On Sunday I successfully defended my title at the Westchester Triathlon. That makes it four Wassner wins in a row! (Bec won in '08 and '09). The rain held off and we had a great day for racing. Since it was a local race, I was able to take a car service right to transition - meaning I didn't have to drive and was able to think about the race and hydrate with EFS on the way up! It was nice to have that extra time to relax.
I got to the race site and found out I only had one person to race against! With so many other races happening the same day, the field was just me and Alice H. Alice is a champion swimmer, so I just tried to go out hard and minimize the damage. I had my beachside FRS, did my drills, did an interview and then we were off running into the sound. I felt really strong in the water and swam on the feet of the guys pack the entire way. I wore a pair of brand new, clear TYR Velocity goggles and did not have any trouble seeing buoys this time! Nothing hurt, no stomach ache - completely the opposite of how I have felt in other swims this year. I hit the shore 2nd overall - behind only John Kenny. I finally won a swim!! The bike was a fun, hilly, winding route and the run was as difficult as it always is. I stayed full of energy on the bike an run with a few hits from my EFS Vanilla gel flask. I did the same thing in Syracuse and it really works for me. I ran hard for 5 miles and then cruised in for the win. It might have looked easy on paper - but I worked for it!
Right after I finished I met up with Men's winner Jordan Jones and we ran a few miles along the course cheering and cooling down. I'm glad he suggested it since it really helped me recover. Jordan had a great race and it was his first pro victory!!
As I told my coach Cliff after the race, I pretty much just combined my weekend workouts into a race. Fortunately, I was able to pull off a win! Thank you to all of the fans and volunteers who helped me along and especially to Debbie Ragals and Charles Pegg who gave me rockstar status. Also congrats to everyone who raced. I loved seeing so many people I knew out there and at the finish. Unfortunately, no Zico at the finish of this race (will see you in Dallas!!) but they did have beer and pizza which is almost as good!
Thanks also to my incredible team of sponsors: Nike, FRS, NYAC, Zico, First Endurance, ISM, Rudy Project, HED, TYR, Triathlon Lab, and Chia Charger. You all keep me going - and going fast!!
