Triathlete!
So – after all my fears of drowning, it turns out that a triathlon is not really so bad after all! I was so nervous last night, that I could barely eat dinner.
This morning, I woke up before my alarm went off, and started getting ready. Everything, of course, was all laid out already.
I was upstairs in the bathroom, doing some pre-race prep, when the FIRE ALARM went off in our house. Woke the architect up (and that is NOT the morning alarm you want to hear), so he was feeling pretty cheerful! Fortunately, the coffee was already brewing, so at least we didn’t have to deal with too many bads. I’m not sure why the fire alarm went off. Nothing was on fire at all.
I had my morning cup o’ coffee and forced down a peanut butter & banana sandwich, and then we headed out to the race site. About three minutes after arriving, I saw my friend the Cheetah. She was #90, I was #91, so we were in the same transition area!
I got my bike set up in transition, and looked around for the Ambitious One. I felt that she must be there, because there was a pink hello kitty balloon near me, and I knew that’s the balloon she had (she’d also gotten a balloon for me, so I was excited to see her). I never did find her pre-race, but did see Solo Runner!
After getting my transition area all set up, I went to find the architect & tried to stay calm.
Don’t we look awesome? Someday, I want abs like that. Also, wetsuits? Not flattering! 🙂
Pretty soon, we headed on down to the lake. I was in the second wave (first wave was the elites), so headed on into the corral.
Can you find me in this picture?
I'm the third to last person headed into the water.
The swim was 1/2 mile, and as I’ve mentioned, my last two open water swims did not go….swimmingly. This was not a problem. I didn’t panic even a little, and although it was a bit tiring, I didn’t have to stop & tread water even once, like I did in the shorter swim last Wednesday. I felt great, and once I rounded that third buoy, I knew I had the whole triathlon in the bag (yes, I like to count my chickens pre-hatching).
I wasn't nearly as tired as I looked in this photo
Swim time: 19:27 (I was hoping for 20ish minutes, so this is perfect).
The run up to T1 was LOOOOONG. And I was a little tired, so I took my time. Had some water. Pulled off the wetsuit, goggles, swim cap. Tried to dry the feet as best I could, put on socks & shoes. And helmet. Was still feeling a bit wobbly, so I took the time to put on Leo (my Garmin) even though I hadn’t planned to do that – he was waiting strapped to my bike.
T1: 4:21
Finally, I was ready to go, so I headed out for the 12 mile bike.
The bike was an out & back on Marine Drive. I’m so glad we went west first – there is almost always a headwind headed west on Marine, so I knew that if I just pedaled consistently but didn’t push myself, I would make up any time on the way back. My main goal for the bike was to finish in under 1 hour, and ideally in under 45 minutes.
I passed quite a few people in the first three miles. Was passed by a few people in the next six, and then started being the passer again in the last three. Other than the fact that my bike didn’t want to go on (it started rattling & shaking at about mile 4 – apparently the bearings are about shot! yay!), I felt strong. I think I could’ve gone harder (which is how I felt about the swim, too), but I didn’t want to shred my legs & have nothing left for the run.
Total Bike: 44:58 (16 mph average)
It seemed like a really long way to the transition area again. I ran in, racked my bike & took off my helmet. I attached my bib number (well, I put on my fuel belt which had my bib number on it), and took a gu, and then continued out of the corral to the run.
T2: 2:03 – faster than I expected
I love this photo – even if my race belt does give me love handles! 🙂 This is me starting the run. I am feeling GREAT at this point.
The 5K run was harder than I was hoping. I did not finish in the time I meant to finish, but you know, I think I might be okay with that.
My splits:
Mile 1 – 9:58
Mile 2 – 10:51
Mile 3 – 9:46
Mile 3.1 -:54 (8:42 pace)
I made it! I'm a triathlete!
Total run time: 31:29 – 10:09 pace. I really was hoping to keep my splits under 10 minutes, but that middle mile apparently was too hard for me! Oh well, now I have something to work towards, right?
Overall time: 1:42:18 (A total of 6:24 spent in transition). Under my super secret goal of 1:45! Go me!
ETA: The numbers
219/388 overall
44/66 age group
211/388 – swim
271/388 – bike
208/388 – run
I can’t believe how well I did in the swim! I thought it would be my weakest area! I did train the least on the bike, so I guess that’s not too surprising that I did the worst in that area. I can’t wait for the next one, I definitely have a better idea of how to train now!
Newly minted triathletes
Newly minted triathletes
I had to stand on tip-toe to be in the same frame as the Ambitious One!
Things for next time (because there will be one).
#1. More biking
#2. More swimming
#3. More bike/run bricks
#4. Lose the rest of the belly weight. I want a Cheetah stomach!
Now I just have to figure out if I can fit in another this year (what with that marathon coming up), or if I should just wait until next year & work on my swimming/biking (great crosstraining, right?) for now. I will probably end up waiting until next year, but there will be more tris in my future!
Honestly – that was the most fun I’ve had in a long, long time. I think I know why people do crazy stuff like this!
I really want to thank all my friends who supported me through this with pep talks & reassurance that I wouldn’t drown. My PBRs are the greatest! But, most especially, I want to thank the architect for putting up with my nerves & my craziness, and for coming to the race & taking pictures, and helping me get my bike together & apart & back together! You are the best, baby!
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