Time Goals: 3/3!

Yay! My triathlon a week ago was a success! I beat my goal of 90 minutes by over 2.5 minutes! The official time was 1:27:25. I had my mom as my lap counter (I had to swim 18 of them) and she handed me my watch when I got out of the pool. It took me a while to heave myself over the large wall, but when I was upright and jogging to the transition area, I looked at my watch and it said 15:26. I'm thinking I swam around 15:20. Not bad for a non-flipturn swim. I didn't do any warmup laps before I went, so the first 5 laps consisted of a lot of adrenaline and breathing strokes. I can definitely see how an open water swim could be overwhelming.

The transition was smooth. I had my towel folded so I could stand on it and wipe my feet as I put on my helmet, sunglasses, shorts and racing flats. Putting on my shoes took the longest amount of time, because I didn't want to have to re-tie them or have them be uncomfortable for 15 miles of bike riding and 3 miles of running. I did a great job in that respect. I didn't even feel the shoes. I was worried that I'd make the shoes soggy and heavy because I was still dripping water everywhere, but I think it all soaked into the bike seat. Off I went out of the transition area! I had placed my livestrong band on my cateye speedometer, and when I went to start the clock on the cateye, I knocked the band and it fell onto the street. Poop. I didn't want to wear it swimming because of the drag. Oh well. I had been dreading the biking portion of this thing since I learning about triathlons, and surprisingly, it was my favorite part of the race! Since I started at about 7:20 am, there was still cloud-cover and it was cool out. I sped up and down those rolling hills! A few people passed me, but I passed several people as well. If I had remembered to stop my cateye, it would have said I averaged about 19mph with a top speed of something in the low-30s. I was moving on the flats at 22mph. Wow. I certainly did much better on the bike than I predicted, finishing that portion in under 50 minutes (probably around 48).

I think I probably had the fastest bike-to-run transition of the day. I unbuckled my helmet as I set my bike on the rack and took off my sunglasses and helmet. As soon as I placed my helmet on the towel, I was off and putting my sunglasses on as I ran through the transition area. Whee! When I was setting up my bike and arranging my stuff that morning, I looked at the way a few others had placed their bikes. Some had the seats resting on the bar, others had the brakes over the bar. I tried both ways and thought about how I'd be rushing. I think I tried about 4 different setups before I felt good about which rack and where on the rack and which side of the rack I put my stuff on and which way my bike hung. In the end, I was on the far end of rack 3 with my bike hanging from the seat, so I could go straight toward the exit without having to back it up or turn anything around or worry about people in the way.

When I left the transition area for the run, my watch said 1:06:10, so I figured I had about 24 minutes to run a 5k and to reach my goal. I knew I could do that, but it would be difficult because my legs felt like jelly. It took me only 21:15 to get from that point to the finish line. I think that the start of the 5k was at the finish of the bike instead of at the other end of the transition area (where I looked at my watch) because I didn't run THAT fast. My first 1/3 of a mile was great. Then, I got a painful side stitch and it miraculously disappeared after the first water station. I don't remember my legs bothering me after that.

Those three miles went by fast, and so did the people I passed. It was so strange to be running a race and passing people as if they were standing still. And these were fit-looking people too. It boggled my mind and made me a little unfocused. That was something I didn't expect. I expected the run to have people I could key off of and try hard to run down. It was definitely different than a cross country race where everyone starts at the same time.

I flew by these guys sitting and smoking outside a bar or something, and one yells, "I hope you twist your fucking ankle!" I was having so much fun, my response was a thumbs-up. Fortunately no-one else on the road had that sort of attitude. The race had volunteers every so often cheering us on. Some people had set out lawn chairs at the ends of their driveways and were cheering. Coming up to the first water station on the bike portion, I read cardboard signs saying that I was leaving the USA and heading to Mexico. Right before the water/gatorate, there was a huge line drawn in chalk across the road that had "USA" on one side and "Mexico" on the other. There were welcome signs and colorfully dressed people. About a quarter mile after the station, there was a sign that said, "Don't Drink the Water!" I laughed. On the run, we went over the railroad and back under it. The Southern Pacific had stopped on the bridge as I went under it and the conductor was out on the tracks leaning over the wall of the bridge and cheering. People had hoses and squirt guns ready to cool the runners down. There were chalk markings on the sidewalk like mini versions of the Tour de France chalk on the mountain stages, encouraging runners up Johnson Street. I had such a blast.

I couldn't have done this alone. My mom lent me her bike and numerous people gave me advice and their training time. I would like to thank the following people for helping me to achieve this goal: Holly, David, Tim, Mike, Mom, Frank, Doug, Marny, and Dad.

Morning Weight: 140
Miles Today: 10+
Other Exercise: Walked to the store and around Shoreline
Total Miles this Week: 10