And my second triathlon was perhaps the most fun I've had since--- oh-- since the last one. Or since I was watchin brain surgeries the other day. Ah, but I digress.
Today I "raced" in the Run for God sprint triathlon in Dalton, GA. I almost didn't do the race. I am already registered for another triathlon next weekend, so I was actually supposed to work today. But when I realized several of my new triathlon pals were signed up, I found someone to work for me, and I slapped down the money to go swim, bike and run for 93 minutes. And 42 seconds. Let's not forget that:-)
And so, in hopes of inspiring someone, anyone, to take up this fantabulous sport, and so that I can look back myself one day, here is my race report.
THE SWIM
Can you find me? The swim was 300 yards. I love short swims. While I am finally seeing some improvement in my swimming endurance, overall I still don't love this part. Today we had to swim 6 lengths of this 50 meter pool. With 139 adults racing, it was surprisingly not too congested. They started us about every 3 seconds.
I tend to get caught up in the people and the excitement and the desire to go fast. At my first tri, I ended up stopping and standing up quite a bit due to being completely of of breath. Today I did better. I kept talking to myself, telling myself to do the various strokes my coach has me do during training. So I would focus on magic marker drills, reaching and rolling, fat lady strokes, swimming downward, etc. Talking to myself and doing the various strokes made the time go by fast. Indeed it was FASTER. A full minute faster than my swim in the first tri. So I was happy happy happy!
THE BIKE
I think the bike portion is my favorite. Today we had a 12 mile ride that was actually 3 four mile loops. There was only one long hill and the rest was flat and fast, except there were so many turns it was hard to get going very fast for very long. In spite of that, my average pace was 15 mph. I'm super pleased with that. Why can't I ever average that on my training rides? Perhaps the momentum and excitement of the day adds some speed.
A positive: the city of Dalton shut down the roads for us, so the roads were safe and not dangerous. Plenty of police on the route and angelic volunteers who cheered every time we passed them.
A negative: I have learned in triathlon that you always ride to the right, and if someone passes you, they yell "on your left". Towards the end of the bike I yelled "on your left" as I passed another cyclist. Either I didn't really yell it, or she didn't hear me, or she was in the mood to live life dangerously. About the time my front tire was next to her back tire, she moved over towards me. I am fairly certain it scared her more than it scared me (and trust me, it scared the sh$& out of me) because she yelled an expletive and then said "I'm so sorry!" I'm pretty sure I didn't reply, and just got the heck away from her. I'm glad I didn't mouth off to her because she passed me as soon as we started the run and I never saw her again. I am very thankful we didn't wreck, and I even more so appreciate that accidents can and do happen. Everyone be careful.
THE RUN
The run was just 2 miles today. I knew I could run 2 miles without walking. Looking back at my 15 minute miles, perhaps I should have pushed myself faster. I'm always wanting to just putter along so I can keep going. And I was tired, it wasn't like I was the energizer bunny at that point. The run consisted of 2 one mile loops. So I was able to see friends and encourage people and people encouraged me. I just love this! All sorts of "lookin good!" "we got this!" "almost done!" "we love this!" and these comments weren't just from the volunteers, but the slow, tired racers were saying it to each other as we passed one another. The camaraderie and the support in this triathlon world is amazing.
Soon I was running up the finishers' chute and hearing the announcer say "#51, Debbie Fine from Cohutta, Georgia" somehow kicked me into a faster run as I crossed the line. Fist pump! Yeah buddy!! My husband and fellow tri club members were there and it's just the most emotional moment ever. Just typing these words makes me eager to do the next triathlon.
And guess what?! No last place for me today! I came in 14th out of 23 females in my age group, and came in 113 overall out of 138 finishers. Yes it's true my weight isn't falling off very fast, and it's also true that I looked like a stuffed marshmallow in that spandex tri suit. But you know what? Who cares. I love it, and I hope to do many more triathlons. It's so much fun, such a great group of people, and it makes you feel sooo good.
What's next? Next weekend I'll be doing the women's triathlon in Acworth. I'm hoping to meet one of my heroes-- Swimbikemom (www.swimbikemom.com ) at that race. After that, I'm not signed up for anything. If Tony and my coach will not think im crazy, I would like to go back to Oak Ridge TN for a tri on August 11. I loved that pool and bike route. It's a slightly longer course, but I can do it. As for the moment tho, I'm on the couch with a blanket. Happy. Thankful.
