There were 231 people in the race. I had a hell of a time with the swim! I hit my head on the wall twice, swallowed all kinds of water. Just generally wished it was over and only thought about tossing in the towel once. I knew that if I could finish the swim I would be OK. Looking back I tried to do the first 25m in 30 sec instead of my usual 50. I just wish people would yell “Pace it” instead of “GO”. I also have to practice with more people in the pool it freaked me out to have so many people in a lane at once. I had people in the bleachers and on the deck that knew me and when I stood at the wall to catch my breath they all shouted positive things which felt great but I felt bad that others didn’t have there own cheering group.
I struggled through the first transition, getting dressed for the bike portion of the race. My buddy Dan was there thank goodness, telling me to relax, calm down, my time wasn’t so bad (he is the best at fooling me) now I get to tear it up on the bike. The first lap I felt like hurling all the water I swallowed in the pool. I looked at my heart rate and it was way too high!! Then there was a head wind for the first part of the lap so that means I had fun on the backside! I passed more people than passed me, which builds confidence. I had my cheering section on the last corners, Jamie a fellow Team X member was traffic control between yelling at cars to stop he cheered me on. My family (Wanda, Rob, and Crazy Bob) was on the other corner. I know others were out there but I have no idea where. Second lap I was in the big gear spinning away and feeling great. Third lap I felt ok but I had too remember I still had to run so I didn’t keep going hard in the big gear.
The run, well after getting off the bike your legs don’t want to function quite right. I would run about 250M before having to take a small walk break. Which my mind and body had many arguments about how long the break should be. But with cute volunteers that don’t know you are telling you to “keep going your almost done” what else is there to do… Pitter-patter get at ‘er!!!!
Crossing the finish line felt great. I didn’t hurl on the poor little kid that was trying to get my chip strap off my ankle. (the instructions asked us not to hurl on them, I guess it is a common thing if they have to ask) I received a medal for my efforts and everyone was there to hear my incoherent thank you. I am hoping everyone get their films developed soon so I can see what I looked like.
Now I can officially call myself a “Triathlete” I have to force myself to stop and enjoy the moment and not look too long at the numbers and graphs and say, “well if I had done this….”. I have 10 weeks 5 days to Lake Chaparrel Olympic Distance Tri and a whole summer to be ready. But for now I have to get pledges for next week event the Becel ride for heart.
The graph above is from my newest “toy” it collects heart rate info elevation and more that I didn’t set it up for this event. I did start the graph just as I finished T1 (getting changed for the bike). But the Heart rate graph took a bit to get going, when I turned it on it was much higher so I know now why I blew up the swim.
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