Sunday, August 22, 2010

Triathlon Update

I DID IT!! My goal for my first triathlon was to get it done in under an hour and a half. My time was 1 hour, 24 min, 55 sec. Or 1:24:55. It was the best experience ever.

I got out of bed at 4:30 to get dressed and all my last minute stuff together in the car, while Hubby got up and took his shower. Of course the Baby woke up about 20 min too early and backed us up a little. The Kid had to be pulled out of bed (this kid sleeps like a rock) at 5am and on the road to the transition area we went.

We pulled up just as the sun was coming over the horizon. It was beautiful. Hubby dropped me off with my gear and he went with the kids to find a parking spot.

I found my bike rack and set up my area. I got my arm marked with my number and put on my timing chip around my ankle, which ended up being the only thing that bothered me after I worried about so many other thinks to bother me...more on that in the run part.

There were 861+ women on the beach waiting to start (there were some that didn't finish). We lined up on the beach with our age groups to get ready to go in the ocean. The day of this race was one of the worst of the summer. It was high tide and the waves were crashing on shore. There were 20+ lifeguards in boats, kayaks and swimming in the water. There were also 40+ 'swim angels'. These were wonderful volunteers who were not participating in the race. They were a savior for so many women, even me.

The first 2 waves went into the ocean and I watched about 10 women get rocked back onto the shore by the waves before they could even get started. Have I mentioned that the waves were rough? There was also a tropical storm out to sea that I didn't know about until after the race, thank goodness.

Then it was my turn. There were 93 women ages 30-34 lined up along the beach with green swim caps ready to go. I was able to get into the water with no real problems. I did a nice swim out to the buoy and around it to return back to the shore. As I was standing up to get out of the ocean I went to grab the hand of a woman (swim angel) yelling at me to get out...I didn't know why until a wave rocked me from behind. I didn't even see it coming. I grew up at the Jersey Shore and I can't remember the last time I got hit by a wave so hard. I started my watch before we went in and I was out of the 300 yard swim in about 7 minutes. My official time when I got off the beach and into the transition area was 8:14. I was ranked 451 in the swim.

My transition was great...since I have nothing to compare it to. hahaha. I took off my tri top (I had a sports bra underneath) and changed into my running top that had my race number already pinned to it. I had to get the sand off my feet. It was really tough to use my baby powder while there was water dripping down my legs from my tri shorts. It took much longer than I thought to get my running sneakers on. I don't have bike shoes, but I did have little plastic thingys on my laces to tighten them so I didn't have to tie them. My T1 time was 3:46, rank 438.

I got on my bike and headed out on the 10.5 mile course. It was a beautiful day. Slightly overcast, so the hot sun was never beating down on us. I had a great ride. Some women from waves 4 and 5 passed me, but I also passed some women in waves 1 and 2. (I was in wave 3) We had our wave number on the back of our calfs so I knew who was who on the bike ride. I felt great and finished in 39:54 (15.8 mph) on my awesome hybrid bike and ranked 346!

Transition 2 was much better than T1. All I had to do was get my bike on the rack, drop my helmet and run. Of course, there was a girl that took over my spot and her bike swung sideways so I had to move her bike over before I could hang mine. In hindsight, I should have just put my kickstand down. One plus of not having a road bike. My T2 time was 1:31 and ranked 336.

Then I was off for the run. This is where my ankle band started bothering me. There was sand caught under it from my hit and run with the ocean and it scratched me the whole time, I ended up with little scratches on my ankle that scabbed up for a week! But I made it and had a very nice pace for running after the swim and bike. I was very proud. My goal was to do at least 11 min/miles and I was able to kick out 10:31 min mile pace! I finished the triathlon with a 31:32 in the 3 mile run and ranked 441.

My over all rank was 366 out of 861 women. I was in the top half! I was 49 out of 93 in my age group, there was supposed to be 123 women in my age group. There were over 1100 women signed up. Many didn't show, many didn't finish. I am hooked. I am going to do another triathlon in Sept. I can't wait.

I have some pictures that Hubby took from his phone, but they are in my computer at home, and I am not home right now. I will post them later.

I am now training for my first ever 10K (6.2 miles). I have been maintaining my weight of 170 since the end of the Biggest Loser competition at the gym. I have actually been floating between 165-170, depending on the time of the day and what crap I ate the day before. But I just keep running. :)