There were four or five (can't remember) of us in the lane, and I was in second position. We started every five seconds. I made a conscious effort (aftering reading Coach Carolyn's swim start tips) to start off very comfortably and not spike my heart rate -- and it worked. But the person in front of me took off, and two older men behind me passed me right away, with much bumping and kicking of my person. Then, they proceeded to slow down immensely so that I was constantly running into their feet throughout the entire rest of the swim. I considered passing them, but decided to just chill out and swim behind them since my goal was to take it easy and stay very relaxed throughout the swim. I felt great all throughout this swim, maybe because I was drafting a little off the guy in front of me. I'm sure he was annoyed that I kept hitting his feet, but I couldn't help it. I actually had to stop swimming and lifted my head at some points to let him go a bit so I wouldn't swim right on top of him.

A few times, when I lifted my head for a breath at the end of the lane, Bob was there saying "Go Team Javelin!" or "Go Kristi!" It was so great! I was really surprised to come up and see his face right there, and I was happy to have a cheerleader.

In the last 100m, I decided to give a little push and pass the guys in front of me, but because the pool was so short and there were so many of us in the narrow lane, I could only really pass one of them without being in everyone else's way. But in any case, I finished happy and feeling good and ready for the bike. I jumped out of the pool with my goggles still on, and moved them up onto my cap as I jogged out of the pool.

Another note: I counted my laps this time, which I did not do during the in-house tri. I think doing this made me feel more comfortable because I knew where I was in the swim. It seems like an obvious thing to do, but I didn't do it last time because there were lap counters. It really helped, though.

I think I could have gone out a little faster and stuck on the feet of the woman in first position, because I think she would have been a better match for me to draft off. I will have to practice doing this a bit...going out fast and then backing off...so that it doesn't make my heart go crazy when I do it in a race. I also think I should have been thining about my transition in the last few laps, going through it in my mind. But I was too busy thinking about the people in front of me and when I could get by them without causing a traffic jam.

I felt great coming out of the pool and jogged happily over to the transition area. I waited to take off my cap and goggles until I got to my bike and towel. I threw them down next to my towel, then pulled back the garbage bag and grabbed a long-sleeved shirt to put on over my tri suit because it was cold and rainy. I had a bit of trouble getting the shirt on because I was so wet, but it wasn't too bad. I had my socks inside each bike shoe, so I dried one foot with a hand towel, then put the shoe and sock on, then did the other. I put on my sunglasses, then I grabbed my helmet off my handlebars and put it on. I covered my stuff back up with the garbage bag, then unracked my bike and waddled over to the bike mount line. I was careful not to hurry because it was so slippery and wet and I have a tendency to fall in my bike shoes. I got onto my bike at the line, clipped in easily, and was off on the bike.

I think next time I will try moving my bike shoes off the towel when I get into T1 and standing on the towel, so drying my feet will be quicker.

I was so happy I put on my long-sleeved shirt in T1. I was dressed perfectly. My legs and feet especially were very cold though. I felt like my legs weren't working as well as they should...they felt kind of cold and numb, and the whole bike just felt pretty slow. It was slow, actually, compared to how fast I've ridden the course before.

Again, I made a conscious effort to start out at a comfortable pace. I was glad to have worn my HR monitor this time so I could keep tabs on my HR and know when to either increase the pace or slow it down a bit. The first lap seemed to go by more slowly than the second, though my legs were really feeling it on the second lap. I'm not sure which was fast because I didn't hit the lap button on my watch, but I'll bet the first one was. I passed a few people starting the first lap, and a few more along the way, although some of these people passed me back and forth on the uphills (my climbing needs lots of work). I could tell when faster heats had started the bike, too, because those people went cruising by me.

My nutrition plan (courtesy of Coach Carolyn) was to have 1 gel around 10 minutes into the bike and another about 5-10 minutes before the end and to sip on Gatorade throughout. Having dropped my first gel at the in-house tri, I stashed a few extra gels in my bento box just in case. This time, I had no problem with the gels (both Vanilla Clif Shots), but dropped my bottle of Gatorade the second or third time I tried to drink from it at the very beginning of the bike. Thank goodness for the extra half bottle of water! Trust me, I didn't mind carrying it! It's actually probably a good thing that I dropped the Gatorade. I had some pretty intense stomach cramping at the in-house, during which I drank orange Gatorade. This time, I had no stomach cramps, so I actually think it was lucky that I dropped the bottle at the beginning and stuck to water. We saw the bottle on the way home anyway and picked it up off the side of the road because it was from James' first race and I'm sure it holds a special place in his heart. ;)

It was very wet and slippery out, and the course was kinda rough and patchy in some places. I tried to be very cautious in these spots, as well as all the turns and corners.

