Tri for Joe Race Report

I woke up with a start and checked my watch. It read 3:22 am. Back to sleep until the alarm went off at 5. Popped up out of bed and put in my contacts. Then squished into my trisuit and sports bra. Not a pretty sight to wake up to! I put on my flip flops and pulled on my long sleeve performance top. It was so reminiscent of all those early morning swim meets as a kid.

Luckily I had set the coffee maker the night before and it was ready for me when I came down the stairs. I had the usual breakfast of Balance Bar and coffee and finished with some more water. Bill was ready to go so we put my gear in the car and set off.

Soon the phone rang. First it was my friend Kristin checking in. Next it was Erin who was just ahead of me on the highway. She gave me some last minute pointers and I felt my stress level go from mild to super high.

Erin and I waiting to check in.

As we pulled in to Coney I suddenly felt panicked. Unloading my bike I felt like I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. Luckily Erin was parked nearby and she directed me to check-in.
 I checked in and they gave me a bracelet marked 104 for me and one for the bike. I was also given a cap with 104 on it.

My souvenir cap with my bib number.

Next I stood in another line to get my "chip" that was a strap that velcroed around my ankle. Then I left Bill and walked my bike into transition. I set up my gear like I had practiced and then grabbed my gear for the swim.

On the way to the pool my stomach felt sick. I hopped into the pool to warm up and quickly my nerves settled as I swam. It's like all of a sudden I remembered that it was swimming and that I love swimming!

I got out and found Erin and Kristin. They were so nervous about the swim and I tried to make them laugh. We merged into the crowd lining up for the swim. They called the top 50 swimmers and the rest of us held back.

I though they would call the rest in waves but they didn't. It soon became long line that seemed to take forever. Instead of climbing to the front I stuck with Erin and we started together. I quickly lost track of her and focused on my breathing and finding my way around the buoys.

I became quickly frustrated by the slow swimmers in front of me and the traffic in the turns but just worked hard to get through it. When I made the turn for the second lap I couldn't believe how fast time was ticking by.

In a blink I was running out of the pool back to the transition area. Running on the pool deck went against all of my lifeguard instincts :-)

In transition I felt slow. I had trouble getting my socks and shoes on and eventually started off clicking on the pavement in my cycling cleats. When I left transition I mounted my bike and luckily clicked in on my first try. As I started riding I realized my bike wasn't quite in gear and I had to pedal and shift to get it there. Whoops! Definitely something to add to my pre-race checklist. Then I realized I hadn't reset my bike computer and was having trouble doing it while riding. Another thing to do next time.

Here I am in the transition
area with my bike after the
finish.  I look like a hot mess!

The bike was fun and I worked to stay focused and tried to keep my speed consistent. I passed a lot of people and was only passed by a few. There were a lot of super expensive bikes, but I felt like I held my own with a 40 minute time at an average 18.5 mph.

Another slow transition getting my running shoes on with nothing to hold on to. I decided to try the GU packet I had so I ripped it open and squished it into my mouth as I ran out of transition. I immediately regretted this as I had no water and it tasted like warm strawberry banana toothpaste. This was so gross until I reached the first water station.

I would be lying if I said I felt fast on the run. My legs felt like goo and it took forever to get to the second mile mark. It was getting hot and the sun was brutal. Soon I saw Erin coming back past the turn. She was less than a mile ahead of me after passing me on the bike early on. She said I was doing great. Soon my breathing was going better and I started to feel my strength. In the second mile I made myself think about how much better this was than taking my kids to Target earlier in the week!

In the last mile I just kept pushing and was getting so excited to finish. I kept checking my watch and knew I was close to my goal time. As I approached the finish it felt awesome and a wave of relief rushed over me. I found Bill and he gave me a hug. I was so happy that tears welled up on my eyes.

Happy to be finished - pictured
here with my friend Kristin.

I quickly wiped them away and recovered my breathing. I headed to transition to pack up and find Erin.  She was showing off her first place medal for her age group!  She is so fast!  There were lots of hugs and photos. I couldn't believe it was over!  We found Kristin and took more pictures.  I tried to wait for the results but they were having a hard time getting them all loaded.  We decided to leave and check my times later.  When results were posted a day later I was shocked to find that I had placed second in the Athena and Kristin placed third in her age group.  We get medals!  My time was a 1:30.15.  The results are posted here http://www.hfpracing.com/images/stories/12_results/T4J/sprinttriagegroup.htm

It was really one of the best experiences of my life and I think that I am now officially hooked.  Looking at my times I know that I have a lot of improvement to do in making my transitions faster.  I know I can also improve a lot on the run.  Now I just need to find my next race to register for!