This is a training day. I took my first lesson with my coach last week and I was trying all new stuff. I used a tempo timer for the first time and I felt really slow with it. He told me that would be the case. I started in the middle of the pack and didn't have a problem with people.

Breathing was fine, pace felt too easy, and the exhaust and diesel in the water was nasty from the jet skis. They need to go away.

After the first buoy and 1/2 to the second, I passed a couple people. They did the standard 'speed up someone is passing me' thing, but it didn't work because they got tired and I passed them quickly (without changing my pace beacuse I can only take a stroke on the beeps). Not long after this I take a stroke and feel something smooth as I'm bringing my left hand down. The water is dark, you can't even see your hands in front of you, so I take a right stroke, then breathe on my next left. I look for the person I should be passing, as I must have caught her calf or thigh on my previous left stroke. Nothing there. I turn and look back, still nothing there. What the h*ll? WTF?!?!! What did I hit? Too smooth for a long or branch...Agggh! Keep going...

Round the second buoy, not too long after I start seeing other color swim caps from the first 2 waves (I was purple and the wave in front of me was black). Awesome! I'm not doing as bad as I thought (ended up not being the case) and I was going easy! I see a couple of blue caps, and I see another blue one in the distance...he's off course. I take another breath and realize he doesn't have a wetsuit on..."Thats Bill!" I think to myself. "Thats Bill going the wrong way!" OMG, hes really off course! I try to time my yells at him when he is breathing but he doesn't hear me until my third try. I am worried about him since he was so nervous about the swim. I tell him he's going the wrong way... "Bill! THIS WAY!!" Then I ask if he's ok, I really wanted to hear yes, if he had said no or was having a hard time I would have swam in with him, I knew he could make it, and if it took me staying with him I was going to. I just hoped his head knew he could. He said he was fine and I didn't start swimming again until I saw him go back to freestyle and get his groove. I chuckled to myself once I got going b/c he was fine but he was really off course!

I rounded the last buoy and was on the way in. I passed a couple more people from the first two waves (I was in the last wave). I felt really good out of the water, it was too easy but thats good.

Not much. Going to talk to my coach about upping my speed on the tempo pacer thingy.

They had wetsuit strippers at the race. Nice touch. Being this was the first year for the race I didn't know if they'd be any good so I skipped them. I still had a good T1 so no regrets.

Water bottle to rinse feet.

Ahhhh...the bike. I'm slow on the bike. I've accepted it.

Started off getting passed by people. I'm used to it. "Oh well, I'll pass them on the run...wait! I'm not doing the run! AGH!" Ok, I was concentrating today on keeping my cadence up as my unoffical BT coach and race partner says I ride with a low cadence in a hard gear. I always thought you were supposed to ride hard...so, riding with a higher cadence works, I wasn't working as nearly as hard and was keeping the same speed if not faster on some parts.

The course was on highways, out and backs on different highways for about 8 miles. It was fun. There were 2 lanes blocked for us and EVERY entrance and exit ramp was closed off. Every one. This was really nice and we didn't have to worry about cars entering and exiting our lanes.

We went over a couple of overpasses in the first 2 miles, then came the BIG bridge. I am afraid of bridges, and terrified of bridges over water. Gephyrophobia at its finest. If I falloff of get pushed over an overpass, at least I'll die on impact with the concrete. I can sort of deal with that. Over water? Well, I freak out. The BIG bridge is the Fred Hartman bridge, its a new suspension bridge. Massive. We had the right two lanes. When I drive over a bridge I like to be in the middle, less chance of getting run off and over...
Breathe....Breathe...I think as I pedel up the bridge...Don't freak out...don't freak out...breathe. I look over, its a pretty day...OMG!! We're so high up! OMG!!BREATHE...I start doing lamaze breathing. I laughed at myself (lamaze!) and decided to not look around me and look down. Yep, look down, its a regular road...with big gaps at the expansion joints...OMG! BREATHE!! I made it to the top...Whew! Time to haul ass to the bottom! This was fun.

Not far from the bottom of the bridge, maybe 1/2 a mile, was the turnaround to go BACK over the bridge again. I was picking up speed, about 16 mph, and I see a big hole in front of me. I didn't have time to go around it. It was about a foot and a half long, really deep. "I'm going to go over my bars" I think to myself. Only one thing to do: Jump it. I lifted up on my bars (thank goodness I wasn't in aero yet!) and my bike came with me! I made it! LOL! I jumped my bike. "Whew! That was a close one" as I laughed to myself.

I'm making my way back up the bridge, we only have one lane going up, but as we get to the top a lane is collapsing for the cars and its opening up to two lanes for us going down. Some of the cones are run over. "Thats not good" I think to myself. I didn't think about the bridge, I just thought about the big downhill I get to do again. (this bridge is HUGE) I am almost to the top and I slow a little to let the guy in front of me have all the downhill to himself just in case. I start the downhill, I love going FAST in aero, its exhilarating! 30mph. 35mph. Loving it. I'm going to hit 40. Whoo hoo! I am looking up a little, I notice a funeral procession. I notice the hearse getting into my lane...the hearse doesn't see the cones...OMG he is going to hit me! I am going to hit him! I sit up, apply brakes. I frantically wave my arms in the air. This was the scariest 5 seconds of the race. He finally noticed the cones and started getting back over (he was trying to exit onto another highway; the exit was closed to cars because that was our route) then he noticed me after the fact. That was too close for comfort. I could only laugh, how ironic.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. For several miles after the mile 14 aid station, where I had 3 Clif Shot Blocs, I was holding 18-19mph (wind to my back) but I felt really good. I drank a bottle of Cytomax (forgot to buy Heed the day before at work) and 1/2 a bottle of water.

I dismount, cross over the timing mat and they take my bike...I'm told where I can go get my run bag...but I'm not doing the run! I stand around confused. It was strange.

Have an extra pair of clean shorts...

Train.
Not much else.

I wish I had done the tri. It just didn't seem right to be done after the bike. Oh well.

I stood around and cheered for racers. Saw Bill go by after his first lap-don't know if he saw/heard me-and waited for them to finish. Saw Aaron finish and then we ate. The best post race stuff! Vitamin water, breakfast burritos, kolaches, and cookies!
Hung out with Mandy and then Bill and Celeste too.

Good times.


Not registering for the tri!


This was a GREAT race. Very well organized, better than some races that have been around for a while, you wouldn't have known it was the first year. The abundance of cops at EVERY intersection was amazing, 3 at most of them, more at the highways.

2nd in my AG but I registered late so my plaque is on order.