fight!! 