Friday: Fourth of July triathlon!! This triathlon was much bigger than any of the other triathlons I've done in the area. It was pretty awesome seeing all those people who love participating in triathlons as much as I do. One of the best moments of the triathlon was listening to the Star Spangled Banner being played just before the start. After the song ended, the crowd erupted with applause and cheering; it was incredible.
I had three friends participating in the duathalon (run-bike-run) and met up with them before the start. For some of them it was their first time, so I showed them where to place their race numbers and looked over their gear to make sure they were good to go. I was so busy focusing on helping them that I almost forgot my goggles and ear plugs before the swim. I raced to the transition area just before they closed it and was momentarily flustered lol.
My friend G came to cheer us on and was able to take some sweet pictures. Here are some of the swim pics:
So brief history about this venue. I've raced this venue before: it was the labor day triathlon last year and I was sick when I did it. I did pretty decent overall in the triathlon, but had a brief scare in the water. I had a full fledge panic in the middle of the lake after I swallowed a bunch of water, couldn't breathe, and started violently coughing. I began flailing my arms and was trying to grab the kayaks attention because I felt like I wasn't going to be able to tread water while I was trying to recover. I actually caught a grip of myself about 30 seconds later and was able to breathe. Another 30 seconds later I started to swim again (I was totally shaken up but figured I should try to get out of the water as quickly as possible). It was the scariest swim I have ever had (not even my half ironman swims were ever that scary). Since this was the first time I was swimming in the lake after my scare, I was a little nervous.
I made a friend right before the swim and it was nice to be distracted while we waited for the start (when I get nervous I talk and laugh a lot, so it made sense that I made a friend). The race started and I was off. You never really get a chance to think once the race starts, you pretty much go on automatic mode trying to finish each sport. I typically start in the back of the swim because I hate running into people and getting kicked. I should actually start near the front because I'm one of the better swimmers, which is bizarre. Who would have thought that I could actually swim? From my race stats I placed 3/17 on the swim from my age category and 15/124 on the swim out of all of the females. I actually enjoy swimming and found a new place to train so I am going to work on my swim a bit more. My overall time on .25 was 07:34.
Once I got out of the water I ran through the transition area to where my bike was stationed. Here's some pictures of my transition!
Since I don't clip on to my bike, my transition time is slower than a lot of other triathletes since they don't have to put socks and running shoes on. I make up for it on my second transition time since they have to put their socks and running shoes on and I don't. Once I put all my stuff on, I grabbed my bike and I was ready to go! I forgot my Garmin during this triathlon which sucked since that's how I track my time on the bike and run. My motto for this race was just: go as fast as you can lol. Here is a picture of me coming out of the transition area right before I started the bike.
Let me start by saying that I initially went down the wrong way when I started the bike. I made a right on the sidewalk instead of the road (who does that??). Some of the spectators got out of my way (since that's where they were standing) and laughed at me as I had to cut across the grass and yelled out "my bad." I also had to laugh as I got on the road and started making my way on the course. I tried to find someone that I could pace off of and did my best to try to go as fast as I could. I ended up feeling good about my cycle. My overall time for the 10 miles on the bike was 32:01 (18.7 MPH). This is probably the fastest time I've ever had on the bike. I chuckled to myself when I got to see my time. I remember the time when I was proud of being able to hold 12 MPH on the bike. Here are some pictures of my dismount.
I got off the bike and ran straight to the transition area. I felt great and I wanted to finish this thing. I had been passed by a bunch of girls on the cycle portion and just wanted to go on full attack mode on the run lol. I sound like such a predator hahaha!
One of the women who finished right before I did on the bike had started the run at the same time I had. Her pace was ridiculous and I figured I would try to keep up with her as much as possible. She took off after the first mile, but I had a pretty decent pace at that point and tried my best to maintain it. Not having a Garmin really does put you at a disadvantage since there are no timers on the course! The run was pretty hard and I was really pushing myself. Overall, it was a good run. I did have one irritating moment near the end of the run when some woman was hell bent on not letting me pass her. She got right next to me (like literally breathing down my neck) and tried to maintain my pace as she pounded her shoes on the pavement. I typically don't care if people pace off of me (hell I pace off people), but this woman was literally on top of me and it seemed to me like she was determined to just try to beat me. Luckily her breathing was heavy and I knew that I was just about to pick up my pace, so I figured I would lose her soon. I eventually lost her after a couple of minutes and sprinted it in. The end of the race was funny because one of the men I passed told me I had to pick up my pace since I was 28 years old and I was still young lol. I grinned as I reached the finish line; I had PR'd. I couldn't believe it. My overall run time was 22:40 for 3 miles (a 7:33 min/mile pace). Like I said this is where I attack; I finished 2/17 of my age group and 16/124 females. Here are some of the pictures of the run.
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| I ran back to find my friend C and cheer him on!! |
My overall time was 1:04:51. I beat my previous time on the course by almost 3 minutes. I couldn't freaking believe it. I had to laugh because I was wearing my lucky socks. Almost every time I wear them I beat my previous time. I ended up placing 3rd in my age group and made it to the podium. It was such a great race!!
That afternoon my husband and I had two parties to go to. They were both pool parties so I just got to relax in the pool and tread water. This was probably the best way for me to recover. I didn't work out today at all and slept a heck of a lot which was nice. I will however try to get a nice long run in tomorrow. Hope the rest of you are enjoying your Fourth of July weekend as well :)
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