triathlon report #2 (rather dull)

[moominmolly]

So, I did another triathlon Sunday morning. Now that it's Monday evening, I've lost a bit of momentum on writing it down, but I'd still like to record the highs and lows.

BAD IDEA #1: Losing my bathing suit. I wound up doing the swim in a sports bra and bike shorts, though, and that was FINE. The only problem was that I chose a pair of shorts that had been through the dryer a zillion times and were a little more stretchy than I'd have liked. This worked well enough that I may just wear a sports bra and bike shorts in the future, actually.

BAD IDEA #2: Getting a little lost and showing up to the race only 8 minutes ahead of time -- and starting the race thirsty. I figured there would be water around the transition area or something...

SWIM: 1/4 mile, 12 minutes. Interestingly, though I wasn't much faster than I was at the half-mile swim in my last triathlon, there were more people *behind* me when I got out of the water. I suppose that the swim leg of a triathlon is as much a barrier to entry as it is a race, and that many people who are otherwise in fine fine shape are put off by swimming a half-mile. Anyway, though 12 minutes is nothing to write home about, it was exactly the time I was aiming for. I'm sure I could cut my swim time down by a couple of minutes, but you know what? I could get SO much faster in ALL of the other areas, including transitions, that I think I'm really just not going to work on it much.

The start of the swim leg was much better for me. I knew what to expect (lots of churning fighting bodies in the water), and I knew I was near the end of the pack, so I just started near the back of my starting wave and went with it. So, without the awkward panicky feeling I got from having people swimming over top of me and kicking me, last time, I was able to just sort of calmly backstroke the whole thing. I find that I'm able to mostly ignore all of the other people in the water if I'm doing the backstroke -- when I'm doing a front crawl, I'm constantly looking around myself, and it's just not comfortable.

T1 (first transition): I brought a kitchen towel to dry off my feet before putting on my shoes, and this was a serious win. Also, I brought a t-shirt and pinned my run number to it, and pulling that on was a lot easier than pinning it to my chest was last time. I can learn from my mistakes! On the other hand, I really need shoes with velcro closures, since tying my big clunky bike shoes takes a tremendously long time. Watching fanw start the transition after me and leave well before really made that hit home!

BAD IDEA #3: Failing to inflate the bike tires at any point since the last triathlon and having an underinflated front tire. This is a consequence of not having swum, biked, OR run since the last triathlon. Oops.

BAD IDEA #4: Leaving my water bottles in the car. ARGH! I did this at the last triathlon, too, but I was way early and so I picked up two free ones from the EMS booth.

BIKE: A lovely, rolling course. I passed more people than I was passed by, so I consider it a success. It could have been shorter -- at one point, I looked around myself and realized I'd slipped from race mode into "tootling around on a gorgeous Sunday morning" mode, and tried to kick it up a bit. I was flagging at the end, from thirst, but I finished in a decent mood. 46 minutes for T1 + 11 mile bike leg; I'm not at all ashamed of that, particularly given how excruciatingly long my T1 is.

T2: This was totally fine. I hung my bike on the rack, popped off my shoes, tied on my running shoes, and headed off for the run course.

RUN: 2.5 miles, out and back on a footpath right along the Merrimack river. Gorgeous and flat. Since it was out-and-back, I naïvely figured that there would be a water stop 1/4 of the way, so that you could hit it on the way out and on the way back. Nooooo. The one water stop was at the halfway point. By the time I started the run I was parched. When I figured out there wasn't going to be water before the halfway point, I ran out of willpower; I probably walked at least half of the distance to the water stand. When I finally got to the water, I stopped, drank two big paper cups of it, and then ran all the way back to the finish line without stopping. I think I was even fast, on the second half! So it's not that I *can't* run after swimming and biking, it's just that I can't run after swimming and biking without drinking water. I can't really fault myself for that.

As I was approaching the end, fanw (who had already finished, having, you know, actually RUN the run leg) ran up and started clapping and jogged with me toward the finish line. That was great. Actually, the out-and-back nature of the run meant that people were constantly passing one another on the footpath; everybody was cheering everyone else on, and it was really communal and lovely. It made me feel like, yes, I get to think of myself in the same breath as these people. I am really in a triathlon, and even a sprint triathlon is an achievement.

