Deer Creek 70.3 Race Report

I'm a little late with this race report for the Deer Creek Fall Challenge triathlon but wanted to give a quick recap of the event before I write my race report for Beach 2 Battleship. Overall I thought HFP did a nice job with the event. There were a variety of distances from mini-70.3. Steve and I planned to make the 70.3 a hard training effort for our upcoming IM race at Beach 2 Battleship a few weeks later.

After a short bike and run shakeout workout, we headed down to Mt. Sterling, OH, which is a little outside of Columbus. It was maybe a 3-hour drive so not too bad. We headed over to the Beach to pick up our packets and then over to the Deer Creek Lodge to check in. A number of our friends from Cleveland were doing the race as well so we got a fun group together for dinner and drinks and then headed back to the room to get our race stuff ready for the morning. 

Prerace with friends

Race morning was smooth. We got up to eat breakfast and get ready to head back over to the beach to transition. We checked in our bikes, setup transition, grabbed our timing chips and then hung out with our friends Frank and Karen who were both racing the half too. We all got in a quick swim warm up. The weather and water temps were perfect!

The Swim - 1.2 miles - 33:41

The swim was quick and easy. There were a lot of people in the water but it went pretty smooth. It was a two lap swim course. After completing the second lap, there was a bit of a run maybe 200-400 meters over to T1. My time of 33:41 was prob more like 32 with the run.

T1 - 2:32

I had a long T1 perhaps but I like to sit down and put my socks and shoes on and eat something before heading out on the bike.

The Bike - 56 Miles - 2:59:46

Bike results were kindof flat for me. I was hoping to average between 19-20 and ended up around 18.8. I think fighting the wind just slowed me down some. It was a three loop bike course with some flat although windy terrain and the last 5 miles or so of the loop consisting of rollers. By the third lap I was ready to be done.

T2 - 1:34

T2 is always a little faster since there's no wetsuit involved. Quick change of shoes and headgear, a quick bite to eat and then off to the run.

The Run - 13.1 Miles - 1:56:50

Out on the run 

The run was okay for me. I had wanted to be a few minutes faster but it was hot and I was having some bladder pain the second half. Turned out to be a UTI I was treated for post race (not fun). I walked it off a few times but kept the breaks short as I wanted to have a decent run. I ending up averaging about an 8:55 pace versus the 8:45 I was shooting for. 

The Finish - 5:34:20

I was happy to see the finish and was excited to learn I was 2nd place female! It was hard to tell what place I was in as the run was a two loop course and there were a decent amount of people out there. This finish was very close to my goal time of 5:30 so I was happy with the effort and feeling good about my upcoming 140.6.

Post Race - 

After the race we headed over to the lodge to take a quick shower and then we drove to Polaris area in Columbus for a dinner at Matt the Millers Tavern with our friend Karen. We celebrated a good race with a good meal and a Bodhi IPA!