Tri for Real #3 - TriathlonOlympic

Wow. Either I was fast, or the course was short! :)

I felt good. I mean, I hate the swim portion of races, and spend the first 15 minutes questioning my sanity and why I continue to put myself in these situations. But then the endorphins kick in and I start to feel better. I actually started out a bit hard and had to slow myself down because I started to feel panicky. But I found my rhythm after about 100 yards.

I focused on my "flick" and my over-all form. I imagined my hands were cogs on a wheel and that there was an imaginary chain along the bottom of the lake, and I pulled myself along.

I swear the swim is the worst part. I mean, I really enjoy swimming for pleasure, but in a race it really sucks hard. Those buoys seem to keep moving farther away.

There was at least one, if not two women right near me for most of the swim. I kept trying to draft of one, but she was swimming a zigzag, so I gave up on that. Unfortunately, she straightened up after we rounded the last buoy, and then she left me.

And, as always, I see to attract the kayakers who feel like it's ok to paddle along side me. Kinda annoying.


Nothing really.

It took me a bit longer than normal because I had to completely dry off my feet and liberally apply Body Glide to my poor little blister-prone arches before I pulled on my socks.

But I'm happy to say that my wetsuit came off beautifully! I finally feel like I've got that part down!

Be a bit faster :)

OMG. I was FLYING! I had to add my lap times twice because I still can't believe it!

I stayed in the drops as much as possible, and found myself in my big chain ring for most of the ride.

On the dam, I reached back into my bag for some food. I grabbed a Clif Bar instead of a gel. OK... so I had to figure out how to open it and get the bar out without crashed. That was entertaining. And it was about that point where someone passed me. Whoa. There's never anyone behind me after the swim expect Margaret (my 73 year old heroine). That was kinda cool. I managed to keep her in my sight for about 3 miles, but I couldn't catch her, and finally I stopped trying.

My goal was to ride at a decent pace and still save something for the run. I had to push myself harder to get my HR in the zone I had been aiming for (165-170).

I passed two women who were going really slowly. They were riding so slowly, I thought maybe they were just out for a ride and not even part of the race. But they were. Which makes me think they totally kicked my ass on the swim since I didn't pass them until nearly the 10 mile mark!

Each mile marker, I was very surprised to see my time! I was flying!

On the way back in, I passed another two women, separately. That was a special thrill! Usually I'm all alone on these races and never see anyone, much less be able to pass them!

Uh... nothing! I rocked!

A bit slower than it has been all summer because I decided to wear my regular lace-up shoes. Plus I needed to pee.

Pee faster? ;)

I felt good. The weather wasn't nearly as hot as it has been. I was sweating the whole time, which is good. Usually I'm very dehydrated by this point in the race, regardless of drinking on the bike and run.

When I got off the bike, I suspected that I was in a good spot to break my 4:00:00 mark, so I decided to really push it on the run.

I took a gel at each aid stop and ate it just before the next stop. The first aid station only had the double mocha gels, so I only ate half of that one, as I wanted to save the caffeine for the last couple of miles.

I pushed hard the whole way and had to rein myself in a couple of times so I didn't blow up. My mile 1 speed was really good, but then I settled in to a nice 12:45/mile pace. I'd like that to be faster, but compared to previous races, I'm happy.

The last woman I passed on the bike passed me around the 2.5 mile area. That's fine. She wasn't in my division anyway. :) I managed to keep her in sight for about another 3/4 mile, which was cool.

Then I saw a woman who was running slowly/walking. Oh! Yay! Someone to PASS on the run! I managed to catch up to her around the mile 3 marker.

Since it wasn't hot, I didn't feel the need to stand in the shade of the aid stations. Instead, I just walked with a cup of water for a few paces, then started running again.

I knew I was pushing very hard when I had to do my little mind game of "run to the tree, run to the sign, run to the fence post..." Basically, I picked a sign or rock or something about 20 feet ahead and just focused on running to that. Then I picked something else 20 feet up and ran to that. Over and over and over again.

Eric walked back and met me around the mile 5.5 point and ran back in with me. He could tell I was pushing hard and told me to not speak, to save my oxygen. Not that I could speak anyway. :)

When I *finally* saw the grass, I "sprinted"... which really wasn't much faster than I was already running at that point. :)

Run faster? :)

I walked around and around and around, and drank lots of water. I talked with Eric and JoeBoxer and visited Bill (the RD).

And then, for the first time ever, I got to stand on the podium! Woo hoo! I placed 3rd in my division!


Not much. This was my fastest time ever at this race. I took 30 minutes off my time from July. :) And I set a new PR by nearly 11 minutes!


I love these races and never get tired of them.