Even though it was very cold (to me) and raining pretty hard and just really a miserable day for a race, I had a smile on pretty much the whole time. I was just so happy to be out on my bike with everyone else. I guess all those rainy rides really paid off, because although I would have loved sun, I was still happy to be out there riding in the rain.

Coming around the last corner and seeing the rec center again on the second lap, I felt elated. I spun up the last little hill into the transition area and dismounted successfully.

The zipper on my saddle bag broke, so I shoved a tube, tire levers, and pump into my bento box. I was amazed that it fit in there with all my extra gels, and I was happy it did, but every time I stood I kept jamming my knees into it because it was so full. So I didn't stand very often. Next time I will do more than just clean my bike pre-race...I will make sure even all the little things like saddle bags are in working order.

Again I took my time at transition, keeping with my chilled out mantra for this race. Luckily James' bike was still in transition so it was easy to find my spot again. I racked the bike, thew down my helmet and glasses, then changed shoes. I love elastic laces!! My feet were just soaked from the rainy bike. I grabbed my race belt and plodded slowly out of transition toward the run course, putting on my race belt as I went.

Not much...it was a pretty smooth transition, even if it wasn't particularly fast.

This was a very slow, labored run. I haven't been running much, and I really felt it out there. When I started out, I had the infamous "lead legs," but they weren't too horrible. The worst thing was that my feet had gotten so cold on the bike that they were totally numb. I had to jog very slowly and carefully to keep from tripping because I really couldn't feel my feet at all. Another woman on the course with me said her feet were numb too, and we marvelled at the strange sensation. About the same time the heavy-legged feeling started to subside, feeling began to return to my feet and I started to feel good.

I just kind of plodded along through the rain, taking my time and getting passed often. The course started with an uphill, which seemed rather cruel just coming off the bike with numb legs. There weren't many turns on the course, which made it quite boring and I found myself wondering where the heck the turnaround was. I saw quite a few people from the clinic out on the course, so that was nice. I greeted everyone with a smile and a "Way to go!" or something similar. Keeping a lookout for friends kept me from getting too utterly bored, and so did singing "Come a little bit closer, you're my kind of man, so big and so strong" in my head. At the turnaround, I felt great, but was a little leery of picking up the pace very much because I knew I had to go up some hills near the end and my legs were not feeling particularly well-conditioned. Going up the last hill at the end, I felt like I was hardly moving and could have walked faster, but the thought of stopping to walk never entered my mind, even then. I was so happy to just be there doing it.

I came around the final corner, then had to run up a wet, gravelly hill to the finish line. Rob and Cheyenne and Bob were at the finish line, and it felt so great to finish. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and was just so happy to be there and so thankful to have a young body that could tolerate a bit of abuse with not enough training. ;)

I think I could have been a bit less conservative in the middle portion of the run where it was mostly flat. Having not run the course beforehand, I wasn't sure what to expect so I wanted to make sure I had plenty of energy left for the hills at the end. But I could have done more. Next time, I will run the course ahead of time and plan where my pickup will be.

After finishing, I milled around with the group for a few minutes, then went into the rec center to change into dry clothes. I should have brought a nice warm sweater, but I didn't. I grabbed a bagel and a banana and some apple juice, then went outside to wait for more people and to cheer at the finish line. I tried to move around a bit and not stand still for too long.

It was so great to cheer for James as he started his run and as he came across the finish line. It makes me so happy that this is something we can (kind of) do together. His time was really good, and I felt so proud of him. We stood around and talked for a bit, then went inside and sat on a concrete floor (ouch!) for the awards ceremony. Lots of people from our clinic/club got awards!! It was awesome. It turns out that the awards were based on unofficial race results, and when the official results were posted later, James actually got 4th place in his age group. Although he didn't get a ribbon at the ceremony because the results were wrong. Still, he did great!!

We went home and I took a hot shower. Bad, I know, but I was so freezing cold that I just could not tolerate an ice bath. I rubbed some traumeel in my legs and lay on our bed with my feet up against the wall while I chatted on the phone with my best friend. And I ate a lot during the rest of the day...I felt insatiably hungry! Mostly it was good stuff, with a few cookies thrown in.


Lack of training, weather


For my first race, the lack of activities, music, aid stations, and fanfare was a bit disappointing. But it was still fun, and I'd do it again. It was SO fun doing it with all the clinic people. I can imagine it would be much less interesting if I hadn't been seeing my friends all along the course. Hooray for the tri clinic!