Rose Brooks Women's Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The first 100m or so after you enter the water was really shallow, so I had to wade out almost to the first bouy before I could dive in and start actually swimming. The lake bottom was clayey, and everyone had stirred up a lot of mud. Felt good once I got into my groove, I was passing a lot of folks. Despite not being a wave or mass start, it was still decently high contact once we all were horizontal. I got kicked a couple of times, but nothing major. On the first half, I was doing well with my stroke. After I rounded the second outer bouy, my goggles had fogged so bad that I couldn't sight very well, so I stuck them on top of my head and did the forward crawl with my head above water. It worked alright, but anti-fog would have worked much better. Was happy to get up and wade again... made my jog to the TA.

Not have been so nervous and had anti-fog for my goggles.

Took a decent amount of time in T1, but stayed focused. I used this time to kind of catch my breath before the bike. Rinsed feet, kind of dried them, then put on my socks and running shoes. Put on the Camelbak and helmet and off I went.

Speed laces for the running shoes.

I blew up on the bike. My first 5 miles were alright, but a bit slow. The second 5 were torturous. I learned a lesson: I've only had this bike for 2 weeks and didn't ride it a lot in that time. I really shouldn't have been riding it for this race. My left hip flexor and both of my feet were cramping fiercely, especially on uphills. I couldn't maintain a good cadence. I need lots more time in the saddle (and a new saddle, this one had me very numb). I'd never ridden this particular bike on hills either, and it was really tough. Thank God for awesome volunteers and the other racers who helped keep my spirits up. I walked 3 hills on the way back and was very close to quitting. But I told myself to "Suck it up, Buttercup" and told my body I would reward its cooperation with a nice leisurely walk on the run course if it would get me back to the TA.

Trained more on the bike
Used the mountain bike I had trained with on hills

Pretty quick stuff. Already had the shoes on. Put my shirt with my race number and my bandanna on, then doused myself with cold water from my cooler. Grabbed another cold water bottle and started walking.

Nothing

I walked it. Running, or even run/walking wasn't going to happen without injury. Again, encouragement from racers coming back from the turnaround. Ended up catching up to a girl in front of me and we walked and talked the rest of the way back to the finish line. It definitely helped keep my mind off of the general pain that my body was in. Jogged to the finish.

Ran, or at least ran 5, walked 5.

Walked around, downed the cold water they gave me at the finish, got hugs from my husband and friend. Thanked more volunteers. Stretched.


time in the saddle, time running. Mental factors.


Really have to hand it to Blue Hills Adventures - they know how to put on a great event. The volunteers were awesome (I thanked them everytime I had the chance) and the atmosphere was great. The venue was perfect as well. I'd recommend this race to any woman. It was perfect for my first event.