race report

Finally sitting down and will go over the race.

This was a sprint tri, 300 yards in the ocean, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run. I have done the course twice before. Hubby was doing the long course that day so we arose at about 5, had a sitter come at 6 and headed out the door. We had offered to take our neighbors as well as their bikes. I told hubby to do it the night before but they didn't and sure enough we had to put one bike in the back (removing our bikes from the rack to do this), this put us a bit later than we would have liked. By the time we got to set up there was not much room left, but I knew they had said 8 bikes to a rack so counted 5 and moved myself in. I admit I had not stressed much about this. I was looking at it as a workout, a test on how I did on the clipless pedals, an overall let's see what works and doesn't. So setting up my area was pretty quick and easy, one thing I did have and was glad I had (it was in my bag from last year ) was baby powder, this really does help get sand off and fast.

It was pretty much off to the beach for the start. I did not plan on wearing my garmin, and I did not even think of using my watch and doing splits. I was depending on the advertised 5 time splits and was confident I would have splits. NO such luck(more on that later). The long course went off first and farther down the beach. The short course had a good 30 minutes to wait, I hate waiting. If I had been in a wetsuit I would have passed out from the heat. The surf was rough. I am talking tall waves and they were breaking on the shore, it was crazy, the lifeguards had to call us in and have a little safety chat with us. Finally they asked us to get in a single line so we could all run over the timeing pad, this was a bit of a pain but it did help with a civilized start. I ran through the pad and then stopped short as I had to wait for a good entrance into the surf. I swam through some big waves and got out and tried to keep free style, but I did have to resort to breast stroke. My sighting is getting much better, it was purely the fact that it was rough surf, getting tired, and some good ol fear. I actually heard someone asking for help ???

i tried to really focus on free style and pulling, not sure how i did but as i got more in the surf i just tried to focus on swimming as hard as i could when that wave came, b/c it did pull you back. I kept swimming and did not try to stop and touch the bottom, instead i swam until i could feel the bottom with my hands, that way if a wave came I could hold on. Basically a wave came right when i felt the bottom and it pretty much tumbled me on shore. That is where I acquired mussels galore in my trisuit. I started to run up the beach and then I just lost it a bit and realized I needed to walk. Got myself together and started running again.

Once I got to my bike I started with drying feet, powder on feet, socks on (holy cow this was hard), shoes on. I was NOT rushing. I was being lazy and enjoying the fact that I was not on a bike, swimming or running. I admit it. After the shoes were on, number went on with belt, helmet and glasses, got my gu chomps and heading off. Now here is where the concern was , the pedals, would i clip in ok, would i stay on. I got to the cone where we could get on the bike and up I went and in went one clip, rode a bit and the next. I felt good. I was ready to ride. I am still confused on the bike a bit. I want to drink and eat, which means I have to slow down, yet I want to keep going fast. I tried to get some water in and then ride, but i feel as if i get distracted and go btw fast and then slow. I did get into a groove and was keeping my speed over 17 which I was happy about. I was familiar with the course so that was helpful and kept my mind in the game instead of wondering where the hell is the finish to this. Since we all started the swim at different times there were plenty of fast men whizzing by me. I was passing some mountain bikes. Saw the finish and proceeded with much caution, i unclipped a bit early b/c of the anxiety but the good part is i didn't fall, unclipped fine.

Racked bike and put sneaks on, gulped some more water, put a hat on (wasn't sure if i wanted it but figured better have then NOT have), and off. Oh the run. Again my mind starts to wonder, how long, where is the finish, where is the turn around. I did catch a few ladies and men, but when I saw the folks i could catch they looked so slow, so was i going slow ?? no idea b/c no garmin. A few ladies passed me and they kept cruising, couldn't keep up. I tried so hard to push myself, to get focused and count and just run. The turn around was a bit different then the past and it was very clear, I was happy about that and tried to work wtih the good feeling. After that it was a straight shot to the finish, of course i was doubting and thinking oh wait how far. I tried to put it out of mine and push myself THEN instead of waiting till i saw the finish and pushed. I have no idea if that helped time wise but at least my head seemed more in the game. My time was an hour and 22 minutes. I have done this course in a better time, but the swim is always different - both distance wise and due to surf.

I felt good but as usual I felt like I could have pushed harder. will i always feel this way ? do i have to puke or collapse to make myself feel that i gave it all ??

I saw hubby on my last stretch home on the run, he was about 10 minutes behind me. He did great and felt good, he has the NYC this weeknd so it was great practice for him.

tomorrow ocean swim. today i backed out of any workout, hate that. friday doing a boot camp class, and sat. a brick.