Lone Star Sprint Race Report

It feels strange to write a report on a short distance when I am known to Coach G as a endurance junkie, but triathlon is new to me so maybe one day I will look back on this post and see what I have learned. I arrived in Galveston around 1:30 on Friday afternoon, after checking into the hotel I headed to athlete check in. After I picked up my race packet I met up with Coach G and Greg and we walked over to transition to see where I would be set up on Saturday morning. After being in awh of how many bikes/people would be in there in 16 hrs and being relieved that the rows were lettered and numbered we headed to the swim start. The water was calm and I started to anticipate how long it would take me in this open water swim. I was nervous yet excited. Later in the evening I met up with several teammates for dinner and got to bed about 9pm.
Saturday morning wake up call came in at 4:15. I ate some oatmeal, got dressed, aired up the tires and headed to transition at 5:15. With in 15 mins I was set up and ready to go, I chatted with some of the ladies in my wave- lots of them new to triathlon as well and then made one last bathroom stop. As I headed to the swim start it started to drizzle, then the nerves started to sink in. Coach G and Greg came down to help me get in my wet suit and to calm my nerves, About 10 mins before the first wave was set to start, the skies got dark, the wind picked up and the water started to dance. Race officials delayed the race for 30 mins and then decided to call off the swim. I heard later that the buoys when not stay secure, but I know I was getting very scared of the waves I was about to have to swim in. Thank god I did not have to swim in that- I think I would have drown. We were told to go back to transition and wait for direction, but that we would have a duathlon.
They sent us out on the 12.5 bike ride one row at a time starting with row A… I was row G, once the row was out of transition they sent the next row out 3 secs later. The bike coarse was pretty congested not to mention the cross wind was a biatch; at times it was difficult to make a pass. I fought the wind and rode as hard as I could and made it back in in 44:20 and in 31st for my age group ( I am actually happy with this 31/89 cause I am not great on the bike). Transition was 2:02.
I headed out on my run feeling a little tight in the legs, the run was hot and I had to start walking more than I would like to admit, I had carried a water bottle with me so I had fluid for the run and I used the aid stations to pour the cold ice water on my head to keep my temp down. The ladies in my age group seem to be faster runners than I, I ended up with a 5k time of 31:36 with total finish time of 1:18:01 and 43/89 in my age group. So I finished in the top half, which I am happy with. I have lots of room for improvement, but most importantly I had fun and I did a great job.
I had lots of friends and family out to support me and to cheer me on! Thank god for them!
Sunday I returned the favor to my teammates for 70.3. Truly inspirational! Oh and I got to meet Chris Lieto!

Lonestar Sprint

A week from Saturday I will be competing in my second sprint triathlon. I would like to think I have come a long way since October, but I am still scared shitless. I have a .33 mile swim which I have more than done in the pool and in one open water training swim, but for some reason as I blog about all the time swimming still scares me horribly. I have since bought a tri bike that I am still learning to ride but have managed to get to avg 16+ mph on each ride. My goal in this race is to have fun, be healthy and (tri) like hell to beat 1:30.

I learned on Monday night that I do have 3 speeds- in swimming sets of 200's 50/50/100 flip flopped easy/mod/fast. Swam 2 50's in under 1 min, which I have never done. Last Thursday I avg 17.3 mph on the bike. So I am improving, I am just worried about putting it all together.

Saturday I will have another open water swim, that I am already nervous about. But I keep hearing it all goes away with time.

Hope to see you on the roads and in the water soon!

Open Water

Saturday was an eventful day for me that started out with a 4.2 mile run and coffee from Starbuck's. My coach was putting on a transition clinic for new triathletes and since I am new to the sport it was most helpful, even though my bike is in the shop I was able to see what to do and what not to do. After the transition clinic we headed out to Lake Windcrest for an open water swim. Putting on my wet suit I started to freak out as I knew I was about to get in cold brown water and was going to swim. I picked my spot (a buoy) to turn around and got in the water, off coarse I had to pee as soon as I got in. As I started to swim my breathing was way off and I started to panic half way to the buoy, I started to tred water and then started to side stroke when coach G said to stop swimming and calm down. After I calmed down Gena and I swam to the buoy and took a break before returning to shore. Once we got to shore I tried to exit the water but was informed I would be doing the swim again. This time I took a deep breath and started to swim, I was able to keep my face in the water without feeling completely causterphobic and made it to the buoy and back for total swim of .82 miles. I hope that the fear of open water goes away sooner than later.

Hope to see you on the roads soon.

A Good Deed

On Monday I headed to the pool for 2100 I was swimming in the middle lane between an older gentleman and a guy about my age. About half way through my workout I over heard the older gentlemen say that his eyes were burning when I realized he was not wearing any goggles. The younger guy said that he was almost done with his set and he could use his. Knowing I always have about 3 or 4 pair of goggles in my bag I offered him a pair. He laughed and said "thank you I guess I will go to Walmart when I leave". As I swam back down the lane to my swim bag I thought to myself why make him go to Walmart. I handed him two pair and told him to try them both on and he could have the one that fit best. I think I have a new friend for life. I hope the goggles do him justice.

Tuesday- track w/o 6 x 400 and dinner with friends.

Today is registration for Marine Corp Marathon, will I sign up? I let you know later in the week.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!