Oldham County Tri - bringing it full circle

Yesterday I competed in the Oldham County Mini Triathlon, the same triathlon that started it all just one year ago this exact same weekend. It's interesting to see how far I've come with this sport, and to be able to compete for the second time in my first-ever tri.

The morning was warmer than predicted by our not-so-accurate weathermen, as the day started off in what felt more like the low seventies than high sixties. Before I was able to get my bike on my car, the rain came pouring down which had me a little concerned. After driving to the OC, checking in, getting marked, and setting up in transition, there was little more to do than wait around and check out the competition before Alicia, Lori, Bill and I took our turn at the pool. I had already dipped a foot in to check out the temperature when we first walked down, and the chilly water definitely had me nervous - I don't do well with cold weather/water. Brrrrr. I heard later on that there had been a leak in the pool and that staff had to keep filling it up with water from the hose, hence there was no time for the water to warm up before the race. I estimated that it was between 70-75 degrees in the pool.

I saw that athletes marked in the low 200's were taking off, so I lined up to wait my turn to jump in the frigid pool (I was #237). There was a 20 second staggered start between athletes, and normally I would have jumped in the pool and waited until it was time to push off from the side to go. But the water being so cold turned me into a major weinie, and I opted to stand at the side and jump in at the last second. It was definitely a shock to my system, and I have to say that besides doing the Polar Bear Plunge in 2005, this was the coldest water I have ever been in! It took about two laps to get used to the temp, but soon I was focusing more on form and how many laps I had left in this leg of the race.

After pulling myself up out of the water, I walked my way to T1 where I had a fairly good transition time and it was off to the bike course. Because of the earlier rain I was a little nervous about the potential for slick roads and was very cautious throughout the course. I rode my breaks on most of the downhills, which there were a lot of! I remembered from the first time around that this race has continuous rolling hills, and the only change this time was that they added two more miles for a total of 10 rather than 8. I made it through okay however, with an average of 3 1/2 minutes per mile.

Pulling up to T2, I had no trouble clipping out and waddling my way to store my bike and switch out shoes. Surprisingly, my legs felt strong starting out on the run course, which was a cross country route mostly on gravel. I hit the 1 mile marker approximately 12 minutes after starting the run - decent considering my notorious slow pace and the uneven terrain. After the turnaround I slapped a high-five to Bill, and felt relieved to see the finish line up ahead.

I had forgotten to hit "start" on my stopwatch when I jumped in the pool, so I could only estimate that I finished the race in about 1:19 - about 4 minutes slower than last year, which I didn't think was too bad considering the extra two biking miles. Pretty soon, Alicia was coming across the finish line, and we ended our adventure with a hot shower and a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrell - woo hoo.

I'm definitely happy to have completed another event - my 7th triathlon in a 12 month period, and that I've found a sport that I truly enjoy competing in. Mostly though, I'm thankful that I get to enjoy this experience with friends who enjoy it as much as I do. Up next - the Louisville Half Marathon followed by the Waverly Hills 6.66 mile trail run on Halloween. Nice!