You can read my first race recap here.

When I initially ran the triathlon idea by Bryan I presented the dates as a one or the other type situation. I.e. I’d like to try this, and these are the two dates. His response?

“Don’t lie, you want to do both”.

“No, no” I claimed “I don’t even know if I’m going to like it, I really just want to do one or the other.”

Who was I kidding?

Do I look nervous? I am.
Do I look nervous? I am. Also, my swim cap is super sexy.

The Swim

Distance: .3 (i.e. eleventy billion) miles

Sprint 1 time: 17:51

I had two goals this time. First, don’t panic. Second, don’t finish last.

I actually did a swim warm up this time, and I’m honestly not sure if it helped. I did figure out over the last couple of weeks that I tend to veer towards the left for whatever reason, so I started all the way to the right of the group, and in the back. I knew I wasn’t going to be fast and I figured it would help me avoid getting kicked. Still, standing in the water waiting for the horn to go off, the buoys seemed REALLY far away. Did they place them further out this time? I think they did.

Either the number of laps that I calculated in the pool as .3 miles is way off, or swimming in open water really is a totally different thing, because I was still slow as molasses. The good news is, I managed to not panic, and kept my eye on the bouys enough that I didn’t veer way off course this time.

And I finished second to last (2 seconds behind third to last), so I considered it a win.

Those buoys look awfully far away
Its really a 80 trillion mile swim

Sprint 2: 17:22

Transition 1:

Sprint 1: 2:01

I would have managed a shorter transition time, except I ended up having issues getting my shirt and number on, so that cost me 10-15 seconds. At least I didn’t have to walk this time.

Sprint 2: 1:58

The Bike

Distance: 12 miles

Sprint 1: 42:28

I pumped a bit of extra air in my tires right beforehand this time. I’m told more air = less friction = faster time. The logic makes sense assuming  you don’t pump so much air that you blow your tires, because that definitely isn’t going to help your time.

I think it also helped that I was familiar with the course this time and expected the sharp turns. I was still passed by about 50 people on fancier bikes (on your left! yeah, you and everyone else!), however, not only did I pass a few mountain/hybrid bikers, I also managed to pass 5 road bikers!

My dopey bike and stupid got messed up shirt
My dopey bike and stupid got messed up shirt

Sprint 2: 40:41

Apparently there is some truth to the tire thing.

Transition 2

Sprint 1: 49 seconds

The girl next to me put her bike on the rack crooked so it took me a little more time to put mine back. Otherwise it was pretty uneventful.

Sprint 2: 48 seconds

The Run

Distance: 3.1 miles

Sprint 1: 25:56

I find it interesting that, even with all my years of running, by the time I get about halfway through the bike I wonder how much energy I’m going to have left to run when I’m done. I pushed myself a bit more with this bike, too, because I had this back and forth thing going with another girl in my age group (on a road bike) and purposely pedaled faster to get in front of her because I was annoyed that we were so close.

Anyway, I knew that I’d psych myself out either way if I paid attention to my pace (either be annoyed I was running slower than I thought or nervous I was starting out too fast if I was going faster) so I only watched the distance on my watch and ran the 5k by feel.

It was a good call, apparently.

Sprint 2: 25:06

We win! (he won first)
We win! (he won first)

Final Standings

Sprint 1: 1:29:01

Sprint 2: 1:25:53

Age Group: 9/14

Overall Female: 55/106

Swim Overall: 99/106 (told you I swim like molasses)

Bike Overall: 62/106 (not bad for a hybrid bike)

Run Overall: 25/106 (hey! this is actually pretty good!)

With some swim lessons and a better bike, I think I could be competitive in my age group next year.

Wait, did I just say next year?