Tri the Rock - TriathlonSprint

Well, I hate pool swims, and I swore I would NOT do any tri's with pool swims. With that said, this wasn't as horrible as it could have been.

We basically did up and down in the same lane, and then we would move to the next lane.

Watching the 50 people in front of me get in the water, I was really shocked that some of those people put down a faster time than me. Some people lied.

Once it was my turn to go, I popped in and just started swimming. After the first 50, the guy behind me was pretty close, so I stopped at the wall to let him pass. No need to get in the way.

After another 50, another guy behind me was close, so again I stopped at the wall to let him pass. Once that was done, I caught up to the guy in front of me on the next 25. I started playing with his feet and luckily he knew that meant to let me pass at the wall.

Did another 50 (?) and got to the last 25. What do I find, but some guy doing BREAST STROKE in front me. What the hell? How did he put down a time faster than 4:45 for 300 yards doing breast stroke. Well, I passed him the center of the lane. I grabbed his left leg as I pass by so I wouldn't get kicked.

Getting out of the water was hard. Deep end exit with no stairs. There were guys there to help you out of the water, but they weren't helping. I basically had to show I couldn't make it out before they helped. The thought was nice, execution not so good.

I would do nothing differently. Hey, I placed first in my AG for the swim! The closest lady was 30 seconds slower. HA!

My goal for this race was to GO FAST in transition. OK, still not that fast, but the thought was there.

Running from the pool to the bike was easy. Did a good job of getting on my shoes and helmet.

The problem was that I had to run REALLY FAR in my bike shoes. I got really tired by the end of running out of T1.

Nothing.

My boyfriend did this race last year, but I don't recall him saying it was a hilly course. HELLO HILLS! I was kind of shocked how hilly it was. I had speeds from 6 mph to 30 mph on the course.

The first 10 miles were a struggle for me. My breathing was labored, I got a side cramp and I felt fatigued. It wasn't pretty but I banged it out as best I could.

I got passed by a few buys (Rgill- Reagan) flew by me like I was standing still. He was nice enough to say "hi" as he flew by!

I pass a couple of people, but I think they were with the relays. They were easy take downs. Nothing to be proud of.

I only got passed by one girl, and I was happy about that! I was really surprised at how alone I was out there on the course. There was one guy who he and stayed close to each other most of the way. He was of course wearing tennis shoes and toe straps. Ugh. I finally dropped him when he stopped to pee behind a fence. He never caught up to me again.

My boyfriend (Jbrashear) and Docshock (Craig) did NOT catch me on the bike. So, I wasn't doing too bad.

At about mile 10 I started to feel good on the bike. Too bad it was almost over!

Overall I had a good bike, even though I didn't feel great for the first 10 miles. I think I did a good job considering it was my 3rd day of hill training for the week and the day before I rode a hilly 50 mile bike ride.

Again, my goal was a fast transition. Oh, the spectators near me got an earful when I had to move bikes to fit my bike on the rack. There was some cussing.

And I kind of fibbed the numbers here. I ran out with my shoes untied and tied them AFTER I crossed the timing mat. I have bought some speed laces, but didn't get a chance to try them out before the race.

So, they told us some of it would be cross country running. EH? Fine.

I take off in grass and run past a playground. Odd. Then we run across some recently mowed soccer fields. They did not pick up the grass clipping and they were rather deep.

Then we had to run up an incline and through some trees.

"Over the river and through the woods..."

Finally I made it to the cement part of the run. Thank goodness.

My goal was to run the entire distance. I did get a side cramp about 2 steps into the run. UGH! So, my entire run was me running with my fingers jabbed into my side or hunched over. But I figured that was faster than walking, so I kept going. I walked 1 minute of the entire run, to try to release my side cramp some.

I was thirsty on the run, but my tummy was sloshing from the water on the bike. So, I skipped drinking except for one time and just gutted it out.

DocShock finally caught me on the run and flew by me. I saw Jonny behind me on the run, and I made sure to not let him pass me before the finish line. It was a small motivation and it kept me running. He didn't pass me, but he was dang close!

What's to be done? I sucked at running. No matter how much I train and run, it never seems to improve. I get a side cramp, or my legs hurt, etc. etc.

I finished and then waited to cheer Jonny across the finish line. Sat around with BTers and chatted it up.


My running! I SUCK AT RUNNING! Dang side cramp.


This is a very nice race. The food is the best food I've seen after a race. I liked the challenge of the hills on the bike course. The road was questionable in some points, but as long as you kept your eyes open it was fine. The run was interesting. Not horrible, but odd.

They do need to find a new way to route the run out. For the past 2 years they have done it the same way and the spectators are constantly walking through the run out course. This results in the announcer yelling at people. If they would just clearly mark the course on both side with tape, the problem would be solved. It also doesn't help that they put the food behind the run out section with the restrooms and finish line on the opposite side.

Oh, and I'd also like to say that I don't think spectators should be allowed to eat the athletes food until the race is DONE. I saw tons of spectators chowing down on food, and people who were finishing the race had nothing to eat. How rude. I know it's hard to watch, but they should bring snacks and be prepared to save the food for the racers.

Overall this was a good race and I could see myself doing it again, even with the pool swim.