Pickerel Lake Triathlon 2012

It was another fantastic year for the Pickerel Lake Triathlon.  After 2 years of minimal training and Paul winning, I kicked it into gear and put forth a strong effort.  

Paul's stated goal has been to beat my record time of 1:21:35 and I figured he'd be close.  I kept my training on the down-low so no one expected me to challenge Paul.  That was exactly the way I wanted it.

It was a hot race morning with a slight breeze.  We had a little chop on the swim but not much.  Abbie dominated the field.

The bike was treacherous, but we didn't have any mishaps.  It was a dry June so there were a lot of soft sandy spots which wreak havoc on road bikes.  There was also more traffic on the roads.  Bike times were definitely slower (avg of 2:20 slower than last year) but no one crashed.

The run is the backbone of the race.  With high temperatures this year it was going to be tougher than normal.  

I was in first after the bike but figured it wasn't by much (turns out it was 2.5 minutes).  As I started running I felt weak and slow and expected Paul to catch me at any time.  I was sure I heard footsteps on several occasions.  As the run went on I think I picked up speed, although every step felt labored.  With 1.5 miles left I snuck a peak behind me and Paul was nowhere in sight.  With half a mile left I took one last look and still didn't see him.  I knew I was home free.

It felt great to win again!  I set a new PLT best time at 1:20:41.  Abbie VanHarn set a new swimming record at 8:23 and a new overall women's record at 1:35:50

Our fan support was great as always.  William and Jack enjoyed the host of people willing to hold time (a rare treat). 

  

 

 

Other notables:

• Molly and Sam were the youngest relay team ever at 12 years old
• Paul, Jason, Steve, and I maintained our streak by completing the race all 8 years
• Compared to last year 5 people improved and 10 had longer race times
• Abbie VanHarn improved her time by 20 minutes.  Lydia Soper improved her time by 15 minutes.
• There were 9 first-time participants but only 1 first time solo finisher (Debbie)