Swim 750 meters, Bike 12.4 miles, Run 3.1 miles
Pre-race:
My sister, Emily, and my niece, Lynn, flew in from Germany Wednesday night. Friday morning we dropped the boys off at my in-laws and headed down south for the SG Tri and some quality girls' time.
Packet pick-up was great fun as usual. Since this was the first triathlon of the season I got to catch up with friends I had not seen in a while and meet new ones. Definitely my favorite part of racing.
Then it was time to hit Cafe Rio, head over to the hotel, take a dip in the pool, and make some last minute preparations. Definitely much more relaxing than camping. Last year I took the whole family, we camped by the lake, got (literally) blown away in a storm, and our night ended at 3:30 am. I, the camper girl, must admit that I don't mind hotels pre-race.
Race morning:
We both knew that this race would pretty much be between Caprice and me. No other girls had signed up for Elite and we did not recognize any of the other names. Caprice is the only girl that beat me last year in a triathlon, so we figured it would be a really close race. Kind of fun. Kind of unnerving. I remember thinking: If she is going to beat me, it had better be close! We still chatted non-stop and did our warm-up together. I love that girl! She cracks me up constantly.
Swim (0:11:44)
There were only 7 of us in the Elite wave. It was a fun and nice little group and the swim was pretty uneventful. First open water swim of the season and I was feeling great. I used to hate the swim portion but I guess I have gotten used to it. After the second buoy I looked around and did not see any other silver caps. I took that to be a good sign but figured Caprice would be hot on my heels. I ended up exiting the lake 40 seconds ahead of the next Elite swimmer. I have to admit, I do like beating the guys.
T1 (1:05)
Definitely not the transition I was hoping for. I like to keep it under a minute. Maybe I was just confused that there were no other Elite athletes around me. But, mostly, I had trouble getting my wetsuit off and ended up having to sit down. Not good.
Bike (0:34:55)
I was trying to hold Caprice (and the guys) off for as long as possible. Right as we hit the first long climb, my teammate Dave comes zooming by and this is what he says about what happened next:
Within seconds of passing Sarah [...] I stepped it up for a few minutes, only to hear Sarah call out " I'm still here! You'd better pick it up or I'm going to pass you!" Call me chauvinist, but this was intolerable. The hammer came down.
I love teasing the guys! He was gone for good after that. David ended up winning his race and you can read the rest of his report here. I felt better on the bike than anticipated.
T2 (0:00:45)
I was able get there almost 3 minutes before Caprice, which was good. Really good. She is a super strong runner. The last thing I wanted was to have to hold on for dear life throughout the whole run.
Run (0:21:43)
A 7:01 pace was definitely not what I was looking for. I like to think the course was slightly on the long side. But that is (probably) just an excuse. I figured it would be hard for Caprice to make up that much time but I also know that she capable of (almost) everything. So I tried to keep it together and finish strong. Which I did in 1:10:10.
It is really nice to be able to win the first triathlon of the season. You never know where you are at with your training and I had not been feeling it on the bike lately. It was a great day and loved every minute of it. Huge thanks to BBSC for putting on such an awesome event.
Post-race:
A reporter from the Spectrum, a local newspaper, came and interviewed me. It was pretty sweet. I wish I had known that would happen. Then I could've thought about what to say during the run. Instead, I was just mumbling randomness. This is what they printed:
Sarah Jarvis defended her title in the women's sprint. Jarvis, who is originally from Germany but now lives in Provo, knew she had a good shot at the win when she built a lead in the swim portion over her friend Caprice Schwarzwalder.
"It was so fun. I loved it," she said. "It went really well. I was worried about Caprice because I know how good she is, but I was able to pull away in the swim."
Jarvis said she enjoys attending the St. George Triathlon. "I really like the people," she said. "It's a good community here. Even though Caprice is my competitor, I love her. That's what makes it so fun. I love doing all three events because it's never boring.
Oh boy. Did I really say that? Next time, I will have better answers, I promise. If there is a next time... You can read the full article and other interviews here.
Then my sister made me take her to Vegas. Then I made her take me to the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Bellagio. Talk about a proper post-race meal! It was scrumptious. Then I took an ice bath and watched Lynn while she hit the strip. And everyone was happy.
The end.
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