Jordanelle Triathlon - Sprint - TriathlonSprint

First leg of the triangle was great. I felt good, I could tell I had been swimming more. I did have to stop once to fix my timing chip. It was a little loose, and my wetsuit was up a little higher on my leg than usual. I was feeling some serious drag from that silly chip. I stopped and shoved it up under the wetsuit, then went on with the task at hand. Second leg was not as good. Had to do some sidestroke, my rhythm was off and breathing was not easy and flowing like usual. The sidestroke just made me dizzy. By the third leg I was just wanting to be done. I didnt have any panick about the OW during this tri, and kept my eyes open underwater most of the time. I caught up to the wave ahead of me, and passed a few people from that wave. Including my hubby. About 15 yards away from the boat ramp, I managed to swallow a bunch of water. Then I tried to breathe some water in through my nose. Ugh. At least 6 people from my wave passed me because of that. Sighting was great throughout the swim. I ran up the boat ramp, then needed to walk into transition. :( I do have to say that my new goggles rock!!! I love love love them. They were well worth the arm and leg I had to pay for them. ;)

Increase the yardage of my swims, and maybe the frequency. I have been much more consistent this summer, and it is definitely showing, but I can do much better. I could probably shave an easy 2 or 3 minutes off my swim time just by avoiding sidestroke and the need to stop.

This is slightly faster than my usual. By about a minute. I feel like I still need to work on it though. There's room for improvement.

I think the lack of distance in my swim workouts is making me more fatigued at the end of the swim than I need to be. I have used T1, in the past, as a time to regroup and calm my heart rate, not as the quick transition to the rest of the race it is meant to be.

I had a hard time on the false flats on the way out. I remember a friend telling me it would feel like I had a flat tire, and could be very frustrating and, well, demoralizing. It was a little of both, even being prepared for it. My hubby caught up with me about 3 miles into the ride, then decided to stay with me. I had to keep reminding him not to draft off me. The USAT officials were very present and visible on this course. There was one guy who passed me on the way out the first long false flat who commented on the fact that my hubby and I have matching bikes. "You two must know each other", he said. :) I managed to get behind some slowpokes a couple times, then had speedsterss passing me while I was passing someone else. Seriously. I waited for my chance, and you can't do the same? Where were the refs when I needed them? *sigh* So at the uphill in the middle of the ride, I started feeling pretty good. I even passed a few people on the way up. :) From there on out my speed was good, I felt really good, and my spirits picked up a bit. Hubby quit hugging my rear tire, too. I hit 42 mph on the way down the big downhill. FUN!!!

I need to do more core work. I had flank pain on the right side again. And I should probably get that shorter stem for my road bike and a bike fit while I'm at it... Also, doing speedwork on the bike would be a good idea.

This was so much slower than it felt. Not sure why.

I started out running, feeling like I could probably run the entire 5k with walks only at the aid stations. After a couple of mintes, I started to get cramps in my calves. Walk break. Run. Foot cramp. Walk. Run. Calf cramp. And so on and so forth. I ended up deciding to do a one minute run, one minute walk routine. Hubby wanted to stay with me, even though my run pace was painfully slow for him at the beginning. I used lots of water at all 3 aid stations to dump over my head. I didn't want to get overheated like I did at the last tri a few weeks ago. It worked, and I felt better and better as the run went on. By the last mile, I was feeling downright good. Tired, but good. :) The finish line surprised me, becuase I thought I had a ways left to go, and I was saving something for the finish chute. I turned a corner and there it was. No big push to the finish, as it was only a few feet away. I got a kick out of the announcer's giggle when she realized that it was a husband and wife crossing the finish line together. :)

Walk less.

Got an ice cold water bottle, my race shirt, goody bag. Grabbed a banana and a bagel, more water, and later more water. Hugged some friends, cheered a few friends across the finish line. :) Then just sat and watched awards and visited.


I have been really tired this week, and have been feeling like I was coming down with something. Also, I could be better about core work, and longer swims.


Someone needs to give those volunteers a red bull or something. Most of them were teenagers. all of them were lackluster in their enthusiasm for the race. But at least they were there, and they were cheering us on. A little. The sheriffs and highway patrol doing traffic control were awesome. They smiled, and answered back when I thanked them as I went by.
At the next race, I should really have someone else spray my sunscreen on for me. I have 2 crispy shoulders. I can't even wear a normal bra because it rubs. :( My poor shoulders.