I'm a triathlete!!! (and random sidenotes)

Go Ironbabes!

So, first off, thank you for praying that I wouldn't get a flat bike tire. I didn't. Now, ironically, what I should have asked you to pray about was not getting a car flat tire on the way to the race. Yeah, nothing like two women in tri-gear changing a flat on Hwy 59 at 5:20am. Oh, and to get to the donut, we had to remove the bikes and bike rack...and the lugnuts?...well, Erin pulled up on the tire iron and I pushed down...which resulted in my head-butting the hood of my car when the nut gave way. Nice (no, it didn't leave a mark). One person stopped...AFTER we were done of course :). But, that being said, we managed to take care of everything (bikes off, tire off, donut on, bikes on) in 15minute-ish. Not bad! Teamwork rocks! (and I am now the proud, yet financially reluctant, owner of 4 new tires...the others were looking pretty shoddy too).

Post-race, even the donut decided to deflate...we found a gas station to rectify the situation

So here are my race stats and below are my observations, comments, etc on each event (full photo album is at the end of this post)

Age group rank (25-29): 46/60
Overall rank: 255/363 (not sure on how many women there were)
Swim: 8:54
Transition 1: 2:51
Bike: 42:21
Transition 2: 1:35
Run: 32:29

Total: 1:28:03 (for some perspective, the first place gal in my age group (Dana) got around 1:04:59)

The Swim (300yds):

So swimming with 50+ people? You can't swim...not really...its more like "don't get smacked under the water by another swimmer" (or trying to avoid the gal who decides to backstroke OVER you...I really wanted to dunk her...of course, good sportsmanship won out :) ). Lesson learned? Get at the front of the pack of swimmers when you line up. I breaststroked almost the entire course because I needed to see where I was going...granted, I did my own share of kicking and bonking people in the back, arms, legs, etc...unintentional of course. Its bound to happen when you have that many bodies in the water. But I felt good after the swim...I know I can go faster.

Lisa, me, Erin, and Dana (who took first in the 25-29 age group!)

The Bike (11 miles):

Lesson learned? Don't fall off the bike when mounting it. Granted, I did mount the bike just fine, but when the lady next to me brushed against me as she mounted, being the bike newbie that I am, I panicked and fell over...took her down too...oops...but thankfully she recovered more gracefully (ie her body did not make contact with the ground). I felt good on the bike- it was my best time ever at this distance, and as I get more comfortable on the bike, I will increase my speed. However, I do need to learn how to drink out of my water bottle while on the bike. I was too afraid to take my hands off the handle bars and was sooo thirsty...this led to a slight hitch in my run...

Gee, thanks Stacy for catching the fall on camera ;-)

The Run (3 miles):

I am pleased with this time...under an 11 minute mile and that includes about 0.5 miles of walking due to a severely sharp, high-up on the ribs, cramp. The cramp can be blamed on my inhaling (read: gulping) an entire glass of Gatorade at mile 1- due to said lack of fluid intake during the bike. I never drink this much at once when I run and it bit me, hard. But I still managed to sprint at the end, so lesson learned.

Crossing the Finish Line!

Thanks to Stacy, Stephanie, and Melissa for coming out to cheer us on (and taking the pictures!)

Bottom line? I'm going to sign up for the Hi-Fi Tri in Galveston in October: 500yd swim, 19 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. I think I like tris (grin). Check out Lisa's blog for her story.

Full album:

Ironbabe Triathlon