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| Holly and I post-race |
As I absolutely LOVE triathlons, I was pretty excited leading up to this event. My friend Holly had expressed prior that she was interested in doing a triathlon, and this one seemed perfect for a first tri as it was a pool swim vs. open water. In addition, I had heard good things about the event. Being knee deep in Ironman training, I was wondering a) how switching to a faster gear would feel and b) if i was going to feel okay after my 80 mile bike ride a few days before.
I felt a little disjointed packing...I had tossed some gear into the truck, some into my bag, and some was still laying around the house. Nice. Even though this race was a sprint, you still need so much gear! Holly and I talked that afternoon about what we were planning to bring to make sure we had all of our bases covered.
I got up at 4am race morning with plans to leave the house at 4:30. The truck was loaded, I had made my pre-race PB&J, and coffee was set. I ended up being ready to leave at 4:22am and started my hour and a half journey to Bellevue in the dark.
Holly and I met at the race location, and grabbed some of our gear to check in. Checking in was very easy and laid back, but not much information was available regarding the courses. While everyone should know the course, I am always thankful that I am not a really fast guy where it is IMPERATIVE to know the course. It is so disappointing getting off course (which, I suppose, happens even if you're not leading the entire event). I was told that all of that would be covered at the pre-race meeting. Okay.
Swim (4:52)
The swim was a continuous 300 yard lap swim. We were lined up according to our predicted 300 time and started every 15 seconds. It seemed like the pool ropes didn't exactly match up with the lane lines which felt confusing...was this real or just me? I ended up not doing flip turns because of this. (After talking to another athlete afterward, it was confirmed that this was true.) Oh well. I enjoyed swimming this way even if it was difficult to get a good, fast time turned in.
T1 (1:40)
I exited the pool and headed to transition. Transition has been a weak spot for me so was hoping to really work on this today. I ripped off my goggles and swim cap on my way to my bike, put on my socks and shoes, put on my helmet and sunglasses, and pushed start on my GPS. Off I went.
Bike (34:08)
This is definitely my weakest discipline. With that being said, I knew that I really had to get the heck out of there if I were to place high. The course started out with a hill, but luckily didn't have much after that as it was primarily on a trail. The first couple miles had several turns, and as I'm not totally confident that I won't crash, I always take these relatively slowly. Once I got on the trail, I pedaled as quickly as I could. I felt good, but as the race had a staggered start, I had no idea where any other female racers were, making it difficult to actually "race". Towards the very end of the race, there was a very short, but VERY steep hill. I threw my bike into the easiest gear, but found myself not being able to make it up the hill. HOLY COW! After finally getting to the crest, I lost quite a bit of time trying to get going again. Yikes. Not a good way to finish up the bike.
T2 (:54)
I am a big believer in never looking behind me to find out the location of my competition. This definitely shows weakness....if I am concerned, that means that I'm hurting. If I am confidently running (or biking), this makes me seem harder to catch. As all sports, this is for sure a mind game. That being said, as I ran into transition, I THOUGHT I saw another female coming in right after me. I didn't look. I threw my bike on the rack, ripped my helmet, and grabbed my visor. This ended up being a 54 second transition for me, which was probably my fastest ever.
Run (21:02)
The run was hillier than the bike. But because it was an out and back course with a little loop in the middle, we got to run down that which we ran up. The first mile was primarily up, but we also got to finish the opposite way on the same hill, so I was okay with this. My run felt really slow. My GPS was having a hard time locating its signal, but finally got it going. My first "mile" was 6:56. I finished feeling relatively strong.
Final time: 1:02:33.
Final place: 2nd by about a minute and a half.
As I was driving home after the event, I thought about my mindset as a triathlete/runner...I want to be #1 in everything I do. I want to be the best swimmers, the best biker, and the best runner. I want to be the fastest in transition. But it doesn't stop there--I want to be a great teacher. I want to be a great mother. Obviously I know where my priorities lay. However, it remains such a struggle to find an appropriate balance and to accept where I am at athletically and what is realistic.
The journey continues.
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