The race start time was 7am, but with bib number 211 my start time was 7:45. I killed a lot of this time watching the early swimmers do their thing. Lots of piling up and passing. Around 7:25 I went off to pee and get on my swim cap and goggles. Then, time to line up. When it was my turn I was lucky because it was time for a planned swim gap so I got to head in with nobody right in front of me. Immediately, though, my pace felt slow and by the second lane there were swimmers wanting to pass. In the pre-race talk we were instructed to hold up at the lane end after being tapped to allow the passer to go by. It felt like I had to do this almost every lane. It was impossible for me to stay composed and stroking efficiently. It was a long 300m. I’d been doing 300m in under 6 minutes and had hoped to repeat that here. Nope. I hauled myself out of the water in 7:20.

More swimming practice!

It was a long jog over to the transition area. I had a slight problem finding my stuff but then got down to the job of getting ready to ride. A short jog later I was mounting up and riding out.

I lost some time with having to put on an ankle brace and a knee brace. Hopefully I won't have to deal with this much longer.

I drove the bike route yesterday and knew that it had no hills, only mild rises and dips. So, it was time to spin it up and drop the hammer. I was passed by about 6 people and passed only about 3. 12 miles disappeared pretty quickly at an awesome (at least for me) 17.9mph pace, a personal best.

Nothing

Rack the bike, off with the helmet and biking shoes, and on with the running shoes and out to the run.

get it done faster!

It didn’t take long to know that my legs were toasted. My goal of no walking wasn’t going to happen. The “run” turned into a long, hard, painful, disappointing slog. I hit the halfway turnaround and thought that maybe I could run the whole way back. Nope for this, too; a little way in I found myself falling. I have no idea what happened! I picked myself up right away, basically unhurt, but did some more walking. Then, I ended up running the last few 10ths with my thigh muscles basically in spasm down by my knees. The final damage: 3.1 miles in 34:27. Yuck! Ugly!

I was betrayed by my legs. I’m sure the 4 weeks I lost to my sprained ankle had a lot to do with this. I guess I need to do a lot more running and do many more bricks.

lots of walking, eating bananas, drinking, etc. Also got a massage. Wow, my legs were painful!


Tired legs!

Not enough swimming, not enough running, not enough brick practices.

I know that this was my first triathlon and just finishing was a huge accomplishment. I am a triathlete! However, I can’t help but be a bit disappointed in my performance. The swim was a bit off from what I had hoped, but the ride was great and I made back my lost time. The run was horrible, far worse than any run or brick I’ve done. I was betrayed by my legs.