June 6, 2010 – Bear, DE1/4 Mile Swim~10 Mile Bike~2 Mile Run
http://www.piranha-sports.com/Race86.aspx
4am is just WAY too early.. for A LOT of things.. especially on a day off....but nope, me no learn, “Oh look Wendy, lets sign up for a race at the crack of dawn... on your day off… and make sure it's far enough away that you have to get up extra early to get there!!!
I must have frontal lobe damage, because I actually pay$$ to do this... because.. I can?
This will be the second year that I am doing the DiamondGirl Triathlon in Delaware, in which I sweetly called a “Baby Tri” (Please note, this is not to make fun of anyone doing this particular tri or any tri, as I have the highest respect and admiration for anyone who attempts a tri), but I call it a baby tri because once you swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles.. to swim only a quarter mile, bike 10, and run 2.. well you get the point..
So my wave is set to go off at 7:50am….its 78 degrees with 8 mph winds… by the time I will finish it will be 84 degrees with 10 mph winds.. Denise is also racing and we were hoping to gauge our fitness and to get a good opportunity to test out the equipment.... I was fairly confident in my training.. that it was fairly nonexistent.. and so I was hoping for a calm swim, favorable winds on the bike, and a jet pack on my ass in the run.
I had a mix of emotions about my new founded age group… I was hurdled out of the 40-44 year group by the triathlon race rules that stated whatever age you are at the END of the year is your race age.. HONEST official I am only 44… won’t be 45 until December… don’t you dare put that 45 on my leg!!!!!... yeah well that puts me now in the 45-49 age bracket..SIGH.. WHAT!!..
So I take the 45 on my leg with a wince (they body mark you with your age.. aint that great!) and hope that Denise my running buddy who is still “young” and in the 40-44 age group can recognize me.. in my new age and all.. so body marked and bike in transition and now to wait. ....I watch all the newbies worry about what to do and how to do it and I smile.. because I was there just three years ago...
Suffocating in our wetsuits... Denise and I head to the water.. … and then off we go. ....I am not a particularly fast swimmer.. so it's no news to Joe, who is watching, that I am dead ass last in our wave..... Even the 75 year old woman is ahead of me.... Sigh...... But don’t lose heart. I have done this plenty of times before, I relax, get my bearings and get about the business… I start to pass some gals (who where hanging on to the buoys) and then get tangled up with backstrokers.. kicked in the face will always make a swim more fun.... By the time I round the last buoy I am in a good position, I am excited.... first time in three years I am not near the end!... I almost drown smiling!
So up to transition I go.. GOOD GRIEF.. this new age group is exhausting...I am sure breathing extra heavy...(I mean the lack of training.. had nothing to do with it…) ..on to the bike… “Sure the wetsuit is easy to get off, I have never had a problem”… this was me in my great wisdom telling Denise before the race.. yeah, stupid pet tricks.. thats what I looked like as I contorted left and right trying to remove the neoprene from my body....
Joe had informed me that Denise was about 2 minutes ahead...hmm... 2 minutes.. on the bike I go..... It took about a mile, and my breath caught me... and I started to pick off people… Left.. Left.. Left… I was feeling fairly confident in my ability to catch Denise and looked forward to when I passed her.. two minutes.. is nothing…
Then the fat chick passes me.. WTF!!!!… I look down at my bike meter.. I am going 19 mph.. and the chick with the LARGE ass, passes me… and the age on her leg.. 49… OMG she is my NEW age group!!! .. now not only am I now "OLD".. I am being beaten by an OLD FAT CHICK! .... It takes me a bit but I catch back up to her.. and I pass her and smile.. which was fairly short lived when she repasses me a few minutes later..... HMPH!!!
The last mile, I spread terror into my legs and tore past her and TOOK my victory.. YES!!!!!..NO FAT CHICKS FOR ME!!!!.. of course I am gasping as I run into transition.. to find my running shoes.. "Boy, this new age group is just SO competitive!"
I takes me only 58 secs in transition.. and I start my run.. and WHO IS IN FRONT OF ME..??????.... YES.. THE FAT CHICK!!! WTF!!! I started to contemplate the teasing and ribbing Denise would give me if I let this “old” fat chick beat me..and how the hell did she make it out of transition faster than me!?... SO I sprint past her.. I run like they are dangling $100's in front of me... I'm in oxygen debt for 2 miles! JEEZ US!
Denise beat me overall ...but she's a “young buck”.. and that’s what I’m sticking with…and I BEAT THE FAT CHICK!!! .......YAHOOO!!!....LIFE IS GOOD.. damn endorphins so confuse the body.
.....Eagleman Half Ironman Triathlon… 6 days and counting…
