It's the Black Diamond Tri ran by AA Sports. Such a great race!
Well organized, helpful on course signs, and fantastic post-race food.
I've been trying out a Bia watch over the past 2 weeks and used it for me race. I'm still not sure if I love the watch, but here are my splits from the watch report. They are spot on with the race splits.
This tri had some odd distances. The "race" distances were .50 mi, 11 mi, and 2.8. Looks like the GPS in my watch is fairly accurate.
On to the race...
SWIM
I felt ready for the swim. I got in the water. I warmed up....not enough.
The race started and I started to panic. I couldn't breathe. The water was cold (yes, even in my wetsuit). I stuck with my stick near the back strategy and waited for the crowd to clear. All I could do was breast stroke for the first chunk. Still can't breathe. How am I going to get this done. The doubts begin.
Near the first buoy this very sweet girl (who I'm sure saw that I was struggling) says, "It's ok, I'm not a strong swimmer either. We can do this". Her sweet comment really fired me up. I AM a strong swimmer. I took a deep breath and took off. I can do this. I told myself that I could breathe every single stroke but that I had to get my face in the water and start swimming. I swam strong the last 2/3rds of the swim.
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| Feeling tired and accomplished! |
Transition 1- I AM SOO SLOW at this transition. Sigh. It beats my 8 minutes from last year, but it's still badddd.
BIKE
The bike course was beautiful out and back along a country road. Police were directing traffic, making the course feel super safe even through the roads were "open". There were two hills that were challenging. At one point I considered getting off my bike and walking up, but was able to talk myself out of that.
My bike performed just like it should. :) I always spend my race rides worried about some sort of mechanical failure.
At mile 9 I started thinking about my run. I heard my coaches voice telling me to find my easy pace and run the 2.8 mile run. Did I have it in me after the swim and bike? Could I maintain a slow and steady pace?
Felt great after returning from the ride.
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| I was having so much fun! |
RUN
Dismounted, threw on my tank top and started off on the run.
Slow and steady. Find my pace. Run my race.
The run course was twice around the lake. The trail was dirt, but not super technical. There were a few up/down hills. Not my normal sidewalk, city roads conditions that I normal run. I pressed on. I was still running.
First lap done. I didn't walk. Yet.
Second lap started. I decided to walk up this one hill to try and catch my breath so that I could haul to the finish line.
I wanted to stop running around mile 2. There were great direction signs for the run course that just said "runners" with arrows. My new mantra started- runners run. I had to run. I'm a runner. Runners run.
I ran...and ran...and ran. I found and maintained my "easy" pace. I maintained a 13:00-13:30 minute pace for all 2.8 miles.
WHOOP!
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| There are my babies (in the purple and green shirt) cheering mommy on to the finish line! |
I had a great race.
I swam, biked, and ran strong.
I finished with gusto and didn't die post-race.
The little voices that tell me I'm not enough or don't belong were minimal.
I'm not built like an athlete. I did notice how much smaller most of the athletes were than me. It takes a lot more to run 220ish pounds up and down those hills than it does if I weighed 120.
I may not "look" like I triathlete, but I am one.
Highlights of the race were racing with my friends son and husband. It was her son's 16th birthday.
Who would have guessed 16 years ago that we'd be racing together. The other BIG win for the day was that the husband and the kids were there for the entire race. We were all up and 6 and off to the race. I love them SO much! I could not do this without their support.
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| Best support crew in town! |
~Kari
