FINAL "regular season" sprint triathlon

author : Whizzzzz
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I was a wreck all week...worried about staying on the bike, as I have a tendency to fall off of it under ideal weather circumstances!

This past Saturday was my FINAL "regular season" sprint triathlon.

Of course, we have had beautiful summer-like weather for the past 4-6 weeks, no rain (it was an issue for our grass and flowers, which succumbed about 2 weeks ago...) and I was hoping we'd continue the streak through September 13th....

NO SUCH LUCK...

I had been watching forecasts which depicted (much needed) rain showers and scattered thunderstorms for Saturday... I was a wreck all week...worried about staying on the bike, as I have a tendency to fall off of it under ideal weather circumstances! When I awakened on Saturday morning (at 330 am) to get ready to go, the ground was wet, the air was foggy, the temp was about 60 degrees and humidity was nearly 100%. Conditions worsened on the drive to Lake Geneva, where it had rained so hard, there was water pooling up along the sides of the roads! Not a drizzle, not a misting, not a SHOWER, more like a rain water-wall. The drive up took us longer than expected, so I arrived at the transition area to set up later than I ideally wanted....

Looking around the crowded, muddy transition area, I noticed no spots available for me to set up my bike/ running shoes/towel (although it was hardly worth the effort to attempt a dry off) etc etc... so I set my bike up free standing, propped up by my bag, (as many others did) and went off to find a porta-pottie. Glamorous, huh?


The line at the porta pottie was 25 people deep... and with everyone eating Clif Bars and drinking coffee since 4:30 am, you can imagine what was going on in the porta potties, what it might have smelled like, and why it seemed to be taking so long...I glanced over at my bike periodically, to make sure it was still standing, but noticed the wind blew it over... the next time I looked for my bike it was gone completely.... had the wind blown it clear out of the transition area and onto the street? What on earth could have become of my bike? I took off, leaving the porta-pottie line behind, desperately in search of my bike, which, I later learned, was hijacked by "race officials" because it was laying on the ground. It was taken to the far far side of the transition area... Glad I noticed it when I did, because it's difficult to "swim-bike-run" without a bicycle.

I slipped into another porta-pottie line, took care of business, quickly wedged myself into my second hand wet-suit, and ran for the beach, as it was nearly my turn to go already!

The swim went well, uneventful.... Transition one was also uneventful, leading me to the dreaded BIKE leg of the race.  Did I mention this was my first racing experience with my second hand racing bike??? The road was slick, the rain was falling hard, and I witnessed a 5 person bike wipe out before we even exited out onto the main road of the bike course. As I was biking along, I noticed other riders with bloody legs, and road rash on their elbows and thighs... I later learned that several people wiped while crossing the rail road tracks.... Several others careened out of control while sliding down one of the many steep hills... at one point, I had both my front and back brakes fully engaged, my left foot out of my toe clip and dragging on the pavement, and I was still going 20 mph. I was looking around trying to consider soft places to ditch my bike, provided I didn't make it around the sharp left hand turn coming up. As I made a mental note to have my brakes adjusted, I was able to slow down, get around that corner, and proceed with the race. Many others were not as lucky. There was alot of skin left on that bike course Saturday.

The run was soggy, wet, chilly, and the first half was directly up hill. My socks were squishing water out of the mesh part of my shoes.... I ended up HIKING (not running) the first half of the race uphill, and trying to prevent myself from sliding the second half on my butt. (What goes up, must come down, so naturally the second half of the race was directly downhill!) I saw people FALL during the RUN!? This is unusual. Ambulances went speeding by... it was a very wet, very dangerous, very THRILLING race for me!

So, I finished...I didn't stick around to see what my time was because I was freezing cold and soaking wet. Of course, in a rush, I did not have the foresight to zip my bag shut during Transition 2, so my sweatshirt and towel were drenched with rain water, but I put them on anyway.... and I forgot to hit the "stop" button on my new watch after I finished, so I didn't have an official time until this morning. I found out that I did respectably well, considering the circumstances.

Now it's REST for a little while... until the indoor triathlon @ my gym, which is going to be in November this year... and maybe a couple of the other indoor triathlons throughout the suburbs here to keep me motivated thru the winter... Hopefully next year the weather will be nicer at Lake Geneva...

LW

 

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date: September 5, 2004

Whizzzzz

Swimming, Biking and Running...eating, sleeping, showering, working, eating, Swimming, Biking, Running some more, eating, sleeping, showering working... you get the idea

avatarWhizzzzz

Swimming, Biking and Running...eating, sleeping, showering, working, eating, Swimming, Biking, Running some more, eating, sleeping, showering working... you get the idea

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