Tri - Alone

Last year I did my first triathlon. I fretted and stewed over the event and trained hard for it, or at least I thought I did. Except I am not sure I realized the difference between simply covering the distance and actually training. In fact, I suspect I am just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding that difference.

This morning I crawled out of bed at 4:15am to race my second triathlon. Last year I had the company of my sister in law and her sister as well as a group of their friends from their neighborhood. Oh, and my mom, dad, husband and two daughters there to cheer me on. This year, I was alone. Just me and an inexpensive triathlon at a venue I've never seen a little more than an hour from my house.

Of course it rained. This is my second race of the year in soggy shoes. Dam to Dam - rain. (In fact, last year's triathlon was plagued by rain.) So I'm driving to Ogden, in the rain, and the mind monkeys start to invade. 'Why am I doing this? I am tired. I haven't really trained enough. And I wish I had some company.' When I got to the site the excitement of the event buoyed my spirits. I ran into a couple of casual acquaintances, I set up my transition area and chatted with the people around me. The rain quieted to sprinkles and I started to feel better.

The Swim:

By comparison, the swim for the Iowa Games was 400m, YWCA was 500m. The transition area was literally feet from where we exited the swim - maybe 20-25 feet. We lined up in waves, 2 minutes apart. We had the opportunity to get in the water as soon as the wave before us set off - this is, no doubt, my biggest help in calming my panic. Being able to stand in the water for a few minutes, get used to the temperature, take some deep breaths is very helpful. Having said that, the swim was still very hard. Maybe harder than last year. Even though I lined up at the back of the pack, there was still a lot of jockeying for position. The water was cold. I was 50-75m into the race telling myself 'calm down, swim, breathe.' I found my groove about 100m before the finish. As a bonus I stayed ahead of the wave behind me until the very end.

YWCA Swim Time: 15:40 (it was 100m longer)

YWCA 100m pace: 3:08

Iowa Games Swim Time: 9:50

Iowa Games 100m pace: 2:28

T1:

It's hardly fair to compare transitions between these two races. At the YWCA it was a long run (maybe 300 yards) into the transition area. This morning, it was right there. So why did I point it out? Because I came out of the water feeling like a drunk. It was hard to orient myself, get my bike cleats on and get out of the transition area. I had to steady myself on the bike rack. I almost forgot my helmet.

YWCA T1: 3:55

Iowa Games T1: 1:23

The Bike:

Naturally it started to rain harder as soon as the bike leg began. It was a relatively flat course with a few notable hills. Even with a tough swim I think I can say the bike was my least favorite. It was wet, the roads were slick, we were on an open course with cars whizzing by. I did love, love, love having my own, new bicycle out there. And the bike cleats were a revelation. I don't think I pushed it as hard as I could have - I was mindful of the wet roads. And I was glad when it was done.

YWCA Bike Time: 1:03:18 (It was two miles longer, I was on a rented bike, I had a shoe lace mishap)

YWCA Bike Pace: 15 mph

Iowa Games Bike Time: 46:38

Iowa Games Bike Pace: 16.8 mph

T2:

Unremarkable. Again, much closer and more compact than YWCA. Plus I was changing shoes, out of bike cleats into running shoes. I felt good - very excited to see my best sport, the run.

YWCA T2: 2:29

Iowa Games T2: 1:27 (I was fiddling with my watch)

The Run:

Oh my good friend the run. I was focused on doing what I could to keep my foot on the proverbial gas of the run. Yes, my confidence was shaken by the nine.year.old.girl! who passed me, but all in I felt great. In hindsight I feel like I could have pushed it a bit faster. My pace was inconsistent, because it is very hard for me to have a sense of pace coming off the bike. There were a couple of notable hills, including a doozy at mile 2.5. I finished strong with gas left in the tank.

YWCA Run Time: 32:25 (5K)

YWCA Run Pace: 10:26

Iowa Games Run Time: 28:29 (5K)

Iowa Games Run Pace: 9:11

All in I am feeling good about this race. Of course after a nap and a glass of wine!