Triathlon #3 was a success!!

Still feeling the effects of pulling out a PR during yesterday's triathlon. Felt somewhat crappy all day Saturday, and questioned whether I would even be able to compete, but got some OTC medication and, regardless of sleeping horribly and waking up to a cold and windy morning, loaded up the bike onto the car and headed out with Shane to pick up Alicia.

Alicia's pout, as she opened the door, told me even before she opened her mouth that the last thing she wanted to do on this cold, wet, March morning was a triathlon. "Can't we just go out for breakfast?" she solmenly asked. You see, many a morn Alicia and I - having already paid some sort of fee to run in an event - decided at the last minute that we'd rather go out to breakfast somewhere than spend 3+ miles running around the city of Louisville, especially if the temperature dipped below a certain degree. We could usually convince each other of this somewhere around 50 degrees farenheit. But not this morning! This morning, I was geared up to go for some reason.

It sprinkled all the way to Shelbyville, and the wind was horrid and the air quite cool as we set up our bikes and gear up in T1. The swim portion was indoor of course, and I could tell from the faces of the other athletes that we were all dreading running outside and hoping on a bike, already dripping wet, for a 12 mile ride with the cold wind on our face. Alicia and I sucked it up though, just like the rest of them, and got our arms and legs marked, donned our swim caps, and lined up for the start of the swim.

There was a 10 second delay between swimmers, and the line moved pretty quickly. Before I knew it, I took off from the side of the pool and was going at a pretty good pace before being passed by my first swimmer. As I moved along however, I was a littler perterbed to find that some slower swimmers we not moving to the right, or getting to the wall and moving on ahead rather than letting those faster than them pass. I thought for sure, by the last lap, that this was going to definitely hamper my time and thought I'd be lucky to pull out anything below a 12-minute swim. Imagine my surprise when I hoisted myself out from the end of the pool, already toweling off somewhat, tossing my cap, donning my racing belt before looking down to see that I was only 9:40 into the race. Wow - I had somehow managed a sub-ten minute swim - something I have never accomplished before. I was stoked!

I ran to T1, got on the bike, and headed out onto the course. By this time I had at least covered the top portion of my tri suit with a breathable jacket which kept me somewhat warm during the bike. My legs were red from the cold and covered with goosebumps, while my shoes were soaked with rainwater a mile into the bike, but I didn't care. I had never rode in the rain before and I was a little scared to take a corner too quickly and wipe out. Some of the other cyclist and I played leap-frog. Some passed by me never to be seen again, while some were left as only a faint peddler in my bike's rearview mirror. At the turn-around point I mentioned to the volunteers that "This wind sucks." "It always does," is what the man managed to muster.

6.8 miles in I finally passed by Alicia who was still on her way to the turn-around point. She wasn't too far behind me in the swim, but she's not as strong a swimmer as I and so I knew she'd be at least a minute or two behind me on the bike. 8 miles in I took the last turn before heading back to T2. Now, Alicia and I had went out just a few days before and completed a 16 miler, coming into contact with some wind during our last mile or so. But for as long as I've been alive, I have never experienced headwind like I did yesterday morning. The last four miles are nothing but rolling hills - some big, some small inclines that only remind you all too well that your glutes are alive and kickin'. At one point, near the crest of one rather steep hill, I literally got off my bike and had to waddle it up to the top before getting back on and taking advantage of the grade on the other side. This one hill had defeated me - but it would be the last.

I struggled on until the finish, and was so happy to see T2 after the last turn into the parking lot of the park. Getting off my bike to push it across the mat, my legs felt like lead. The rain had finally stopped, but it was still a brisk wind and I was famished from not having had a decent dinner or breakfast that morning. The Cytomax in my sport bottle and an orange-flavored Gu would have to do. Somehow, while taking a large swig, I managed to breath in and the liquid went down the wrong pipe causing a 10-20 second period of choking and gasping for air - exactly what you want while competing in a triathlon. My right shoe had come untied, and everytime I bent down to re-tie it I felt a tug on my thigh muscle which screamed ABORT! ABORT! THERE WILL BE A CRAMP IF YOU DO NOT ABORT! So, here I stand in T2, choking on Cytomax, sweating, cold, rained-on, with an un-tied shoe and a quasi Charlie Horse that won't let me go any further. I nearly asked Shane, who by this point thought it would be a good idea to snap a few pictures, to bend over and tie my shoe, but knowing that in the amount of time it would have taken to argue with him about why he needed to help me out and the time it would take for me to actually do it - cramp or not - I decided not to.

Out of T2 I run - well, actually I was merely walking at this point because I can't run without music and I was busy untangling my headphones from my ipod shuffle that I had just taken out of my racing belt. Before too long though, I actually was running. The way my legs felt however, I imagine my attempt to run at that point probably looked a lot like Betty White's attempt to run in that Snicker's football commercial they've been showing on TV lately. Have you ever tried to run 3.1 miles after having just dismounted from a 12-mile bike ride? It ain't pretty.

Not too far into the run (less than 1/2 mile I'm sure), there is a slight incline and my legs and body just weren't ready for that kind of pressure. I walked for a bit before looking at my watch and seeing that I was about 3 minutes into the last leg of the tri and, if I EVER wanted to finish this dreadful race, I would have to just make myself run. I broke out the 6:1 intervals at this point and trotted along on my way. The run is just like the cycling leg of this triathlon, with an out-and-back format. How happy I was to see the girls handing out water at the turnaround spot, knowing I was almost there. A little ways past that half-way point I saw Alicia up ahead coming towards me. She looked happy, which surprised me given here attempts to persuade me NOT to make her compete this morning, but she just smiled and waved while I pulled one ear-bud out and yelled "Do you hate me yet?" "No." she replied cheerfully!

Back onto the pavement (some of the run was cross-country and somewhat hilly), I felt somewhat good. Maybe it was just knowing that it was almost over and I'd be able to stop moving for a bit, or maybe the sluggishness of my titanium legs finally melted off and I no longer felt like The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Either way, the finish line was near and I tried to finish strong while making my way across the finish line.

Ahhh, the sweet sigh of relief! As I hit "stop" on my watch the time portrayed was 1:40:54. I knew my time from the last triathlon was 1:42-something, so I immediately knew I had a course PR. Shane had met me at the finish, and we waited about 4-5 additional minutes before seeing Alicia come around the corner. She crossed the finish line approximately 5 minutes behind me, and gave me a big hug - saying "Thank you so much for pushing me to do this!" It was a good moment for the both of us.

So..... the final results came out today, and I was the 17th finisher out of 60 participants. This still blows my mind seeing as how not too many people finished behind me and I felt for sure at least half finished before me. But I guess the numbers don't lie. My swim ended up being my fastest 400m to date (even on practice drills), and almost a full 2 minutes faster than the last triathlon. My bike was 2 minutes and 16 seconds faster - amazing since there was so much wind and I physically got off the bike at one point, and the run - well, I never claimed to be a fast runner, so that portion was actually :36 second slower than the last, but I'm thinking that's still pretty good considering last time the run was the first leg and bike the second. Either way, I am feeling really good about this accomplishment. As I stated before, I didn't feel good the day before, didn't eat well the 24 hours prior to the event, the weather left a lot to be desired, and I had a co-competitor who wasn't feeling it at all. It's good to know that even in these conditions I can still compete at a decent level. And the more I do it, the more I love it!