Tri for the Cure - Triathlon

I started toward the front and took off really well. I passed women from my wave and caught women from the two waves ahead of me! As I approached the turn buoy I went wide to avoid the congestion there. There were a few times I caught up to slower swimmers (I know, right?) and had to pretty much stop and navigate around them. As I headed toward the first turn buoy I noticed my breathing was a struggle. Don't know if it was the wetsuit or adrenaline or both so I tried to calm down and get in a groove. At one point, as I headed toward the finish line, I managed to inhale half the lake as I looked up to sight. That took a few breaths/strokes to get back in to my groove.

Nothing really. This went well. Just need to keep working on my swim. The three years I've done this race my swim has been 20:13, then 16:47 and now 16:00, so I'm headed in the right direction.

As I ran to my spot I pulled off the sleeves and left my goggles and cap in the sleeve. Found my spot nicely. Suit came off beautifully (thank you 2Toms). Rolled on my socks, put on my shoes. Then grabbed my helmet and shades, took Fi off the rack and headed out.

When I came around the corner and saw how far away the bike mount line was I thought dayum! This is a big race with a big transition but for some reason it surprised me. Then as I ran toward the bike mount I heard DH yell for me and that totally gave me a power boost.

Not sure how to get the time down. There are women in my AG that do it in less than 2 minutes but I don't know how to get there. No socks might help, but not 2 minutes worth. The women who start in the competative wave (but same AG) have the benefit of not running around walkers, that might be part of it. Guess I need to HTFU and cut the 1:15 off my total time so I can race competative.

Took off on the bike and started passing people immediately. I had a blast on this bike. I was working hard but was really enjoying the constant line of people I was passing. I knew that I might be over-using the legs but I was willing to take the chance. I wanted to push as hard as possible on the bike AND on the run.

I didn't count (wish I had) but I think I got passed 3 or 4 times. At the turn-around for the out n back I had to un-clip. bad cyclist! I don't know if I was really going too fast or just was timid about it. After that I hammered it and got back up to speed.

At one point on the road (out and back) there was about a 100 meter stretch where about 3 inches of water were flowing across the road. Of course I slowed for that spot. When I got to the end of it there were two EMT's standing there with their ambulance (good idea) and I told them I thought we'd already done the swim!

I cruised up and around the lollipop, past the point where I had the mechanical last year, back through the shallow river and headed back to transition. What an awesome ride. I really enjoyed pushing it (and passing people).

In the three years I've done this race my bike has gone from 42:07 the first two years (weird huh) to 38:02 this year.

As I came back in I heard DH yelling for me again. I was so stoked and was hoping there was a good pair of running legs waiting for me in T2.

Still need to work on u-turns and keep improving bike fitness

In the days prior to the race I contemplated whether or not to use my phone for Strava on the bike and music on the run. Race morning I decided to do it. So when I got back from the bike, after I'd changed shoes, I grabbed my phone out of my bento box but didn't fiddle with it further until I was on the run. If I'd missed my goal by seconds I might have regretted this decision.


Again, not sure how to get this down.

I don't pull the feet out before dismount or get off while the bike is moving. Maybe someday I'll try to develop those skills.

I took off out of T2 and there was DH encouraging me again. The encouragement is so wonderful.

Almost immediately my legs felt tired. In the days since the race I've questioned whether I could have/should have had the mental toughness to gut it out and push to finish in 1:30. I did walk for a few seconds a few times. Would not walking have been enough to carve off a minute and a half? I don't know. Once I got up on to the dam there was a point where I was feeling pretty good and thought I'd run the whole remainder. Then as I turned around at the half way point I felt like the wheels came off. I know that I should have enough stored energy to knock out a sprint but in that moment I was wishing I had brought a gel. Again, I don't know at this point if it would have helped. When I finished the run I felt like I'd given it all but then DH mentioned that I don't have to sit down anymore after I finish a sprint or Oly. Maybe I'm not giving enough. This is the one segment of this particular race that has not improved the last 3 years. I did 29:08 the first year, 29:38 last year and 30:01 this year. What the...?



HTFU

Walked around, had a half a breakfast burrito and a lemon cakey-thingy. Then put my name in for a massage. The massage therapist was a deep tissue therapist so I mentioned to her that for the last couple weeks I'd been getting hip soreness after my hard runs. She worked a lot on the hip and it felt great after. I developed some hip pain later in the day but nothing compared to what it's been doing lately.


Just need to keep working of physical fitness and mental toughness.


This race is incredible. It is a sprint that feels like a HIM. The organizer does a great job and the participants feel like they've really accomplished something. There are tons of volunteers and a great finish line.

Only complaint (and a small one at that) is that the Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy of prior years was replaced by M64 this year. Ick. However, it was 8:45 and I probably wouldn't have had a Leiny either.