Sprint in Larache - The African Cup

Open-Water Swim in Harbor near Ocean - 500 meters
Bike - 20 km
Run - 5 km

Overall time - 1:34:00

So it sounds a lot easier just looking at the numbers, but today was definitely a challenge for me. I am so tired right now. Sleep is banging on my eyelids. Gotta record today, though.

I knew it was gonna be a tough day when I started my warm-up swim across the harbor to the starting point. The current was so strong, every one of us were being pushed out into the ocean. It was tough, esp having to swim straight into the current just to get back on track. And that was supposed to be warming us up. Talk about exhaustion before stepping up to the starting line.

I don't know how, but a 13-year-old boy beat every single one of us out of the water. I was way too far back to notice, but I heard that he smoked us all. Thankfully the swim after we started was much easier, since we didn't have to swim into the current, rather it carried us most of the way to the ending point. I think I came out in 13 minutes. I do know that is very slow since 75% of the other folks were already on their bikes.

Once we got to the bike, there was a massive hill waiting to greet us. I would actually say that hill was the nemesis of the entire race. Our bike route consisted of 4 1/2 laps around the city square. That meant we had to climb this hill 5 different times on our bike. It was a booger, esp since the steepest part was right at the top, once we were already wiped. But I pushed through. And I finally caught up with Masterson on the final lap.

Then came the business phone call about 100 meters from the transition area. I had a cooking class starting at that moment, and the driver was calling to tell me he was outside the house. Quite a site to see me unclipping my shoes from the pedals while conducting some business on the phone.

The run took us back to that great big hill another 3 times. The legs were jelly and the heat was blazing, but I kept thinking bigger picture. If I want to do the longer tris, I need to press on when I don't have much left. So I ran the 5k without stopping, and actually running the 3rd lap much faster than the first.

But all in all, I was towards the end of the Age Group, again. My friend Simo came in 4th overall. I am so excited to have him as a training buddy. He will definitely get me moving faster.

In the next few days, I will post my official times and some great pics.