She Swims, She Bikes, She Runs

Today I participated in my 3rd triathlon. Even though this is the one I dreaded most, I think I actually enjoyed it the most. I really got bummed and lost all my motivation when Jen crashed her bike while training HARD for this tri. We were really motivated to do this race, especially Jen, because we knew if we trained hard we had a chance of placing pretty decently in our age groups. Not like winning a prize placing, but placing in the top of our age group. We normally just set out to do our races, not really caring where we come in, just that we finish. But we had our eyes on the top 20 in our age groups for this tri. But then, Jen crashes, has surgery on her elbow and wrist, and is out. And I lost my motivation. She is my tri partner. We do them together. That's just how it is. Not so much fun by myself. I have also been nursing a stupid IT band injury for the last 7 weeks, which didn't help my motivation. So, I stopped training. That's how I work when I get overwhelmed. I back out. I really wanted to back out of the whole tri since Jen wouldn't be there with me, but I'm too cheap to do that, and since I had already paid, I had to finish it. So I just pretended that it wasn't getting closer and closer, and continued to do nothing. But then, about 2 weeks before the tri, I started to realize that I'm just hurting myself. No one at that race gives a rip if I trained or not. They just want to beat me - and I get kinda competitive in the moment and knew I needed to get with it. Since I had slacked so much, I didn't have a ton of time, but did get a bike ride and swim in, and ran several times. I felt pretty confident though. Not to be overconfident, but this is a short triathlon, and I knew that even without training as well as I should have, I could push through this one. So that's what I did.

I was in the first heat at 7:30am. Standing there on the beach waiting for the bullhorn is when I get the most nervous. Not to mention while I was standing there psyching myself out, they delayed the race 10 minutes due to fog. But, finally, we were in the water. They warned us to just power through the moss that grew from the bottom of the lake and attacked your stomach and legs. Yuck. My swim was not that great. My goal time was 10 minutes for the 500 meters, but I just never got into a groove. I kept running into people, kicking people, and getting kicked by people. I also got passed, a lot, which isn't usually the case for me during the swim. I knew I was going slow, but just couldn't seem to do anything about it. My swim time ended up being 11:37. Not the best, but time for the 10 mile bike ride.

My transition from swim to bike was HORRIBLE. Running out of the water my legs were jello. I finally got to my bike, didn't dry off as well as I should of, and couldn't get my running clothes, socks or shoes on. I was getting frustrated, but finally got on the road after 3 minutes and 9 sec. The bike is where people make or break their overall time. My first tri I was on a mountain bike and swore I would never do that again. Now I have an old Trek road bike that makes a huge difference. For me anyways. I am still nowhere near some of those bikers on their $10K bikes, but at least I'm not bringing up the tail end anymore. I pushed really hard on the bike. And I was feeling it. The last 1-2 miles of the bike were uphill, setting my thighs on fire. My goal time for the bike was 40 minutes, and I came in at 39:34, which I was extremely proud of.

My transition from bike to run was 36 seconds. Jen was there waiting to jump in and run with me, which ended up being a huge blessing. I didn't want to push that hard on the bike and then throw in the towel on the run, but I just might have if Jen weren't there. I needed her big time. I was beat. I forgot to get a drink at my transition so I started the run extremely thirsty. That was all I could think about until the first water station. I couldn't even out my breathing, so I told Jen she was just going to have to talk to me for a while so I could get my breathing regulated. And she did, thank goodness! I felt like I was running a 15 min mile with a cinder block on each foot. And, I didn't have the fields on my watch set correctly, so I couldn't see my pace. I don't like not knowing where I am pace-wise. I had no clue if I was doing ok, or if I truly was running a 15 minute mile. I wanted to walk, my knee started tightening and pinching, and I was ready to give up. But my personal cheerleader kept me going! Thanks Jen! I had no clue what to expect for my run time. My goal was 30 min for the 3.1 miles, and we came in at 28:33!

My overall time was 1:23:27. I was very pleased. I placed 23rd out of 68 in my age group and 106th out of 316 overall. Next year my main goal is to have Jen by my side for all three events, and to finish at 1:19:00. That is very do-able and I can't wait to do another tri!

Marching down to the start

Awaiting the dreaded bullhorn in the fog

Bike dismount - jello legs!

Bringing it in to the finishline with Jen by my side!