Hello, my name is Skeezix-Badass Triathlete Monday, July 30, 2007

First let me start off by saying that on Friday night the plan was to have one drink with friends to unwind and somehow I ended up drunkity drunk drunk. And my sister totally busted me by calling me at the bar and saying "You said ONE! How did you drink 4!?"

I blame triathlon stress. Yes. For sure. Blame the triathlon.

Ok, peeps, here is my super nerdy recap:

The morning of the race (Sunday- plenty of time to recover from Friday's silliness) was nice and overcast, around 66 degrees. I got up at 5:10 because the race started at 7:30 and I wanted to be there by 6:15 to rack my bike and get my gear laid out.

Before the race I had a lot of water (I'd started hydrating the night before) a banana, one egg with a slice of cheese and a Cliff Mojo bar.

I decided for the swim portion to swim in my sports bra and tri shorts, and then pull on my tri top with my number pinned on for the bike and run. Everyone at the race site was so helpful, and I have to admit I loved being body marked- it made me feel like a real triathlete since the body marking is always noticeable in photos I've looked at.

The swim portion was a self seeding single start, with the swimmers going into the water in three second intervals. There was 9 minutes and under, 10-13 minutes, and 14 and up for the timed sections. I placed myself in the 10-13 minute group figuring that I'd do the swim portion in about 11-12 minutes. There was a lot of chatting among the triathletes, one woman standing next to me was celebrating her 55th birthday that day. How awesome is that?

So eventually it was my turn to get into the quarry for the swim, there were three steps down into the water and then a 25-ft drop to the bottom of the quarry. Which was great because there was no wading threw sand or mud, just straight on swimming. So I dove right in, and then started passing people left and right. I was most confident about the swimming portion because I've been a swimmer since I was a child (and competitive one until I graduated high school). The water was the perfect temp, it was warm but not too warm. Before I knew it was I approaching the first buoy and did some breast stroke to really get some good deep breaths and then made the turn around the buoy and pulled back into a front crawl. I felt like I was flying through the water and before I knew it I was at the finish and slogging up the 30 some steps out of the quarry/swim portion and into my transition.

I ran to my bike rack, I had counted how many bike racks I would pass before I reached mine before the race so that made it really easy to locate my stuff, and dried off my feet and started to pull on my tri top. Well, tried to pull on my tri top- it kept getting stuck on my wet sports bra. HA! That was a failure in the part of my planning. Once I finally got it on I pulled on my socks and shoes and helmet and took off on the bike. I was not prepared for the how much the first 3 miles of the bike would make me want to die. I'm a decent bike (albeit a slow biker) but for some reason those first three miles were torture. In my head I could hear myself saying 'why the hell did you think you could do this?' and 'man, I don't know if I can make it' but I kept peddling (and getting passed a lot) and by the time I make the second turn in the course I felt better. I just settled into my rhythm and told myself to screw any preconceived notions about what speed I should be clipping along at and just keep peddling. The second loop of the bike course was a bit easier- but again there was just one section that felt like it went on forever and ever but this time I knew there was eventually going to be a turn and that I could make it. I really do need a different bike though, I've got a hybrid bike (at least that is what the bike shop called it when I bought it 3 years ago). It is great for tooling around town and whatever but it is entirely too heavy and I really felt like I was dragging it behind me as I biked. I definitely see a new bike in my future.

So I finally approached the end of the bike section and quickly re-racked my bike and whipped off my helmet and set out for the run.

I had been practicing my bike to run transitions so that went super smoothly and I knew what to expect from my legs, and lightly jogged for a little bit. And then I needed to walk a good bit because I had to pee so bad and it physically hurt to run with a full bladder. Luckily about a 3/4 of a mile into the course were some bathrooms so I quickly hit up those and felt instantly better. I did a good bit of slow jogging because running in the hardest part of the whole thing for me, and little bit of walking. The best part of it was when this woman came up from behind me and we were about to turn onto the grass to run for a bit and she was hilarious. She started yelling to me about how good it felt to be on the grass and then (she's still behind me at this part) yells "Oh my god, you're a swimmer aren't you?" And I said yes, and reduce my pace a bit to let her catch up to me, then she said "I could totally tell from behind because of your tight little athletic body!" and then we ran along together talking for a bit. She had a great pace and looking back I wished I decided to keep up with her but I needed to walk a bit because of a cramp in my glut.

Finally I came around the corner to the finish line and was so damn happy. It was great because as you crossed the finish line they had music playing and an announcer calling out your name. I had a great big smile across my face as I hit the finish line and the announcer commented on it. It was great! I felt fantastic! And really except for those few miles of the bike that were painfully rough I thought it wasn't too bad. I was wickedly slow and am looking to improve but I know I can do it now and will get better.

These are approximate, except for the swim because I was most proud of that and memorized my time. They've yet to get the results up on the web so I'll edit it as soon as I know for sure the official times:

Swim: 7m 42sec
T1: 3m 42sec
Bike: 1hr 5 m
T2: 43 sec
Run: 45 min

Overall time: 2 hours 5 minutes

I really think that the Elite Endevours/Toledo Triathlon group did a fantastic job. Everything was well marked and their constant shouts of encouragement really kept up my moral on the course. Afterwards one of the volunteers came up to me and grabbed my hands and told me I did a amazing job and that I was such a strong powerful woman and he saw me on the course working my tail off. I felt fantastic. I also thought it was great that whenever you passed someone who was doing the course or they passed you- you shouted words of encouragement at each other. I wasn't expecting that but it helped and really made me feel some sort of connection to the other racers. Uh, that might sound really corny but whatever.

It is definitely one of the best days of my life EVER.

And I'm so doing another one.


Ok, photos- I've only got mine and I'm sure I'll bombard you guys with more when I get them from my mom and then the professionals who took some too:

T1: Swim to Bike


Second Lap of the bike:


Coming into T2: bike to run transition:


Approaching the finish line after the run:


Dorktastic photo of me:


Hauling ass towards the finish line!


Mom and I post race, look how red I am!


They marked the age you'd be on Dec. 31st on your calf:


And my awesome guns sporting my race number (hahaha!)

Labels: , ,

Skeezix  Monday, July 30, 2007

Comments

4 Comments:

  • At July 30, 2007 7:30 PM, Blogger Mary said…

    eeeeeeee!!!! Congratulations! You kicked ass and that's so awesome!
    As for your dorktastic photo...don't feel bad. I have a good friend who ran the Chicago Marathon and the photo of him crossing the finish line is now infamous among our friends- somehow, both of his feet were flat on the ground. He looks like he's standing still while someone hammers him in his 'nether regions'and everyone else runs by...oh, these things are fun, and fun is good :)

     

  • At July 31, 2007 1:20 AM, Blogger Lincoln said…

    Woohoo!!! Congratulations! You have inspired me. Although I should probably wait and see how my mountain race turns out...I already feel like tackling a triathlon. Nice job.

     

  • At August 01, 2007 2:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    What kind of bike do you have?

    I'm not big on the whole 'road cycling' thing, but I'm not one to slam down a mountain on a $10,000 gravity sled either.

    Right now, I have a Specialized Hardrock frame, with Alexrims on the back and a Shimano FH-M475 Disc hub. Deore XT rear derailleur, and some extremely light aluminum blades for my brakes.

     

  • At August 01, 2007 2:20 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    This comment has been removed by the author.

     

Post a Comment

<< Home