A Year in Race Review

Well this was my second year of racing triathlons and I had so much fun. Sure not every race might have gone as planned, but all races are good races in one way or another.

Jan ~ No Races. Boo. Who. But I started training for my first half ironman mid - month.

Feb ~ 
1. VA is for Lovers 14k: A great race down in VA Beach. I stayed with my good friend Jill and ran with her in her very first running race! I am proud to say she is now addicted to running and almost does a race every weekend. I am happy to have played a part in this :)

March ~ 
2. B&A Trail Half Marathon: A no frills die hard running race. It was a great course and I got to race with great friends. We all ended the day with shinny new PRs so it was smiles all around.

3. St. Patrick's 8k: This is the first time I actually tried running this fast. And by fast I mean I pushed myself so hard I vomited when I crossed the finish line! I was happy to finish with a 35:xx something. Plus it was fun dressing up a little.

April ~ 
4. Rumpuss & Bumpass Oly Tri: My first tri of the season and my very first oly distance race. I would have been nervous about this distance last year, but it just seemed like a drop in the bucket compared to what I was training for. The weather was perfect for us, but the run course sucked. My contact had fallen out and there was big rocks every where.

5. Lake Anna Century: I didn't want to say anything at the time or make a big deal out of it, but I think 60 miles was the farthest I had ever rode. It was a fun relaxed century though.

May ~ 
6. Kinetic 70.3: My first half ironman! I was going to race mooseman but decided Kinetic made more sense. I was nervous because this was three weeks before mooseman and I thought my training would be off. My swim wasn't great, but the bike course rocked and the run...well...the run is never good for me... but this race really made me feel confident about Louisville and I was one step closer to becoming an ironman.

7. Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon:  I ran this with my one and only M at his pace. Everyone complained about one hill on the course called Hospital Hill, but we really didn't think it was too bad. I also emotionally broke down while thinking about my aunt. I was sobbing and running at the same time. At any rate Jason finished the race strong and PRed by 7 some minutes.

June ~ 
8. Total 200: It had rained cats and dogs the night before the race and trees/power lines were down every where. Oh and did I mention that is was 105 out with high humidity  We took our time riding and enjoyed the rest stops. But boy was I happy when we finished with 130 miles of riding for the day.

July ~
9. General Small Wood Oly: Hello summer with temps of 110 with the heat index. It was well a super hot race which made me walk most of the 6k. It really felt like death out there. I might have just skipped this race but it was the club championships and I was proud to be part of the DC tri.

10. Maryland Swim for Life 2 Mile open water swim: Yikes I was really scared about this, but at the same time I was glad I just had to swim for the day. I never thought I could swim this far and even though it took me forever in a day, I finished it. It made me feel a lot better about Louisville's swim since swimming is by far my weakest leg.

August ~
11. Ironman Lousiville: Obviously this was the race I had been working all year for. My first ironman. I was nervous. I was scared. I was excited. All my training was going to be over with in a blink of an eye. And strangely looking back on it, the day seemed to go by so fast. There is so many things I would have liked to do over...ummm...my run... but at the end of the day those words "Sarah Karpinski, you are an ironman" were well worth everything I put myself through.

Odley I hated IM so much during the race that I never wanted to do another, but some how registered for IMMTB. I blame Jason and Coach Kiwi.

September ~ No races. Being smart and recovering from ironman. Plus well we went on vacation to San Fran, Napa, and Monterey.

October ~ 
12. Stonewall Jackson 20 mile run: A great little race that gave Jason and I a chance to do our last super long run before MCM in a race setting. Some of the course went over a trail though which made running just plain suck. Plus there was not enough bathrooms along the course and someone really had to go! Overall, it was an ok race. The team rage meet up afterwards was great though.

13. Marin Corps Marathon: It was Jason's first marathon and I decided to run it with him at his pace to support him along the way. My friend Jill also was running her first marathon. We all feared the hurricane that  was suppose to hit, but we really lucked out weather wise. I learned that running a marathon for "fun" is something I will not do again, but hey I did still have fun and I loved being out there with Jason and Jill.

November ~ 
14. Richmond Half Marathon: Worst.Race.Ever. Basically because I felt like death running. I was light headed and thought I pass out while running. Each mile became slower and slower. I wanted to walk so bad. But surely if I could finish and ironman I could finish 13 miles. So I didn't walk and I did finish. I was just disappointed with myself.

15. Bethesda Turkey Chase 10k: A fun extra hilly turkey trot with team rage. The run itself well kind of sucked, but everything else about the day was great! From the sparking skirts and turkey hats, to eating bagels and talking a little too loud.

December ~ No races again. I was going to race the Surf n Santa 10 miler but decided against it. I really wanted to get my running back to were I wanted it to be before I did another race.

I am excited for next race season and hope I can improve on my 70.3 and 140.6 times.

Hope everyone had a great race season! What was your favorite race this year?