Desert Triathlon - Olympic - TriathlonOlympic

We swam east first so sun was low in the sky, but the water felt fantastic. Great temp. Sighted with these two lovely twin palm trees that conveniently lined up with the first buoy. Otherwise, wouldn't have seen the damn thing until I was upon it.

Got caught up in the scrum and drank some lake water which threw me off my stroke, but didn't panic, did a few breast strokes and regained my rhythm. Not sure why my swim speed has gotten slower after the coached sessions last year. Need a new coach?

Got into a nice rhythm with my breathing and was able to sight on both sides leading into the first turn to make sure no one was going to clobber me. I was able to draft a bit off the guys in the wave behind that had caught up. I did see some swim caps from two previous waves as I swam and I always feel badly for them because I know they're struggling, especially when they're on their back or just bobbing in the water. There really weren't any lifeguards or people in kayaks or boards that I saw either.

Maybe I could start a bit more up or out, but this was an interesting start that had us angling out at about 45 toward the buoy and we all kind of lumbered in the water.

Wetsuit got caught on my left leg on the timing chip. Sat down and had to take a deep breath to re-group and get it off. Once that was done, I was pretty speedy getting up and out.

? Lather or dip myself in some sort of lubricant, espcially my ankles and feet? I did the body glide..maybe it's time for something else. Oh, I know, have a personal valet to attend to my every whim and need while transitioning. Yep, that would do the trick. You think Clooney is available for that gig?

Got passed by some drafting group, which pi**ed me off. There's not supposed to be drafting, children. Also got passed on the right, with no warning by a couple guys and then finally said something to one who started to argue it was all right to pass on the right. No, dude. It's not. And, if you decide to do it anyway, at least say something so I know you're there, or so I can get my elbow ready. hee-hee. We parted on good terms though.

The wind toward the end was a bit of a factor which limited me as were my legs. Had to talk to them a bit and remind them it was only 24 miles and just pedal and make circles with your legs/feet and not pound down. They seemed to agree but didn't want to keep it at 20 mph.

??

Maybe try and stay in aero more, but I'm just working into that. Also need to adjust my aero pads for my elbows and I need to do something about my straw for the drink. It's not long enough and I can't see in front of me when I reach down for it. I"m afraid I"ll hit a bump and it will poke the roof of my mouth.

Thought about slipping out of my shoes before getting to the dismount but hadn't practiced that since last year so didn't think I'd risk it today. Plus there's a bit of a decline coming into T2. I did loosen my shoes though, which of course made it a bit harder to run in them. I considered stopping to take them off so I could run in sock feet but glad i didn't because where would I have put my shoes while running and rolling my bike?

Practice with the shoes off thing while on the bike.

No Garmin! Just ran how I felt. I think it served me well. This is the second fastest I've EVER ran a 10K in a stand alone run or tri. Yea me! I was very happy. First lap was easy, second lap I picked it up and just kept my momentum and focus. I did grab my ipod at T2 so I had some tunes. I'm so thankful my son likes metal (can't believe I'm saying that) because Iron Maiden and Judas Priest get me through runs sometimes. Love "Breaking the Law" and "The Trooper."

run 6 seconds faster so I'd have really PR'd the 10K. No complaints though. I was a bit nauseaus so I must have worked hard.

Walked around, found water. All they had were tangerines, no oranges and no bananas (left). I just had water and more water and found some trail mix in my warm up pants once I got back to my bike.

Talked to a few people then sat and stretched and waited for friend to finish so we could pack up and back to the hotel to get showered.


Not as much bike fitness as I would like right now, but I'm hoping this race will take me up a notch and we can start building toward 70.3 from here.


As always they do a great job on this race. At the finish line, guy said my name and I put my hands up in the air and smiled. Hope they got that one on film. ;) Well run event. They could have had some oranges and more bananas and maybe one more water station on the run, but overall another great event my Klein-Clark sports. My 4th year doing this tri. It was my first...you always remember your first. That one was a sprint tri though.

Had an awesome talk with the woman I drove out with -- a good friend who had also recently lost someone she loved so we were able to share some stories and listen to each other -- very healing.