Eastside Triathlon

Geez, I'm short.

Okay, this morning was my second tri ever! (Doesn't have quite the same ring as first, but oh well.) Those people in that photo - this was their first tri ever!

They are in my beginner's training program and they all did a great job, despite the brutal heat. (see Greyhound's recent post about the local weather.)  This was my first open water swim. Frightening, but okay - no sharks or alligators, but lots of SLIME.

I don't have my times yet, so I don't know if I went faster or slower than previously. I think I swam fine, but I really don't like open water swims - the disorganization, the chaos, feet in my face, arms hitting me. I need to stop being polite because every time I ran into someone, I would say "oh sorry" not that they even heard me. This swim was 500 meters, so not too bad.

I do think my transitions times were better. I feel like I did T1 very efficiently.

Okay, I love the bike part. Despite the head wind going out. And coming back. And the chipped seal in the middle. For those of you who don't know, chipped seal is a municpalities' cheap ass way to pave roads, which I think just involves pouring tar over lots of pebbles (I'm sure it's more complicated than that all you engineers out there having a hissy fit, but it feels that way.) The upshot of it is that you and your bike seem to feel every little jarring bump and gravel. If you sang a note, you would have automatic vibrato without trying. Okay, I'm going to call chipped seal vibrato pavement from now on because it sounds so elegant and poetic.

   "So how did you do on the bike?"

    "I climbed well, hydrated. My pace slowed on the vibrato pavement."

    "Va bene"

I did pass a lot of people and no women passed me. A few 30-something men passed me, but I guess that's okay. The most annoying thing was the whole weird passing game. There was one woman who just seemed determined not to let me pass her, so every time I passed her, she would catch up and pass me, but not go so fast that I wouldn't need to pass her again. It wasn't exactly blocking, but it was ANNOYING AS HELL.  I finally thought, fuck it, and just hammered really fast for a while until she was no longer a nuisance.

I do pretty well on my road bike. I wonder how well I'd do on a yummy new tri bike with spiffy wheels....

Part of the run course was completely underwater, so the race directors were nice and decided to just cut the run short to 2 1/2 miles. Alas, all those people I passed on the bike, passed me on the run. I still find the run quite unbearable. I had to talk out loud again to myself, such as "this is fun, this is fun." "I'd rather be here than on call at Ben Taub."  "I run like a geriatric sheep." I know fellow runners must have thought I was crazy.  I also started laughing out loud because it seemed so comical - all these relatively affluent adults running in horrible heat and mud, all willingly as well.  Here's a comment that wins an award for the stupidly obvious, but it is much harder to run when it is hot! I do all my running at 5 in the morning. Should I do some in the heat for practice?

The finish line was a bit anticlimactic, but there was a nice icy cold wet towel at the end. And watermelon.

Having done one before really calmed my nerves as I was not so worried about packing, transition set up, etc etc. I still think this is really fun. I like setting up the transition area in the dark, the feel of the timing chip, the little beep as you cross the timing mat, the weird confidence of strutting around with numbers drawn on you. As I drove home, it was still only 9:30 in the morning and I felt tempted to call my friend (who was probably still asleep) and say "so what have you done this morning..."

If I do another one, I will be deep in the throes of addiction, and I can not be saved...

Comments

[IM Able]

Yeah! I hate slime, but I love finishing a triathlon before I used to roll out of bed on a Saturday!

Congrats and sign up right away for another one!

[Greyhound]

Good on you for getting out there again, especially on what will probably prove (I hope) to be the absolutely worst most inhumanely brutal weekend of the year.

[Daune]

Too late, you're addicted! Good job!

[william]

congratulations jane! it monsooned on your first one. it was a heat wave on your second one. the next one will be in a blizzard.