The Battle At Midway - TriathlonSprint

Wow! Just wow! The water was freezing! Thank goodness my peepee was not. Seriously, the warming wonders of toasty urine in a wetsuit are amazing. Aside from a bit of drifting to the left and continually running into a big dude, whom I swear could be a pro wrestler, I felt great about my swim. Couldn't believe it was over when it was! Guess I just wanted to get out of the cold water (warm urine only lasts so long!) as quickly as I could!

Still need to work on sighting because I was about 15 or so yards to the left of the buoys. Also need to figure out a better way of not running into people on the swim while keeping my head down.

I was freezing in transition, so I took the time to dry myself off a bit. My wetsuit has never slipped off better, though, so that part was great. I also took the time to drink a bit and to eat some of my remaining Cliff bar. My hands were frozen, so it took a bit of time to get my socks and shoes on. I felt very slow in transition.

Speed up.

I couldn't get my right foot into the strap, so that was bugging my style for the first couple of miles. My legs also just felt pooped after the first part of the course in which you go up a false-flat for a couple of miles before a pretty decent hill awaits. Finally, after that hill and about 5 or so miles into the race, I felt decent. That lasted for about 5-6 miles, when I just pooped out. I got another burst of speed on a flat stretch, but I was toast for the final climb to transition. A lot of people passed me.

It just boils down to more time in the saddle, I think. And I should definitely think about going to clipless, seeing as all of the cool kids apparently do it that way.

Had to take off my long-sleeved shirt because it was starting to warm up. Took a second to drink as well, so it wasn't the quickest transition.

Be quicker.

Owie. Ouch. Mommy, it hurts! That was a painful, painful run. Up, down, up and around the beautiful mountain terrain. I just had nothing left in my tank. I guess my accomplishment, aside from finishing, is that I again kept on jogging instead of walking. But, seeing how many people ahead of me actually walked and still finished ahead of me, perhaps that isn't that great of an accomplishment! I only passed one person on the run and kept chugging along. Man, some of the hills hurt!

I've just got to run more. Lose more weight. Run some more while losing more weight. Etc. and etc. I was in the top half for the swim, smack in the middle of the pack for the bike, and way at the back of the pack for the run. Not good. It was, however, right around my normal pace for runs around my neighborhood. How about that!? It hurt worse, though.

Awesome race! Decided to not do the full Olympic and did this beefed-up sprint instead. It was all I could handle, so that was a good decision. The scenery was amazing - it's no wonder they call this place like the Switzerland of the U.S. Breathtaking beauty. Everything seemed to run smoothly. Even the rain held off, which was a relief!

Aside from the run and pooping out on the second half of the bike, I'm very proud of my performance. I did keep going when the going got tough, though. And I kept a smile on my face :) I'll return next year and do the full course, no backing out this time!