Icebreaker Triathlon

I can say that I love races. What I particularly love about them is the scene, the people, the energy. I love the camaraderie that accompanies each race no matter how different they are, no matter what level you race at. There is something about that early morning rising anticipating the day that really appeals to me. This race was no different. This was my first "real" triathlon. I have done multisport events before and even did the Turkey tri last November - but that one was backward so it doesnt count as a "real" tri. What is real? Swim - Bike - Run.
Good friends Eli and Eddie did the race as well. Actually, I can blame Eli for getting me into all this craziness! :-) What a great thing to have friends at the races who are supportive and encouraging and who you can laugh with and celebrate with. I would also like to give a big thanks to Kathy for all her support and her awesome photos that allowed me to chronicle the experience. And of course love to Rich, who was on call so couldnt be there, but he was greatly helpful and supportive, and of course bought me some really fast new wheels! heehee. :-)

Early rising - but not too early as the race had a generally late start - 9:00 am. Contemplating the amount of coffee I should drink, the amount of water and trying to settle my nerves. My nerves are not in my head, I am feeling calm and ready, but my body is telling me otherwise... my stomach gurgles and I have to use the bathroom too many times to count... yep, definitely nerves. We arrive at the venue and enjoy an amazingly beautiful morning. The sun is rising over the mountains, there is a hot air balloon floating effortlessly... a good sign indeed. After setting up my transition area I head off to get my timing chip and body marking. There's something really cool about having those numbers written on your arm and leg.

I head to the pool to get some warm up in, knowing that I will have to warm my lungs so I dont get asthmatic in the pool or get my heartrate up too high so that I have difficultly breathing (something that happens to me when I exercise)... after warming up and waiting, waiting, waiting, freezing, freezing ... for the race to begin we are finally lining up for the swim start. I notice that I am surrounded by a bunch of big guys, and I'm feeling a little nervous! (check out the photo of "me and the guys") We get in and I am literally swarmed by big, clumsy men swimming all around me! They were like bulls in a china shop and were swimming up over my legs, smacking me along the sides, and then getting in front and kicking up the water like crazy - definitely not finesse swimmers! then one starts swimming breast stroke, taking up the whole lane! Grrrrrrrrr. Needless to say, I was so uncomfortable that my heartrate started rising, I couldnt catch my breath and my swim was awful. I ended up stopping at the end of the lane to let them all get past me because they were
such a nuisance! I'll be curious to see what my swim time ended up to be (official results are not on line yet). I'm sure it wasnt the 7:00 - 7:20 time I log in the pool all by myself!!

Well, having survived the swim, I made my way out into the cold to the transition area. It was around 35 degrees at this point, but my adrenaline and warmth from the swim carried over and I didnt feel cold. I added layers, took the time to actually put on two shirts, a jacket, a pair of tights, a cap, gloves, socks and shoes! Riding it sub 40 degree weather is COLD, especially when you're wet, and I didnt want my time jeopardized because I wasnt warm. A warm body functions much more efficiently. Although, I'm not sure wearing one's tights backward helps! Of course, in my haste, I put on my tights backward, which I didnt happen to notice til the run... oh well, I dont think it slowed down my bike any. I love the bike. I am a bike rider, and it felt like freedom getting on that bike after that ridiculous swim. As soon as my legs started turning the pedals I felt joy and normalcy and that made me smile. I feel so out of place in the water that this was like coming home and I needed it at that point. The course was pretty easy, only one long hill up and the rest was flat or with a bit of a downward slope - made for a fast and fun ride.

The run was just as great, the transition was smooth and my legs felt strong. By now, it's sunny and quite pleasant, although still probably only 40 or so degrees. Finished strong and feeling great in one hour, nineteen minutes. 1:19 - good enough for first place in my age group. Now.... what am I going to do about that open water swim in June?? :-)