Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Luna Women's Sprint Tri

July 28, 2007
Lakeview, OR

This was my second triathlon. And while by any standards that is very very new, the anxiety in the days leading up to this were noticably absent. I knew I could finish it, likely not come in last (my biggest fear from the first one), and the chances of someone else embarassing themselves more than me was pretty high. Plus, several of my training friends from the gym were embarking on their very first tri, so I was more excited for them and caught up in that. But...I woke up Saturday morning in a near panic. I was all of a sudden aware that I had run less than a half dozen times since the june event. Yeah, I was putting in decent time in the pool and on the bike (hey, STP counts as like 10 workouts, right?), if you don't finish the run, you don't finish. Too late to worry much about lack-o-training now.

Forgoing breakfast in favor of coffee, I hurriedly set up my transition area so I could get to the bathroom. The lines were horrific, so I suited up early and got in the water for a "warmup." Ahhhh... It was almost time to start anyway, so we all wished each other good luck and joined up with our respective waves. Sherry and I started together and it was so great to talk with someone up until the horn sounded. The swim start was a bit more chaotic than last time and I ended up behind a bunch of kickers that I couldn't get around. So I patiently waited for them to expend their energy flailing before I could pass. I never did find somebody to draft, but in an 800m swim, I suppose it doesn't matter too much.

Me and Sherry waiting for the swim to start.

T1 went slow because I had problems with my bike shoes. The ratchets weren't undone, the straps were still velcroed together, and my front break on the bike was tweaked. Next time, less coffee and more time setting stuff up. I still had issues with my breaks about a mile into the ride, but I was able to fix it without stopping. Please, no lecturing on that. I know it's not safe. All-in-all th ebike seemed easier, if not faster, this time aroundn. I definitely passed more people and wasn't all that tired coming back into the park.

Unfortunately T2 was also slooooow. My bike shoes weren't coming off quickly (I think it's time for new shoes), my helmet got caught in my hair, etc. And some little evil troll magically turned my legs into tree stumps. The bastard. Really, the run seemed so much harder than I remember. Maybe it's time to put some effort in to working on my running. I got through it, had fun seeing people from the gym on the turnaround, and had a big smile on my face as I came through the finish line. Yay, I did it!

Heading out for the run. Hey, I'm SMILING!!!


Sherry welcoming me through the finish.

I'm too lazy to look up my times, but I think it was something like this compared to the June event: very slightly faster swim, same T1, faster bike, same T2, slower run; about a minute or two faster overall.

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