Don’t you all have it? Look at my Sherpa; isn’t he the best? That’s Mike reluctantly allowing me to take his photo as he helps me load my bike in the car.
I had a great time at the Solana Beach triathlon on July ??, and it reminded me that no matter how nervous I get beforehand (and how little sleep I get the night before), the race always turns out awesome. I just gotta get through till the gun goes off!
Unlike Encinitas, where there were tons of hidden ditches (and I took a major digger on the way in!), the run in was fine, and I got past the breakers pretty easily. The swim was 0.25 miles, and I actually finished 8th in my age group… which was a big surprise. My time was 12:13 on the swim. I swear my heart rate was over 160 when I got out of the water, too, which was a surprise. I suppose that in addition to how hard your swimming, the wetsuit itself is a bit constricting, so you breathe pretty hard. This time, I safety pinned my ankle strap on, so the timing chip stayed where it was supposed to, on my ankle and not at the bottom of the ocean.
The transition to bike was fine, always a little struggle to get out of that damn wetsuit, but oh well. I nixed socks this time, just threw on helmet, gloves, shoes, and shades, and took off. It was so great to see Mike on the loops! I really tried to keep my speed at 20mph or above, but I had to breathe pretty hard… see the photo! My time was 32:34 on the 9 mile loop course.
The transition to run was fine, but d’oh! I forgot to untie my laces before the race started… I think before Malibu I’m going to (finally) remember to buy the no-tie laces and try those out. My run was okay, about 24:58 for a 3 mile loop course. Gotta keep pushing! I finished overall 16th on the race for my age group, which I’m pretty stoked about. I love these sprints, and I plan to keep racing them after IM is long-gone. You’re done so fast it’s almost like it never happened!
Now it’s all about building… I’m excited for the Malibu triathlon, not just for the celebrity-sightings, but also to see how I fare in an Olympic distance race.
Stay tuned… I’m really going to try to make my first track workout this week! Honest!
No comments:
Post a Comment