Duathlon

The triathlon ended up being a duathlon of the run and swim portions only - 3k and 400m respectively. It was a COLD morning of only about 12 degrees at the start line, and there was still plenty of ice and snow on the track that we ran around. It was a really small race with only about 50 participants, if that, and I was bringing up the rear nearly the whole way. By the time I warmed up it was time to head back into the building for the swim - all the while my snot had already frozen inside of my nostrils. I looked down at my watch and saw that I was just over 20 minutes in - not bad considering running isn't my strong suit.

I spent MAYBE 2 minutes in transition as I had my trisuit on underneath my running clothes, so it was just a matter of peeling layers, taking a quick drink of water, and then crossing the mat and jumping into the ultra-warm water of hte pool.

I was pretty well exhausted by this point, and 75 meters in I got a nice big mouthful of water which stopped me in my tracks and I spent the next 30 seconds or so hacking and coughing halfway down the lane. That hampered my moral a little bit, but I was soon back at it and, arms tired and out of breath, I managed to swim on.

I got about 3/4 of the way done and passed a guy who had been backstroking. At the end of that lane, I finally caught up with Alicia (my tri partner) who had been at least 2-4 minutes ahead of me during the running portion. Alicia looked exhausted and said "I'm done." "You're not done, girl . C'mon" and with that I was freestyling again.

During all of this, the man and wife team of Kelly and Jeff Miller who own VO2 Multisport in Louisville, and who also put together the triathlon training for the Knoxville Oly in May, were cheering us from the side-lines. It was a tremendous help to see them at the end of the lanes as I popped up to head back down and heard "Great job" "You're looking good" etc. It really kept me going.

I got near the end of the swim and saw some steps to the side. I stood up and was about to walk out when I heard "Touch the wall, you have to swim to the wall!" Duh. Another step, and one huge swimming leap, and I was done!

I forgot to hit stop on my watch, but Alicia seems to think we finished in about 32 minutes - we both started at the same time, and she did remember to hit stop, about 30 seconds after we finished up.

It was a great experience, and even though it was exhausting, I had tons of fun! I'm a little nervous about the next one three weeks from now when we will be doing all three events (weather pending), and the swim will still be last at that point due to the season. Not sure how I'm gonna keep up my endurance for that, but we got our training workout from the Oly coach today, so that'll keep us working out like we need to and hopefully survive this next event!

Well - spin and swim tomorrow, should be good times!