400 meter swim – 10 mile bike – 2.5 mile run
Total Time: 1:01:29
Swim: 10:10
T1: 1:20
Bike: 28:42
T2: 0:54
Run: 20:23
Overall Place: 134 out of 378
Gender Place: 19 out of 133
Category Place: 4 out of 16
I have a love/hate relationship with Triathlons. I love them because they’re hard and challenging and completing one makes me feel… awesome. Yet, I hate them because the anticipation of one robs me of what little confidence I have and makes me annoyingly jittery, especially during the hours leading up to their start. Mainly, I blame the swim.
Today’s race was no exception to these feelings. Not only was it my first Triathlon in almost a year, it was also my first lake swim. I use the term “lake” loosely, since perhaps pond would be more fit to describe this particular body of water. I was prepared for anything, but that doesn’t mean I had to like it. I love the ocean and have lived near it my whole life. I simply can’t see the attraction of swimming in a lake, especially in South Florida.
The Swim
I took one step into the lake and, just as I feared, it felt gross. The three waves before mine did a good job of stirring the water up, so it was a nice solid brown for my wave. Mmm. The algae was all the way to the surface, wrapping around my arms and legs with every stroke. Can’t say I enjoyed that or that it helped to get me to the other side faster, but I made it and I only missed my goal time by 10 seconds, so I was happy, but happier still to be out of the lake.
The Bike
Duathlon or Triathlon, this is my favorite part of every race. I was particularly excited today because I would get to test my new Triathlon bike – a 2009 WSD Trek Equinox 7. I’ve had an intimate relationship with Quintana Roo since I started racing Triathlons and I was very skeptical of my new partner. However, I have to bite my tongue today and take my hat off to Trek. The Equinox is a killer machine and it got me through the twisty, curvy, badly marked and overall tough course in record time. I am very pleased and look forward to many more races together.
Giving the new bike some love
The Run
My legs started to go a bit by the end of the bike. I don’t think I had a big enough breakfast or enough water on the bike, though I did drink a few gallons of lake water, so I’m sure it all balanced out. Also, I find that with Triathlons, my breathing goes into chaotic mode once my face hits the water and I can’t get it back to normal until I cross the finish line. Needless to say, I didn’t PR the run course which I’d hoped to do, but I’m happy with my effort.
I think things went well considering this is my first Triathlon of the season and I haven’t done much time in the pool. I will be doing Triathlons the rest of the season, one more Sprint and two Olympics leading up to a Half Iron distance at the end of the year (which happens to be another “lake” swim). I am definitely going to be spending a lot more time in the pool. That’s what I have to take away from today’s experience (and the fact that Geoffrey is a wonderful partner). Happy 4th and thanks for reading.