T2 + 2.5 mile run: 36 freaking minutes. Yeah, so, if I want to pick up time, I should remember to drink water (duh) and work on my running time. I knew these things already. But, well, I met my first two goals: finish, and finish in under 1:40 (I did it in under 1:35). My next two goals are to finish a sprint tri in under 1:30 and to run the entire run portion. I'm pretty sure that both of those are totally within my grasp. Just, please, someone remind me to remember my goddamn water bottles!

I was kicking myself for not having trained at all in between the last triathlon and this one. I had joked that it was important for me to sign up for races because otherwise I wouldn't get any exercise, but I didn't figure it would actually be TRUE. But really, work has been terrible recently. I signed up for a ridiculously busy month and a half in order to get my job to a state where it was more a pleasure to do than a chore, and it really HAS been a ridiculously busy and stressful month. I just haven't had the flexibility to bike to work, or to take a half-hour to run at lunchtime, or any of it. But it looks like it really WILL clear up in a week or two, and it looks like I will get to do a number of interesting projects. I think I will get my job back again! And so, my new goal: starting next week, bike to work three days a week, and run at least twice.

Also, I just met my new client today, fire-engine-red streaks still in my hair, and it was great. Great! Also, fabric of the day: knit silk jersey. Holy crap, can I wear that every day?

Anyway, here I am: I ran a triathlon yesterday, read a whole book in one evening just because I wanted to, had a full night's sleep, and made friends with my new customer. I'm in a pretty damn good mood.

Comments

[harimad.livejournal.com]

knit silk jersey. Holy crap, can I wear that every day?

Why not?

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I don't want to buy a whole wardrobe of something awesome while I am in the process of losing weight. :) Maybe in a year...

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

This is all so great to read! Okay, not so much on the forgotten water bottles, that was kind of frustrating, but still. I'm glad work stuff is looking up! And the triathlon sounds like a real success! Yay!

[arachne8x.livejournal.com]

Congrats, sounds like despite many hurdles you did fairly well.

And on the fabric of the day, I have a tendency to find a piece of clothing I like and get it in several colors. I figure as long as I look nice and its clear that I have changed my clothes each day (the several colors does this nicely) who cares if my selection is a little monotonous.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Yeah, maybe when my size is stable I will buy some more silk jersey things.

[cruiser.livejournal.com]

Also, I brought a t-shirt and pinned my run number to it, and pulling that on was a lot easier than pinning it to my chest was last time.
I have an elastic belt (with a plastic quick-release buckle) that has attachment points for the holes in the race number. It's made by Fuel Belt, and they sell the kind I have, which just has the attachment points for the number, and they also sell ones that have pouches for bottles of Gu-type stuff. The thing I like most about it is I never have to worry about finding safety pins.

[dnereverri.livejournal.com]

This worked well enough that I may just wear a sports bra and bike shorts in the future, actually.

...

Neh, too easy. :)

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Hey, it worked wonders at my customer meetings today!

[bluepapercup]

Wow! Congrats! YAY!

It's an accomplishment in my book that you did it, finished it, and enjoyed it.

:)

[fanw.livejournal.com]

Congrats again!
Just a note though. I may have finished the run a bit faster but I still had to walk a portion of it. It'll be a while before I'm able to do it all in one stretch. As long as the runs get longer and the walks get shorter, it's all good.

Also, the Boston sprint is a bit longer than the one we just did. That is, it's 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 5k (3.1 mi) run. Because I'm worried about the swim, I'm just aiming to finish within 2 hrs.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot that the swim was twice as long! Oh yeah. I would still like to finish the 5k in less time than I did those 2.5 miles. I suppose I should revise my goals, though...

[lickerish.livejournal.com]

Wow. Way to kick post-baby body ass!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Raaar!

[armoire-man.livejournal.com]

Sounds great, indeed. I'm glad you got out there and did everything!

[leeble.livejournal.com]

They sell triathlon shorts. They are (in theory) good as both bike shorts and swim trunks due to a faster-drying material in the padding - and you can run in them too.

Silk Jersey

[srisyadasti.livejournal.com]

Ahh, yum. I agree.
The nice thing is, if you get the right transition pieces, the jersey will stretch comofrtably when you're bigger, and drape nicely when you are smaller.

I personally want silk jersey sheets....*drool*