So I have survived two sprint triathlons (1/2 mi swim, 16 mi bike ride, 3.1 mi run) and today did a super-sprint I had signed up for ages ago. Far less formal (yet very good volunteers) and shorter (1/4 mi swim, 8.5 mi bike, 3.1 mi run)... I feel like this should be required reading for anyone new to tri >.<;
and so our story begins.
Very little of today went as planned. All told, good learning experience and had a helluva good time on the bike.
I woke up bright and early (4:15am) and had coffee and 150 calories of oatmeal with apples and cranberries while en route to the event, 40 minutes away... in normal traffic. Because it was 5am, we arrived super way-too-early, which meant I got a great rack space. Because the race was informal, I could also have my bucket 'o gear right there and Kyle(my fiance I babble about all the time) could enter transition to help me set up.
Mistake 1 - I didn't warm up. I need to jog a quarter mile or something before a race like this.
Mistake 2 - My bike pump had a nice morning at home with the cats. Oops. Borrowed a fellow racer's. As Kyle pointed out, of all the things to forget, this was the best. Whew!
Mistake 3 - (Partially due to the way the race was run) didn't get in the water ahead of time to loosen up the wetsuit. They were actively keeping us OUT of the water to lecture the first-timers and brag about how long they'd been running this race.
Mistake 4 - (Because there weren't a ton of people in my wave - ladies under 40) was too near the front and took a LOT of elbows and fists to the head at the beginning of the swim. Owx8
Finished the swim in goal time of 10 min. woo. Felt nauseated and like I was going to throw up all the water I swallowed. It was green and I was freaked out seeing wooden spikes jutting out from below that must have been supports of an old pier. One stray hand and I would have had a bad cut/splinter/ew. Kyle explained later that the big waves that were messing with me were caused by the ski-doos fetching the 8 nitwits who bailed from the 1/4 mile swim. sheesh... I thought I was the wimp here!
T1 FELT slow but was on goal time - 2:30.
Mistake 5 - Was so dizzy and sick-feeling after the swim that I didn't remove anything but the cap and goggles until I was at my bike.
The bike was a BLAST. Fastest clip-in ever, eased up the S-curve (uphill but not bad - was surprised to see a lady walking her bike up it) to the main road, tucked into aero, and /flew/. I have never had that much fun on the bike. "On your left" were my watchwords. Wait, what? Coming into transition already? They said they had to cut the course "a mile or so" short because of construction, but there I was at 8.5 miles coming into T2. We were supposed to be out there for 11 miles. Sadface. I would have pushed harder. Still, I had a goal of 110 average watts and actually averaged 111 with leftover energy for the run. Had two small issues: continually burping that delicious lake water and shivering because the sun was hiding. brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
T2 ...
Mistake 6 - accidentally turned my Garmin watch off instead of holding the button to switch sports. *sigh* Chucked it in the bucket, Kyle pulled it out and fixed it and caught up to me as I was exiting T2. Thank goodness for a super-fast sherpa fiance who gets every little pain I go through!
Wait, what, hills? And trails? Sadface#2 FINE. I walk up the hills and try to jog as much as possible, but my ankles and calves are protesting. I am not prepared.
Mistake 7 - run on more diverse surfaces, do my damn PT exercises to help my ankles
Jogged through a few swarms of gnats, made the mistake of walking as I passed a dumpster (peee-ewwww). Miserable. I felt miserable. I carried one of the tiny waterbottles from my fuel belt and was very happy with that. Drank 3/4 of it at my own pace, so no issues with feeling compelled to drink when it was available.
Ran the last half mile into the finish and begged Kyle for arsenic. Couldn't decide if I was going to puke or shit my pants. Thankfully neither happened, but my stomach did not enjoy today at all. I'll mostly blame the reservoir water I drank accidentally, but just felt icky.
Thanks to adrenaline I didn't notice until getting home that my big toe has a big cut from a rock. Super glad I switched socks at both transitions, so it was cleanish. Once I got in the shower at home, it swelled up and was super owie, but nothing a Barbie bandaid can't fix.
I get my revenge on this course next month, but I was pleased with my overall time (1:20 when my goal was 1:30, though I'm annoyed because the 1:30 goal was with the expectation of an 11 mile bike ride) but frustrated with my mistakes and poor planning for the hilly run.
