First tri complete!

Woohoo! Had the first "mini" sprint tri event today up in Longmont. Long drive and the cops were everywhere! Unfortunately they saw us before we saw them :-( Sorry, Tamera! Luckily, the cop was so efficient at giving out tickets that we were on our way within 5 minutes! Looked like they were getting a lot of experience handing out tickets. Anyway, made it to the YMCA and got checked in. The organizer messed up our registrations and did not put us all together in the last wave, but we survived. It was a very low-key event and unlike the mountain bike races I've done, I didn't feel like I was going to throw up or pee my pants right before the race started! Decided just to work on my form during the swim and not go all out. Was doing great until I looked up at the clock to catch my breath and realized that only 5 minutes had gone by! WHAT? Are you serious! I'm dying out here and I've only been swimming for 5 minutes!! Crazy...

Also decided to try and get that last lap in before the whistle blew and got 1 length in and the time was up, so had to swim the whole length back while everyone else was already getting out of the pool! Shared a lane with Melissa, and we did alright. I was a little nervous sharing, but I think it works out better when you just split the lane instead of trying to trail each other counter-clockwise. I only felt Mel's hand once, but Tamera said she thinks she kicked her lane partner! Luckily they had lap counters for each swimmer because I lost count after only a couple of laps. We had 10 minutes to transition and I think I'm the only one who actually grabbed my conditioner and rinsed out my hair! That will be one advantage of an open water swim - no chlorine!

Next, on to the bike portion. They had spin bikes with a preset tension and speedometers, so you could tell how fast/how many miles you were doing. They took mileage at every 5 minutes. It was hard to know how much to push yourself on the bike so I stayed on the conservative side and tried to just keep a decent pace. I didn't want to get done and have wet noodles for legs as the run is not a strong suit of mine.

We had 5 minutes to transition to the run, so it was a nice break to hydrate and grab a couple of grapes and some gatorade. I thought for sure I was going to get a cramp from drinking so much while riding, but I only got a small one and managed to run the whole time. There were only 8 people to a wave, so the groups were relatively small and a little encouraging. I think the volunteers could have done a better job encouraging people. They pretty much just sat upstairs at 1 turn of the indoor track and counted your laps for you. No words of encouragement except for the few people running past - yes, I got lapped a few times, but I was just happy to still be running after all of that and I felt so good I managed to sprint the last lap! Again, glad someone was counting because I lost track after 13. It always amazes me how the mind seems to wander to different thoughts when doing a sport. You couldn't wear headphones on the run, so I had no music to listen to and you'd think you'd be able to concentrate enough to count laps, but so many things go thru your head. "Should I pass this guy? No, then I'll have to go faster." "Ooh, starting to get a cramp. Should I walk? No, push through it." "Wow, running around this tiny track is kinda boring and so many right turns are making my right shin hurt!" "Will someone please rescue that screaming baby in the nursery!" "Wonder if these people are sick of counting everytime I run by?" "I wonder how much these girls train that have lapped me 4 times?" "Wow, my left heel is not hurting - this is great!!" "Wow, only 3 more minutes, let's see how many laps I can do!" Time!! "Wow, that's it - that was fun!!"


And after a nice lunch a nap would have been very welcome if it weren't for the hour and a half long drive home! All in all, a great day and a good pre-season warm up. We have decided that we'd like to do our own 1 hr tri's each month until our next event because it was such good practice. That gives us one in April and one in May. Next event is in June. Can't wait!!

Thanks to Tamera for remembering her camera! Pic is : Melissa, Erica, Tamera.