Let me first start out by admitting that Mimi and I are sometimes underprepared when it comes to spare tubes. I know! I know! How stupid can we be? But we really learned our lesson on Sunday. My husband was very disappointed that I didn't bring an extra tube with me, but like I said, I've learned my lesson.
When we arrived at the aquatic center and unloaded our bikes, Mimi had flat. Her valve went straight through the wheel. Fortunately, we were parked next to a VERY nice gentleman who was unloading his gear and he stopped to help. THANKS DUDE!! He gave Mimi a spare tube and we had one of the mechanics fix it for her. Her bike was ready to go with only 10 minutes before the race started.
Now.... on to the race!
Trail 5K / 29 minutes (race PR!)
The temp was really cool so everyone was ready to get started. My parents and sister were there, which was a really nice treat. The director yelled GO! and off we went. The entire course was a trail run and the scenery was beautiful. There was a really nice fog hanging over a little lake and a meadow with a barn in the center. Again, it was so picture perfect. And I was feeling great. My breathing, my legs, my feet, everything just felt really good. Before I knew it, we were exiting the woods and the aquatic center was straight ahead. I ran under the finish banner and headed to my bike. I do not know my transition times yet.
Bike 13 miles / exact time not know yet
I quickly changed into my bike shoes. I was smart not to change socks this time. That took way too long last time. I'm sure you are wondering why I would want to change socks. Well, I like to run in a thicker sock and bike in a thin sock. So there you have it. But I figured 13 miles would be ok to do in thick socks. So I'm on the road and the first two miles were fine and then we rounded a corner onto Oak Hill Road and low and behold.... it was straight up!!! What? Where did that hill come from? And what a hill it was. It was short, but steep. People were already off their bikes. but I refused to dismount. I stayed and pushed my way up that first short, steep hill. And then the next one and the next one. Now, keep in mind, I grew up in Douglasville, GA, so I knew these roads that the bike course took, but I had never traveled them by bike. I knew that around mile 8 was a really, really, really long hill that was going to kick some people's butts. As I came up to that hill, I looked ahead and saw people off their bikes walking up. I totally understood their pain (b/c there were a lot of us beginners out there), but once again I refused to dismount my bike. I knew that if I could just tough it out a little longer, the rest was gravy. And that it was!!! What a blast it was zipping down the other side of those hills! By the way, only two people passed me in the run and three people passed me on the bike. But I passed a lot of people (kind of a good feeling).
Swim 200 yards / still not sure of exact time
They cut the swim in half because of so many newbies in the race. We were supposed to go down and back in each lane, but the race director was afraid of too many head on collisions that he decided to shorten the race and have everyone go down in one lane, back in the other and so on, serpentine style. As I've mentioned before, Mimi blows me away in the swim portion, so I made sure that I had a little lead on her going into the pool. Competition is healthy right?? Love you Mimi!! I was three lanes ahead of her at the start of her swim, but she gained on me quickly and by the time I exited, she was only one lane behind me. Way to go Mimi! You Rock! What a great feeling to come out of the pool with your mom, dad, sister, husband and two sweet boys there cheering you on!
So there you have it! My second triathlon and I completed it in 1:29:10. I'm very happy with this time. I know that the swim course was shortened, but the they made up for it with the brutal bike course. Anyway, thanks for reading! Happy training everyone!
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