Kal Rats Sprint Triathlon (Vernon) - Race Report

​Day #2 of double header: (Vernon Kal Rats)
Recovery between: immediately post race I got into the lake to quick cool down my muscles, drank chocolate milk, ran down, and stretched. I felt sore, but not too bad as I went to bed that night. When I woke up, however, my hamstrings and calves were TIGHT. I had forgotten to wear compression, and was regretting it as I got ready. I threw on compression socks, and wore them all morning, but that probably wasn't the best thing either.
Setup: got there early enough and was efficient enough that I actually got a warmup in this time. :) I was ready to go, and lined up next to Andrew and Nathan Champness, with knowledge of where Carmelle (a really strong female swimmer) was. The plan? To find one of their 3 sets of feet and stick on them.
Swim: opposite of the day before, my start was great! I immediately got onto Andrew's feet, and was able to get my rotation going really well, with the wetsuit feeling fantastic! About 75m out I lost Andrew's feet, but saw Carmelle come up a little bit to my right, so I slide in beside her. Unfortunately, at about the halfway point I lost her feet as well, but was clear of anyone else at that point, and focused on getting maximum power out of my strokes, without overusing my legs. I came out of the water in 5th overall, behind 3 men (including Nathan and Andrew) and Carmelle. MUCH better swim, and feeling good heading into transition:). 
Unfortunately the swim time was the same as last year, although I honestly though it was one of my best tri swims to date. Multiple people I talked to thought their's were slow as well though, so I'm not reading too far into the time.
T1: I knew I needed a quick transition. The last time I beat Carmelle was because of my transitions, and I knew that, so I made sure I maximized them. I had a really quick one and got out right behind her, having made up close to 30 seconds I think.
Bike: felt awesome! I used a pair of draft legal aerobars for the first time (thanks to Brock lending them to me;)) I passed Carmelle after heading out a bit, but we stayed within probably 20m of each other, as we both had a really strong bike. 
My bike split was almost 2 whole minutes faster than last year on this course, which I was super stoked about.:) Carmelle passed me back on the downhill leading back to transition, but I kept her just close enough that I still got the top lady's bike split (by one second to her and Ginny). 
T2: ha a great transition and headed out on the run in first, just ahead of Carmelle. It was my race to lose, and that's all I could think.
Run: felt bad right from the start, but you are never really supposed to feel good in a race, so I was talking myself through that when Carmelle came up next to me and passed me. I got on her heals and stayed with her until we turned the corner close to a km in. As soon as we hit the first (of many) hills, she was gone though. I tried to go with her, but I had a cramping feeling all through my legs. I had the energy and felt recovered in that way, as well as in my respiratory system as I was breathing good still, but my legs were shot from the back to back. I knew Ginny, Mel Spooner, and a few others would be charging up behind me, so I knew I had to tough it out and hold on if I wanted to stay in the top two. I cramped up after I ran down the hill and turned back up it, and had a painful last couple kms, but was happy to cross the line in second place for overall female participants.
Overall: 
I was really happy with my swim, although the time didn't show it. My bike was probably a best for me, and definitely a PB on the course. My run was just hard, and understandably slower than I would have liked. 
3 things to improve on:
1. Just cadence in my swim. It was a great swim, and I had good technique, but if my cadence continues to improve it will make a world of difference.
2. Compression and muscle relaxing in some way between races if I ever do the back to back again.:)
3. My run... Lots to work on, and therefore lots to improve on before Edmonton!:)