Memphis in May Olympic

Not the results I was looking for, but I definitely raced well, did well, felt good, and am happy. I really tried to pus my pace on the bike and tried for the fastest bike split in my AG. I ended up 18. Two unforeseen circumstances lengthened my time slightly:

1. Around mile 10, my Garmin fell off my bike. If you've been reading this for any length of time you know I heavily rely on that watch for all my stats. It's a fabulous tool. I couldn't let it be lost, so I turned around to pick it back up. The 3 people I'd just passed passed me, but I turned around and passed them back again!
2. Around mile 19 or 20, a fire truck and an ambulance with their lights on were coming toward me (in the opposite lane, of course). Thought #1: What do I do on a bike?? Thought #2: Maybe they'll keep going and I won't have to worry. Realization #1: They were turning into the parking lot I was nearing. Action #1: Slow down, basically stop, to let them into the parking lot. Realization #2: Someone's bike was down, I didn't see the athlete, and I hoped they were OK. Then I continued.

Those 2 events likely added at least a minute to my time. If I'd have been at 1:06:30 instead of my 1:07:48, I would have been ranked 15th of the 56 in my AG (69 were preregistered). If I'd have finished in 59 minutes, I would have been first. Still, after having to slow down like I did, I was less than 8 minutes off the fastest bike split.

The run wasn't nearly as good. I gave so much on the bike that I felt like I didn't have much on the run. I finished under 60 minutes; that's nothing special. In fact, it's probably my slowest 10K yet. But I finished. I ended up 25 of 56 in my age group, and 95 of 339 female finishers. There were 731 male finishers, which means 1,119 total finishers (395 of 1,119 if my calculations are correct).

For the amateur challenge, where they paid out the top 15 age groupers, I was 23rd of 40 entrants. Again, not where I wanted to be, but I don't regret the way I raced either today or yesterday. I came out to crush the bike, and I felt like I did my best on both days. I raced, was competitive, enjoyed it, and overall am very pleased.

1. Swim rank, time: 31 25:59
2. T1: 1:40
   
3. Bike rank, time, pace: 18 1:07:48 20.8
4. T2: 1:24
   
5. Run rank, time, pace: 28 59:09 9:32
6. Finish time: 2:35:57

Sometimes I wish I were still in the 20–24 AG—there were only 6 entrants, and I would have placed second with my time!