Kick It Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

First 50 yards I swam well and felt good. From 50-250 yards I had the beginnings of a panic attack, as normal. Hyperventilating, feeling like my chest would explode, not being able to keep my face in the water. Alternated breast stroke and a freestyle, both with my head out. Mentally I was thinking about stopping, which is normal for me. Did not stop and told myself I couldn't quit in front of my kids. Pushed through. At 300 yards I took a mental turn for the better. I thought to myself, well, I'm not stopping now, so I might as well swim. Swam the second 300 yeards without stopping, freestyle with my face in the water, like a normal training swim. I did look up a few times to get my bearings and figure out where I was and how much more I had to go. Got very rhythmic and feld good. Incorporated BT team into my rhythm and thinking. Before I knew it, I was out of the water. The gal that started in front of me breast stroked the whole swim and I did wind up catching her.

Talk myself down from the panic sooner.

#20/43. I took time talking to my kids b/c I was so excited to have had a good swim. Really didn't care how transition was. If I ever get serious about this I need to get bike shoes and take less time to get shoes/socks on.

Probably 5 men passed me. 1 woman passed me early on. Yet she stayed fairly close and I nearly caught her several times. She was a great motivation to me. Every time I'd get close, within 15 feet sometimes, she would pull ahead again. I did pass her once, but it was on the strength of a hill and my bike was better than hers. No women passed me. I passed 1 woman who had an issue with her chain. I worked hard. Fastest I went was 28 down a hill. Again, if I get serious about this, I need much more saddle time.

I need more practice.

#6 This was easy. Small race, tiny transition right next to the run start. Since I don't have bike shoes I jumped right off and took off. My rank shows a clear advantage there.

As usual at the begining of the run on a Tri, my legs felt like mountains and I felt so slow. But my watch told me I was moving fairly quickly, so I kept on. My biggest mistake on this race, especially the run, was that I was so preoccupied with everything else, I didn't get a water bottle on my bike and had NO fuel/liquid during the entire race until I got to the 1/2 way point on the run. From the word go on the run I was parched and thirsty. Water stop was at 1/2 way point and I immediately perked up. This is a fairly slow run time for me, and I attribute it mostly to the lack of hydration. I normally rank in the top 1/3 in the run and didn't this time...b/c of that, I think.

Hydrate!

Fighting swim panic...lack of practice on the bike...lack of hydration.


So happy I slayed the panic dragon! Can't wait to race again! I wish they would post the ages/genders on the race results so I could figure out how I did versus women. I feel good about a 26/43 finish under the circumstances!