Soak Up the Sun Triathlon, Race Report, by Jen Torres

This past Saturday I did the Soak Up the Sun Triathlon, in Madison MS. I was able to stay with some friends and have bit of a two day vacation. The night before I went to the site and was able to swim the course a couple of times for practice. I have not done many open water swims so this is still a new experience for me. I did the 250 meter course three times and all went well. My friend and I drove the bike portion of the course a bit later. It had some hills but nothing looked too bad; it never looks bad from the car.

I slept well that night and got up early to get a good transition spot. There were 400 other racers so getting there early proved to be an excellent idea! There I ran into Lance Ware, he was there with wife Jennifer and daughter Brittany, they all were racing. Terry Ingram (?) was my swim partner for the race. And I ran into a bunch of other racers I have met at various events from around MS. The weather was perfect; sunny and not too hot.

Terry and I joined the slow group for the 250 meter swim and should have gone with a faster group as I kept running over people in the water and this made it very hard to get in a good swim. It was not my best swim but I did swim the whole time and did not have to stop and hang onto anything. My first transition was a bit messy, having to deal with sticky cloths, wet skin and a ripped race number. Note to self- don’t forget race belt at home! And then it was off on the bike.

The bike portion was the best for me, it was only 8 miles, so I put everything I had into it. The hills were much more than expected and I was changing gears pretty much non-stop the entire race. All in all it went well and I passed many folks. My second transition went better than the first and I got on my running shoes without any problems.

The 2 mile run was HARD! Lead legs in a big way, especially the first mile, and it was hilly too. Since the run was only two miles I barely had a chance to warm up and it was nearly over, I sprinted the last 1/4 mile to make up some ground. I crossed the finish line, had a bunch of water and some fruit. I hung out for the awards as a friend was getting one and I wanted to cheer him on, boy was I surprised when I learned I had made 3rd in my age group (40-44)! Brittany Ware got 3^rd place in her age group as well.

In the end I would say it was a decent performance. There are many things I have to learn in order to get faster and more efficient. The learning curve is great and that's why I love it so much, always something new to do!