Finish Strong Challenge - TriathlonMini Sprint

Pool was very warm. Thankfully, since it was a pool swim and we were ordered by time, I was in the back. My time was better than I thought - my swim is weak - but would've been better if my damn watch hadn't kept coming off! Excuses. Lost all rhythm after the third length, but still managed to pass one simmer. Can't do flip-turns, so didn't even try. Passing under ropes was hard to get used to.

More training, of course. New watch band. Gills. Need a coach at some point...

Bit of a run out of the pool house and to transition. No major problems except everything being wet, even though I had covered stuff with trash bags. Drying feet and lacing up shoes took the longest. Had to be reminded to fasten helmet strap before leaving.

Plastic sheeting to cover bag on ground; trash bags get blown away too easily.

Went out too hard, but I passed many people and was passed only twice. Got lucky and didn't get rained on.

Even out pace a little, went out too hard.

Very quick because I have pedal clips and still use same shoes for bike & run.

Nada.

Guy who had passed me on the bike said "You'll be passing me in about four minutes." I thought, nah. Couldn't feel my legs for a few minutes, and for a minute, felt like a fist was squeezing my chest, trying to force my heart out through my throat. Thankfully, that went away. Passed the guy, who said, "You're ahead of schedule." Tried to respond with encouragement, but no breath. Passed the other guy later who had passed me on the bike, so that felt good. Felt like the course was 75% uphill, but it also felt too short. I bested my stand-alone 5k time by a minute! That makes me think that the course was maybe 2.8 miles or so, rather than a full 5k. Who knows.

Chilled, went to breakfast. Didn't stay for awards, never expect anything. Don't think there were awards for it, but it turns out I was 2nd in the Clydesdales (only 6 or 7 of us), and if i had gone with age group (35-39), I would've been 2nd, too! Argh!


Wet roads, wet shoes, wet everything. But the downpour during the run was welcome.


I think this was their first tri; they did a great job considering the weather. This was my 2nd tri, but first road one; I did the Xterra Sport last year. I expected a road tri to be much easier, and it was, by far. But only relatively.