Tri the Creek Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

i felt really good going into the swim - i was calm, collected and felt focused and ready to GO - i really had no idea what to expect since i've never done an OWS before so not knowing what lied ahead was a GOOD thing!oh man... it was tough. i started off great but then i noticed that in addition to having cold muscles (because i didn't warm up), was that my tri top felt tight. and i mean, REALLY tight and my breathing started to become extremely labored. and shortly after i realized that, it seemed my wetsuit was velcroed too tightly around my neck. it was almost scary, i felt i was hyperventilating the ENTIRE swim. i could never quite catch my breath - let alone regulate it. so my months of learning to swim freestyle non-stop went down the tubes as i mostly relied the side stroke or breast stroke. i just wanted to get the heck out of there and move on -- and it seemed ENDLESS!!!! BUT, i did it, i didn't sink or give up and yell for the oh-so-inviting kayakers to pick me up....

wear a different type of top - one slightly larger, maybe?? and either wear a sleeveless wetsuit with more room around the neck or just be sure that it is loosely velcroed. and DEFINITELY WARM UP!!!!!!!! AAAHHHH!!!!

oh geez, i took my MARY OL' TIME to just recollect myself, to try to calm my breathing and then focus on the next part of the race. i needed all the time i would allow myself but know that i could have been outta there a LOT faster.

have a MUCH better swim experience so that i can GO FASTER in transition!!!

HA!! this was my absolute FAVORITE since i love to be on my bike. soo - i took off feeling strong and like i needed to make up for how poorly i felt in the water. so i rode hard, fast, and passed everyone i came up on. although i got passed once by this guy, in the last 1/3 of the ride i passed him back! it made me smile..... so - because i felt so good on the bike i cheated and looked at my computer to see what my average was and it said 15.6............. uuuuhhhhh, what?! i usually train at around 17.5MPH and so this was weird and almost devastating because it felt so good. was i THAT off?? it squashed my moral for the run and everything seemed to go a little downhill from there. BUT!!! turns out - when i arrived at the race and took my bike out of my car to pump up my tires, THAT is when i cleared my computer - i forgot to clear it at transition after i WALKED with my bike, next to my parents and 2 little girls - which probably took 15 minutes..... so my average MPH that i saw was drastically lower because it calculated over a 1/2 mile of walking REALLY SLOW!!! so turns out i actually booked it, faster than i have ever ridden at 20MPH!! YAY!

NEVER EVER EVER EVER look at my bike computer before the run

couldn't get my stinkin' shoe on because my sock was still a little damp from the swim - i tried 3 times before i could slip my foot in! but to be quite honest my swim was tough, i rode hard so i didn't mind the little hang up as it gave me a few extra seconds to catch my breath.

not sure -

oh man - i felt kinda beat at this point. and, as i mentioned earlier, i was pretty bummed out by my supposed bike pace and so the run was a struggle. i got a cramp almost immediately in my upper stomach - i had never experienced that before and it was painful. i had to walk for a few and focus on my breathing and once i felt good again i made a point to catch up and pass the people who had passed me when i was walking just to make myself feel better - i mean, i didn't want to HAND over my time!! those people were probably wondering "what in the heck is that chick DOING?!?!" after the turn around i felt better, the end was near and i knew for SURE that i was going to finish. it's amazing the power your mind has over your body. i was able to sprint the last 1/2 mile and then i was FINISHED!!!! YAY!!!! and that's probably when i FINALLY stopped hyperventilating, ha ha ha

drink quite a bit of gatorade pre-race - i didn't have any and am wondering if it was lack of sodium or electrolytes that caused my cramp.

a little bit of stretching, but mostly basking in the la la la of being an official triathlete!!!!!!


i was kind of disappointed that it was so expensive, yet there weren't very many volunteers - or there would be 2 at a turn for the bike, with a million orange markers, but then NOBODY at another intersection where you had to assume to go "that way". and the cold, dry pizza was NASTY!!!! but really, that stuff doesn't matter as much to me as the experience as a whole and just being around other triathletes - they ALL ROCK!!!!!!