Practice Tri (aka rain, rain go away!)

A gloomy, rainy, windy, Sat morning greeted the group of resilient triathletes on bleak Treasure Island. This is a tough place for a workout on the best of days, but with the latest bout of bad weather still upon us, it was particularly daunting. But that didn’t stop this team! We still set up our transitions (under a plastic bag of course), put on our wetsuits, and headed into the frigid bay. Before I tell about my day, I want to send a giant high five or hug or some encouragement to the whole team. They have endured such terrible conditions this season with few complaints and lots of triumph. We are set to kick ass on race day!

So into the water I jogged, middle to back of the pack since I know I am not a strong swimmer and don’t need to make people crawl over me. Stayed focused and didn’t let the crowd bug me but my goggles starting leaking on the left side. Very concerned about keeping my contacts in, I rolled over to my back to try to adjust. I had to do this 3 times before they finally worked. That brought me out to the kayak and time to head back in. Needless to say my swim in was much faster than on the way out. I headed up the stairs to the transition somewhere in the middle of the group (about 16:30), not bad for poky old me. The “quick” transition to the bike was not so hot. I was trying to dry off and it was just not working. I could hardly get my shirt on and decided to forego leg warmers. My feet were freezing and going numb and I just kept thinking, at least this isn’t too long. So down the hill to try to get the bike over with. I don’t like the bike course on Treasure Island. The road surfaces are terrible, there are tons of turns, and every time you head toward the water you are blasted by the wind. It is discouraging to have to downshift for the wind and I never felt like I was going fast though I was putting in a lot of effort. But it gave me a good chance to practice my mental focus and eating on the bike, so I did that and struggled though to the run transition. I tried to check time and discovered that my stopwatch had stopped (my glove caught it), so no idea how long the bike was. Did a quick transition here though, just changed shoes, exchanged helmet for hat, and took off my jacket (no sitting, very important for my legs). And off on the run, I restarted my watch to time this part. As usual I had terrible jello legs, and the frozen feet did not help either. They were both cold and asleep so all together I wasn’t feeling great. But the course was short and I just tried to hang in there. The second lap my legs felt better but my stomach was cramping a bit. I felt like I was going too slowly but wasn’t sure I had anymore to give. I picked it up a bit into the finish (always helps to have people cheering you on) and stopped my watch. I was shocked when I saw 22:10! I felt like I was crawling and I was actually going faster than my 10K pace. Those darn jello legs were working pretty well after all. Maybe I am ready for race day!

I was very proud of everyone and especially my mentees. This was a tough first Tri and they all hung in there and did great.

Swim = 600 meters
Bike = 12 miles
Run = 3 miles