First off, what an incredible site! While sleeping ranks high on things I'd like to be doing at 5:30 on a Sunday, if I hadn't been up, I would have missed this. At 6:30 about 40 racers got into the water for the first leg of the triathlon. 30 of them were doing the Sprint Distance, and 10 of us were doing the Olympic.
I'll admit that while I'm decent at swimming, it is definitely my weak area in the triathlon. This is probably due to the fact that the only time I swim is when I'm doing triathlon races. 1,500 meters is not extremely difficult, but in the open water you not only have to deal with the tide (which isn't too bad where we swim), but you also have to try to swim in a straight line (something I suck at). As such, even though I only get credit for swimming 1,500M, it probably ended up being more than that.
After 4 laps and approximately 32 minutes, I was out of the water, and onto the 6-lap, 40K Bike portion of the race.
As I said, I'm not really fast on the swim, so the bike is where I start to make up my time. For several triathlons now I've been duct taping a Gatorade-filled water bottle in between my aero bars. It's definitely not classy, but it gets the job done, and keeps me hydrated. I've also learned my lesson and make sure I have a lid on my bottle so my straw doesn't bounce out of the bottle the first time I hit a pothole.
The hardest thing about the bike portion of the race for me, is keeping track of the laps. Six laps on the same flat course can get to be a little monotonous so I try to focus on the road ahead of me and pedal as fast as I can. With only 10 people doing the same distance, it is hard to keep track if you are not close to someone who you are racing. Luckily, Stephanie was there to not only take pictures, but tell me when I could transition to the run.
After an approximately 71 minute bike ride, I was on my feet for the last 10K. As with every triathlon, by the time I get to the run my legs feel like a combination of cement and Jell-O. I'd say the run is my strong point too, and is where I tend to pass the most people. I think it comes down to sucking it up, and gutting it out. It's hot, you're tired, but you have to finish.
47 minutes after finishing the bike, I was crossing the finish line. Total time was 2 hours, 29 minutes, and 47 seconds. Although it was only my second Olympic-distance Triathlon, it was my new personal best. I was rather surprised to find out that I came in first of the 10 people doing that distance. I still say it's all about finishing, not when you finish (after all there are no trophies or medals), but it is pretty cool to win.
I'll admit that while I'm decent at swimming, it is definitely my weak area in the triathlon. This is probably due to the fact that the only time I swim is when I'm doing triathlon races. 1,500 meters is not extremely difficult, but in the open water you not only have to deal with the tide (which isn't too bad where we swim), but you also have to try to swim in a straight line (something I suck at). As such, even though I only get credit for swimming 1,500M, it probably ended up being more than that.After 4 laps and approximately 32 minutes, I was out of the water, and onto the 6-lap, 40K Bike portion of the race.
As I said, I'm not really fast on the swim, so the bike is where I start to make up my time. For several triathlons now I've been duct taping a Gatorade-filled water bottle in between my aero bars. It's definitely not classy, but it gets the job done, and keeps me hydrated. I've also learned my lesson and make sure I have a lid on my bottle so my straw doesn't bounce out of the bottle the first time I hit a pothole.
The hardest thing about the bike portion of the race for me, is keeping track of the laps. Six laps on the same flat course can get to be a little monotonous so I try to focus on the road ahead of me and pedal as fast as I can. With only 10 people doing the same distance, it is hard to keep track if you are not close to someone who you are racing. Luckily, Stephanie was there to not only take pictures, but tell me when I could transition to the run.
After an approximately 71 minute bike ride, I was on my feet for the last 10K. As with every triathlon, by the time I get to the run my legs feel like a combination of cement and Jell-O. I'd say the run is my strong point too, and is where I tend to pass the most people. I think it comes down to sucking it up, and gutting it out. It's hot, you're tired, but you have to finish.
47 minutes after finishing the bike, I was crossing the finish line. Total time was 2 hours, 29 minutes, and 47 seconds. Although it was only my second Olympic-distance Triathlon, it was my new personal best. I was rather surprised to find out that I came in first of the 10 people doing that distance. I still say it's all about finishing, not when you finish (after all there are no trophies or medals), but it is pretty cool to win. I'll talk more about my third Olympic Tri later, but I know I've been bad about updating the blog and posting pictures, so I thought I would go ahead and post this one.
SO proud of you :D you did a great job!!
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