My first Tri

It was a wet, chilly day for the Cottage Lake Tri, but we still had smiles on our faces. Arrived a little after 7 and after looking for parking, we went to the transition area and my Go, Go, Go Girls were already there setting up.

First, came the wetsuits, which are never very pretty to put on:



Then, the walk to the water's edge in very cold wet grass. Our spouses and kids were there to support us, despite the weather, which really meant a lot! It was also amazing to see such diversity in the contestants, who ranged in age from 13 to 68 and represented all shapes and sizes.

After waiting for the other waves to go, our Family and Friends category took off. I struggled with the neck on my wetsuit, so I decided to breastroke the entire way. If I had been able to do the crawlstroke, I would have shaved off a few more minutes, but I just tried to keep it slow and steady. Look, I'm even smiling:



I swam the 400m in 11:18, then it was time for T-1. Amazingly, I was able to run, change out of my wetsuit, get on my bike helmet, socks and shoes and run my bike to the start in the pouring rain - all in 2:18 minutes! The 4th best time in my category.




Laurence said he had a hard time getting a photo of me in the transition, because I was so fast :-) Here I am running the bike to the start:



As I started the bike, I felt amazingly good - probably because I really didn't push the swim too hard. I was getting into a rhythm when I went to tackle the first big hill. As I dropped gears to climb, I also dropped my chain right off the derailer. Cursing, I flipped over my bike to try and reattach it, but being right in the middle of a hill, I couldn't get the chain to catch. I spent another five minutes trying to reattach it (with the help of a very nice person who stopped to help), when I finally decided I'd just loop it over the biggest gear and ride the rest of the way in high gear. Every 5th turn, it would start to slip and then re-catch. So, I rode 5+ miles with a malfunctioning chain, but I was so determined to finish and not give up.

Needless to say, I was pretty mad when I got back for T2 - mad enough to do my transition in 32 seconds! That put me in 1st place for my category for T2!

That left me with my dreaded event - the run. I won't record my pace for the run here. Let's just say snails could probably have been faster.

However, I still came in 26 out of 40 in the Family & Friends category - and I finished! And, for the record, here's my stats.

~ Swim ~
Rnk 18
Time 11:18.6

~ T-1 ~
Rnk 4
Time 2:18.5

~ Bike ~
Rnk 25
Time 41:20.9

~ T-2 ~
Rnk 1
Time 0:32.0

~ Run ~
Rnk 22
Time 17:29.6

FINAL Time 1:12:59.6

I'm so determined to overcome my bike chain problem that I'm definitely doing this again. I know I can easily beat my time in both the swim (by actually swimming) and the bike (by having a functioning chain).

12h and counting

Just twelve hours until my first Tri! You'll either read my recap or obit here tomorrow :-)

Craziest thing I've ever done

To tackle my first open water swim. In Lake Stevens. In the pouring rain. In 53 degree weather. The poor teens gettin stoned in the picnic shelter must have thought they scored some really good weed when we splashed into the water. Amazingly, the water was warmer than I expected and it really felt good to find out I could do this.

It reminded me of when my friend Sam and I did our orienteering course for Mountaineers. In winter. In the pouring rain. And I made it to my final marker only 25 ft off, after scrambling two miles through slash piles, dripping forests, and over streams all while navigating only by compass. I learned that if I could do that in such miserable conditions - probably much like it would be in a real-life situation where I'd need those skills - I might actually survive.

So, today's lesson? I haven't died (yet), so I'm in better shape than I thought or I'm really quite good at fooling my body into doing very stupid things.

Transitions: the 4th leg of a tri

Great video from GatoradeUK on transitions. Don't think I'll be quite this nimble on the 18th, but I now know that I must wear something under my wetsuit. Unless my nudity is a way to throw off the other participants (uh, no, I don't think so...)

Hello, Giant!

Oh. My. God. I love my new bike! I just blew 7 miles in 20 minutes on my Giant Avail.nThat may not sound like much, but that included 4 killer hills. On my Mtn bike, it would have been at least half an hour and I guarantee I would have had to walk part way. What a difference a road bike makes! And, it doesn't hurt to have trained on the heavier bike, because I feel so zippy on my Giant!

My first 5k

Today I ran the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure. My first real 5k - and I ran it in 35:15! Now, I'm getting a better idea as to what I'm capable of and it's giving me confidence. 13 days until the Cottage Lake Tri.