.2 mile swim – 10 mile bike – 2 mile Run
Crazy Nut...
It's very exciting to be able to do shorter triathlons, as I don’t put any hard core expectations on myself... but to get it done and win, right?
My races are like mini epic adventures and this short one was not lacking in the fun department... first off the fact it was an afternoon/evening triathlon with a 4pm start.. just gotta love that sleep in, do what you want all day, then mosey on down to the race venue later.
So not really getting the fact that I am not swimming in the actual open bay area... I arrived and looked out at the ominous bay and thought well its only a .2 mile swim... I shouldn’t have issues, swam in worse....and so as I bond with nature and gaze upon the wondrous grey skies, someone mentions the fact that we were swimming in the canal behind us.. SNAP..
NO shit and really... dude this is going to be cake...
A point-to-point swim in a calm canal with the current... I can do this blindfolded!
So skipping around, setting up transition, realizing how much I really DO HAVE... and then it's time to stuff the potatoes in the sak (wetsuit putting on time).. board the bus to the start, and get this party going!
It started to turn ca bit colder, so having the wetsuit on but not completely zipped up kept me toasty. I was in fact... REALLY quite happy... sure I hadn’t practiced much recently but this was a short tri and it's like riding a bike.. once you know it you don’t forget ..oh yeah!
A kind older lady helped me finish zipping up the back of the wetsuit and we put our toes in the water... and..
HOLY... MOTHER..... OF GOD..... DAMN IT WAS COLD!!!!!!!!!..
The water temperature was around 68 degrees and just say... ME... NO LIKEY...COLD.....NO ......NO......NO....
Just before we started I noticed my hands were a lovely bluish/lavender color and I thought, how odd? I really wasn’t THAT cold....did I touch ink?... I moved my fingers around..hmmm.
And its time to go... in the water and then.. OMFG my wetsuit is cutting off the circulation in my upper body because I have too much SHIT ON.. yeah I had my bathing suit.. then my tri suit .... then my wetsuit.. please don’t judge stupid..
AND OFF we go... and I felt like I was suffocating.... I tried to swim.. I could not breath..I could not get any arm extension.. I was in a giant sarah wrapped shell... slashing around the water... I tried to doggy paddle.. um no... i trried to back stroke. . no... i tried to bob like a cork.. OH HELL NO...
Did I mention that this was damn near the calmest water I have ever swam in and I am flailing around in my wetsuit..??!. I am going to drown in .2 miles of calm water!!
I can see that tombstone inscription now... 3X Ironman DIES in Sprint .2 mile swim WITH the current in calm water.
It took me 8 mins... 8 mins to flop around trying to “out race” the last place girl being escorted by the kayaker... when I made it to the dock... You would have thought I won the Hawaii Ironman...
People whistles, cheers, hoorays.. I WAS a ROCK STAR!... How UTTERLY mortifying..
So let me tell you about that swim again...
And so I had to take a moment to unwrap this suffocation cloak and I finally managed to hobble to transition... to my bike.. I am FREE!!... hell has unleashed as I blaze a trail.. me and my zero... taking over people on dirt bikes and scooters ...... I was so pleased to go from next to last in the women’s field in the swim to 8th place on the bike
Kinda crazy that the trusty old hip didn’t give me one ounce of problem on the 10 mile bike but as soon as I put one damn foot on the ground in the run I was screaming for morphine.
TWO lousy miles, something I do as a warm up would cause so much agony.
Swim Time: 8:23
Overall: 82/84
Out of Women: 36/37
Bike Time: 30:37 (Average pace 19.6 MPH)
Overall: 27/84
Out of Women: 8/37
Run Time: 16:16 (Average pace 8:07 min/mile)
Overall: 37/84
Out of Women: 12/37
Finish:
Overall: 33/84
Out of Women: 11/37
TWO lousy miles, something I do as a warm up would cause so much agony.
One day I will look back at all this and laugh.. and say how wonderful it was... to be able to do such great things with my life..
BUT right now.. at this particular moment...I NEVER WISH TO RUN AGAIN EVER...
BUT right now.. at this particular moment...I NEVER WISH TO RUN AGAIN EVER...
I am DONE.
But then again..
It's super cool to win a fancy smancy age group award, 2nd in age group...
SO the moral of the story is... a TRIATHLON..... is three parts... one part crazy and two parts nuts... if you mess up on the crazy part.. you always have the nuts... and yeah.. NEVER SAY NEVER...
