LAST LEG OF THE RACE

had to run from the transition area to the other side of campus to the pool... pavement was uneven and broken... there was a fair amount of broken glass in the parking lot... killed my feet.. by this time i wasn't racing mentally... couldn't dive into the pool... had to drop in feet first and swim.. form was pretty bad if i do say so myself... but my shoulders and arms were aching from being tense on the bike.


swim part went realitivly well... i don't know what my time was..

wear my running shoes to the pool... or bring Aquasocks

SECOND LEG OF THE RACE :)

as i said... i borrowed my brother's mtn bike.. i had planned to go over switch out the pedals from his platforms to a pair of SPDs and his mud tires to some slicks and throw on a bike computer.. well i got over to the house... it took me 2hrs to find his bike (it had been moved from the garage to a tool shead in the backyard)... then i couldn't find a pedal wrench... the tires were flat and i couldn't find a pump :( so no chaning the pedals or tires and i didn't make it out for a test ride :(

i did get the new cateye mitty installed in less than 10 min :) :)

little brother finally came home at 1am... found out he uses a compressor kit that he keeps in his car... i didn't get the tires changed out at that hour..

so away i went on a 30+ lb mtn bike with platform pedals and nobby mud tires :)

took off got up to a good speed in about three blocks went to shift to the big chain ring... heard click, click, click, click.... *&^%&^%$#@$@@!#$ bike wouldn't shift into the big chain ring... made a left turn and went to climb the hill... dropped to a lower gear everything was ok... climb was getting steep... i reached for the granny gear... same click, click, click... this is gettting annoying!!!... stood on the peddals and made my way up... well at least this is the only hill :)

ok... so i'm stuck in the middle chain ring... as i'm crusing down the hill i start shifting into a bigger gear... then the gears decide to start jumping two gears at a time... at this point i'm worried that ANY gear change will just total the drivetrain :(

well at least the rest of the course was flat... but i was stuck in a gear i DIDN'T want to be in... i still managed to keep a pace above 11 mph :) but i was still pretty mad and not "racing" mentally... my shoulders were getting tense... my left arm was going numb from the elbow down... and my tingly parts were numb... i had to wear my regular running shorts... my bike and tri shorts are in portland..

i forgot to drink anything until mile 6 then i started trying to push gatorade from the camelbak... i wasn't very successful at getting anything into me..

i just hung in there until i saw the transition area...


ummmm... RIDE MY BIKE!! plan better... put at least one test ride on the bike before racing with it... drink, drink, drink... eat the day before and the day of the race.

bike to swim transition....

no problems... should of left my shoes on.

FIRST LEG OF THE RACE

this is the leg i was worried about... all of my runs have been dreadmill runs for the last month or so because of darkness and rain... i know my ankles aren't happy with pavement when i'm not aclimated to it.. waited for the pack to kind of clear off the start line... i hate running in a crowd... somewhere around .75 miles my ankles started killing me and quicky froze..

here is where i get really mad at myself... i slowed down to a nice jogging shuffle and then to a fast walk... i should of never done this... it killed me mentally and i didn't give the race anymore effort from here out...

it was kind of demoralizing that the race leaders were finishing the bike just as i'm leaving for it... all well... there are days like this i guess...

i was sooooooo glad to see the transition area that ment i could get on the bike and pedal my way to bliss!! :)

MORE ROAD RUNNING!!!! don't give up.

got out of the pool... found my dad... hobbled back to the transition area in bare feet.. dad asked me if i wanted to check out some of the post race stuff... i wasn't in the mood... i was cold and i wanted a long hot shower... i tried to eat an orange... that wasn't going well so dad stopped for a burrito and i got an OJ


my lack of road running, inability to really eat that much the couple of days prior, fully operational bike, my mental state.


I am SOOOOOOOOOOO glad I did this race... It showed me how much I need to do to prepare for Hyannis (more road running & mental focus). If i would of pushed just a little harder i would of been under 2hrs :)

I realized the next day that I wasn't sore and that I never even broke a sweat on the course. NOT ENOUGH EFFORT ON MY PART!!!!

The course was fine. It was my STUPID mental blocks that got in the way... LOTS of voulenteers everything seemed well organized and the course was well marked. I would love to do this race again... but i don't think i'll be around at this time of year again.

oh yeah... this was my first TRI... and i finished :) :)