The last time I did a sprint triathlon was 2003. I finished in 2 hours and 19 minutes. My goal was to complete this one (11 years and 2 kids later) in under 2 hours….
The Swim: Like I've said before, I really have no technique when it comes to swimming. I can swim to save my life, but I'm not very fast. I decided to stay in the back of my wave so that I didn't get kicked in the head like I did last time. I also stayed as far left as I could. It worked out really well! I started out and kept up with everyone… until I looked up and saw how much further that buoy was, and then looked down to see how much seaweed was under me. I slowed down and someone sorta ran into me and I swallowed an entire mouthful of lake water. Eww. The rescue team on the boat asked if I was ok and I said, "Yeah, just drinking the lake, I'll be ok." But I kinda wasn't ok… I was having a little freak-out attack and felt like I couldn't breathe (I was kind of doing this crazy hyperventilating thing). My wetsuit was feeling really tight around my neck and I guess I was just feeling overwhelmed. I decided to swim on my back for a while until I caught my breath. After that, I just took it slower. There was still plenty of people from my wave behind me but the elite from the next wave caught up and started passing. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…" I passed the halfway point and a lot of people stopped to hold on to a buoy or a canoe to catch their breath. I never did, I just kept going. I was so excited to get out of that lake! Although when I tried to run to the transition I felt like I weighed a billion pounds after swimming. (Ugh!) Finished the swim in 17 minutes.
Transition #1: I wore my racing capri pants and a sports bra under my wetsuit. My plan was to strip off the wetsuit, throw on a tank top, and put my bike shoes on. I could not for the life of me put my stupid tank top on. It's a double-layer bike jersey and I was soaking wet, and the tank top was just as wet since it was hanging over my bike in the rain. I swear to you, I got tangled up in the stupid thing and had to take it off and re-try 5 TIMES. I was about to give up and do the rest of the race in my sports bra. I was even trying to go all Macgyver and try to find something to cut the inside layer out. Finally got the stupid thing on, and was on my way… I wasted 7 minutes there!
The Bike: I got this! Yes it's pouring but I've cycled in the rain more times than I can count! I spent most of the ride zooming past other cyclists. "On your left! On your left!…" The only things that slowed me down were hills (there was a surprising amount of them), the rain in my eyes (it was so hard to see when my cycling glasses were covered in spots), and there was a lot of 90 degree turns. Race volunteers would stand there and say, "Slow way down! It's slick! It hasn't rained in such a long time!" So I obeyed… because I'm overly paranoid on turns even when the road is dry. I also used the bike time as an opportunity to drink a spark and have an energy goo. I finished the bike in 47 minutes.
Transition #2: This was far less eventful than the first transition. I put my bike on the rack (although someone took my spot which I thought was weird), took off my helmet and gloves, and changed into my five-fingered vibrams. I also dried out the inside of my swim cap and put my phone inside so I could listen to tunes. I spent 4 minutes here.
The Run: So I use an app called Rock My Run. There's an 11 minute mix on there called HIIT It. My goal was to play that mix 3 times, and I should be done. The first time the mix played I passed the 1 mile marker before it was over. Sweet. Doing good! Then there was a ton of rolling hills and I had to walk a bit, so the second time it ended I wasn't at the 2 mile marker yet… but I could see it just ahead. I grabbed a quick cup of water, and started the mix for the 3rd time. Again, more hills. (Who designed this course!?) Same thing happened, the mix stopped, and I could see the finish line ahead. Pretty close! I've never claimed to be a fast runner. Finished the run in 36 minutes.
I was really excited and nervous to see the results, I kept looking at their website. The time when I crossed the finish line said 2:30..something. But that's because the clock starts when the olympic time distance starts. I knew I started at least a half hour after them but I was really worried I didn't make it under 2 hours… especially with my wardrobe malfunction. "If that stupid tank top caused me to come in at 2 hours and 1 minute, I'm going to be so pissed!!"
When I got home the results were online! *Drum roll* 1 hour and 54 minutes! Eeeeeeeee!!!! I DID IT!!!! I was so relieved and so proud of myself! Especially in the pouring rain, the hilly route, and a cold! (Did I mention I blew my nose in my towel during transition #2? Nope? Well now I mentioned it! You're welcome. I'm disgusting.) So then I wanted to know what time the top finisher in my age group was so I scrolled down. She made it in 1 hour 27 minutes. Hey, my time was only about 20 minutes later. Not too bad! Then I looked at the rest of the top 5, and noticed that #4 had the same time as me. Wait. That IS me! I scrolled all around to make sure I was looking at that right. I PLACED #4 IN MY AGE GROUP!? Whaaaaat?!!?!? No freaking way!!!! Look!! …..
Oh man, that's the first time I've uploaded a pic here before. Maybe that's too small to see? Well, anyway, it says that I'm badass!!! ;)
(Bummer...it never occurred to me to stay for the awards ceremony. I'm pretty sure there's only prizes for 1, 2, and 3, but what if I won something and I wasn't there to receive it? Darn it. Note to self: Stay for the awards because you never know!)
2003 times:
Swim: 23:16 Bike: 52:09 Run: 50:48 Total: 2:19
2014 times:
Swim: 17:34 Bike: 47:59 Run: 36:54 Total: 1:54
I really think that if I had the same route as before (The Iron Girl goes straight across I-90 and back) I would have killed my bike time a lot more. (And no rain.) I want to do the Iron Girl next year now so that I can really compare apples to apples. But in the meantime, I'm STOKED about today! WOO HOO!!!!