Excuse me while I go wallow in my pain :/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You. You make me stronger.
and so our story begins.
Very little of today went as planned. All told, good learning experience and had a helluva good time on the bike.
I woke up bright and early (4:15am) and had coffee and 150 calories of oatmeal with apples and cranberries while en route to the event, 40 minutes away... in normal traffic. Because it was 5am, we arrived super way-too-early, which meant I got a great rack space. Because the race was informal, I could also have my bucket 'o gear right there and Kyle(my fiance I babble about all the time) could enter transition to help me set up.
Mistake 1 - I didn't warm up. I need to jog a quarter mile or something before a race like this.
Mistake 2 - My bike pump had a nice morning at home with the cats. Oops. Borrowed a fellow racer's. As Kyle pointed out, of all the things to forget, this was the best. Whew!
Mistake 3 - (Partially due to the way the race was run) didn't get in the water ahead of time to loosen up the wetsuit. They were actively keeping us OUT of the water to lecture the first-timers and brag about how long they'd been running this race.
Mistake 4 - (Because there weren't a ton of people in my wave - ladies under 40) was too near the front and took a LOT of elbows and fists to the head at the beginning of the swim. Owx8
Finished the swim in goal time of 10 min. woo. Felt nauseated and like I was going to throw up all the water I swallowed. It was green and I was freaked out seeing wooden spikes jutting out from below that must have been supports of an old pier. One stray hand and I would have had a bad cut/splinter/ew. Kyle explained later that the big waves that were messing with me were caused by the ski-doos fetching the 8 nitwits who bailed from the 1/4 mile swim. sheesh... I thought I was the wimp here!
T1 FELT slow but was on goal time - 2:30.
Mistake 5 - Was so dizzy and sick-feeling after the swim that I didn't remove anything but the cap and goggles until I was at my bike.
The bike was a BLAST. Fastest clip-in ever, eased up the S-curve (uphill but not bad - was surprised to see a lady walking her bike up it) to the main road, tucked into aero, and /flew/. I have never had that much fun on the bike. "On your left" were my watchwords. Wait, what? Coming into transition already? They said they had to cut the course "a mile or so" short because of construction, but there I was at 8.5 miles coming into T2. We were supposed to be out there for 11 miles. Sadface. I would have pushed harder. Still, I had a goal of 110 average watts and actually averaged 111 with leftover energy for the run. Had two small issues: continually burping that delicious lake water and shivering because the sun was hiding. brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
T2 ...
Mistake 6 - accidentally turned my Garmin watch off instead of holding the button to switch sports. *sigh* Chucked it in the bucket, Kyle pulled it out and fixed it and caught up to me as I was exiting T2. Thank goodness for a super-fast sherpa fiance who gets every little pain I go through!
Wait, what, hills? And trails? Sadface#2 FINE. I walk up the hills and try to jog as much as possible, but my ankles and calves are protesting. I am not prepared.
Mistake 7 - run on more diverse surfaces, do my damn PT exercises to help my ankles
Jogged through a few swarms of gnats, made the mistake of walking as I passed a dumpster (peee-ewwww). Miserable. I felt miserable. I carried one of the tiny waterbottles from my fuel belt and was very happy with that. Drank 3/4 of it at my own pace, so no issues with feeling compelled to drink when it was available.
Ran the last half mile into the finish and begged Kyle for arsenic. Couldn't decide if I was going to puke or shit my pants. Thankfully neither happened, but my stomach did not enjoy today at all. I'll mostly blame the reservoir water I drank accidentally, but just felt icky.
Thanks to adrenaline I didn't notice until getting home that my big toe has a big cut from a rock. Super glad I switched socks at both transitions, so it was cleanish. Once I got in the shower at home, it swelled up and was super owie, but nothing a Barbie bandaid can't fix.
I get my revenge on this course next month, but I was pleased with my overall time (1:20 when my goal was 1:30, though I'm annoyed because the 1:30 goal was with the expectation of an 11 mile bike ride) but frustrated with my mistakes and poor planning for the hilly run.
Excuse me while I go wallow in my pain :/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
You. You make me stronger.