John Tanner Race Report

Written by Sarah Hackler

I have done quite a few Tri the Parks races in the past, but I had never done John Tanner since I’m usually down at St. Anthony’s that weekend.  I had heard good things about the race and was excited to have a chance to do it this year.  The weather reports were terrible for Saturday, and it certainly looked bad as I was driving to the race that morning.  I had plenty of time to pick up my packet, get body marked, and set up my transition area.  We ended up with a nice window of decent weather as the storm stopped before the race - and then started up again on my drive home. 

The water didn’t feel too cold to me when I stuck my foot in, so I decided not to wear a wetsuit.  A few others did the same, but most were in wetsuits.  I found the group of all3 girls before the race and watched the earlier waves go off.  The swim start was fine.  It was a waist-deep start, and I felt pretty good at first.  By the time we got to the first buoy, I felt like I was really fighting the water and couldn’t get into a groove.  Other girls had started passing me, and I was just looking for someone’s feet so that I could draft a little.  Out in the middle of the lake, it felt a lot colder, and I was wishing that I had worn my wetsuit… next time.  We started catching up to guys in the earlier waves, and I just tried to hang on.  My stroke felt pretty good, but I didn’t have any speed.  Guess it’s time for me to do a little more speed work in the pool. 

The bike was uneventful.  I was a little nervous because the roads were wet, but it was a fun ride.  It was my first time racing on the new Blue - it’s a great bike!  I loved the course - plenty of rolling hills.  Before I knew it, I was back to the transition area.  It had started raining by the time I was finishing the bike, and I was looking forward to a run in the rain.  The first part of the run took us to a path around the lake, and then there was a nice, HILLY out and back section.  That run course was a lot hillier than I was expecting, but I enjoyed it.  There’s a small section on a gravel road that got pretty muddy with the rain.  Most of my running has been aerobic work, so I wasn’t sure how a 5K in a race would feel.  I finished stronger than I thought I would and felt pretty good about my day.  All in all, it was a great, well-supported race - I’m thinking I’ll sign up for the September one too!