I tri-ed again

TriCowtown - March 27, 2011 - Benbrook, Texas
300 yard pool swim, 13.8 mile bike, 5K
1:24:36

On Friday, I decided to tri again. Wasn't planning to race, but my friend David put a bug in my ear. Ok, time to tri again.

I've been using my races as training. Not too smart. I haven't started my official training for my 70.3 yet and I've been running marathons. My swimming and biking have certainly taken a back seat. The races have been my excuse to get some training in for those two sports.

I've been lucky because without training, I've managed to do ok. But I know my luck is going to change and I need to buckle down before my Olympic distance tri in June. I can flounder my way through a sprint and live to tell about it, but the Olympic distance will need some attention.

Race morning, I got up early to haul my butt out to Benbrook. It was chilly. Our nice 80+ degree weather suddenly disappeared.

300 Yard Swim - 6:16
The pool swim was not ideal. It was in a 25 yard pool with swimmers staggered every 10 seconds, going both directions in one lane. Let's just say cluster.

T1 - 1:41
This was a bad transition. Partly because I had to take my Garmin off to get my coat on. It was really cold. No wind, but man, it was cold!

13.8-Mile Bike - 50:41 (16.3 MPH)
Was not pleased with my bike. My Garmin never acquired a satellite and I had no idea what my speed was. I'm just not experienced enough on the bike to know by feel how fast I'm going. I should have and could have pushed it more. The bike course was hilly and the pavement was pretty choppy and lots of gravel.




T2 - 1:08
Again, I had to take my Garmin off to get my coat off. I knew I would warm up on the run.

5K - 24:49 (8:00 pace)
This was by far my best run in a tri. In fact, it's an unofficial 5K PR. I ran a 5K in Dec. 2009 in 24:36, but the course was at least .1 short. I continue to be amazed at why I'm a better runner in a tri. It's days like these where that 5K continues to haunt me. If I can run an 8:00 pace in a tri, surely I can run 7:45 in a 5K road race.

All in all, I'm ok with my performance, but again, it showed me I just need more time on the bike. I placed 6th in my age group and 120 overall out of about 300.

I got lucky

St. Paddy's Day Sprint Triathlon - March 13, 2011
300M Swim, 12.6 bike, 5K run - 1:18:07, 7th AG, 200 overall

I have been in the pool once in three months. I've been on the bike once for that duathlon a month ago. I've been running, a lot. The luck of the Irish was with me today. I did my second triathlon, the same course as my first one last October. I had a 2:04 PR. I am thrilled.

300M Swim - 6:42
This was not my best swim. Being out of the pool for three months and then a quick swim last weekend, clearly impacted my results. My swim on my last tri was 6:39, not awful, but certainly not as good as I can do. But honestly, I really didn't care. It's 300M. I really wanted my bike to go better than last tri.



T1 - 1:07

I was a little shocked at my T1 time. I was in a daze and remember standing at the bike rack wondering what to do. I'm blaming losing an hour's sleep due to daylight saving's time. However, it was better than last tri at 1:10.

12.66 Bike - 43:22

It sure was a windy day. It's been the theme here in Texas for the past month. I really wanted to improve my bike this go around. I felt pretty good out there today despite the wind. Last tri was 45:41. I know I can do better here. But I'll take a 2+ minute improvement.

T2 - :52
Finally feeling more awake, I blazed through T2. So much so that I thought I was going to trip when I saw Corina, Michelle, Marci and Bojana cheering me on! I was blowing kisses and thought I may kiss the ground! An improvement again from October where it was :59.


5K Run - 26:01
Oh boy I was not pleased with this run! I was slow out there and just couldn't get my legs moving. Don't really know what my problem was! Legs felt super heavy. Last October I did this in 25:38.

It was the first tri of the season. I had a good day. I had a good race. And I got a PR, placed 7th in my age group and 200th overall. Hey maybe with some training, I'll do better! This was a good way to gauge where I'm at and what I need to work on before my first Olympic Distance Tri in June.

The journey is the reward

Boopa's Bagel Deli 5K - March 5, 2011




Guilty. Did it again. I went out way too fast. I told myself I was going to hold back and try to negative split this race. I have had this darn 5K PR monkey on my back and I felt like today I could get shake it off. Once again, close but no cigar.

Nonetheless, I am still happy with my race today. It was very cold and windy. The course had some good hills too. Small crowd today. I think the threat of rain and the cold keep many indoors. Most folks ran the 10K. I opted for the 5K for two reasons: 1) I ran a marathon 6 days ago and 2) I really want to run a 24:30 5K.

I ran my first mile in 7:30. Too fast. Hit a pretty long hill and my pace dropped to 8:00. I knew we were coming up to the turn around, but I didn't see the lead runners turning yet. I didn't realize I was in the front of the pack. Saw the turn and realized I was in the top 5. WHAT? I am a middle of the pack runner. Ok, small field today. There was only one female runner ahead of me. I passed her and she was on my tail. We hit a downhill and she passed me. The last .5, wind was gusting 25 mph. Threw my head down and pushed hard to catch her, but just couldn't. The wind was just too much for me today.

I thought I was close to my PR, but didn't want to look at my watch. Just wanted to focus on pushing hard. Crossed the line in 25:03. Second overall female and 1st AG. And improved my time on this course by over a minute from last year.



Of course, I was ticked that seconds separated me from WINNING a 5K. However, I feel good about today. I ran a marathon last week, it was windy, hilly and cold. I gave it my all. This will probably be the closest I will ever be to winning a race.

The saying is, if you're not first, you're last. Nah. Not today. If you're not first, you learn and move on. I'm proud of how I ran today. Not every race is a PR. But every race is an experience. I got to meet Stacy, a new RAW member and DailyMile friend. Ran back after the race to run my friend Jeff in. He placed 2nd in his AG for the 10K. Today was about the journey, not the reward.