The little engine that could
Message posted by: Yvette L.
Well, the DQ Kings Grant Triathlon was this morning, my first triathlon. I finished in 1:41:01, which was about what I expected, though the splits were not what I expected . I dont have the official splits yet, but basically, this is how it went down:
The swim was good, in a lake that became murky with 230 swimmers in 4 waves, and it was warm enough to do without a wetsuit. I was in wave #3, and I finished the swim in about 12-14 minutes, as expected. I kept saying to myself, âœI can do this.â I felt like The Little Engine That Could.
T1 was fairly quick, maybe 6-7 minutes, and the bike ride was faster than I expected. I was on my Trek hybrid, and most of the other riders passed me, but I was satisfied with my 14-15 mph performance. The course consisted of three laps on local roads, fairly flat. The ride felt good, and at no time did I feel that it was too much, that I needed to encourage myself onward. Finish time was about 40 minutes, which was faster than I usually bike during training. Note to self: I should be able to improve my time by about 10 minutes with the purchase of a road bike, bike shoes, etc. Thatâ™s on the agenda for September, after I move to Boston.
T2 was very fast — I wore the same sneakers for both bike and run, so the transition consisted of racking my bike, taking off my helmet, and taking a hit from my albuterol inhaler. When I returned, the dude in the rack next to mine had straightened out my stuff and even put my inhaler on my bike seat. Nice guy–even though he had finished the tri before I had even arrived for T2, he was there cheering me on as I crossed the finish line. Too bad Iâ™m moving in 3 weeksâ¦
The run was less than satisfactory. A bit of a side track: I have hip displasia in my left hip, and until a little over a year ago, had trouble walking some days. Lots of PT has helped strengthen the muscles and work to correct its position in the socket, and my progress gave me the encouragement to become a triathlete, but I still have to be very careful about walking on rough uneven surfaces and still have a habit of tripping if I donâ™t watch my steps–I have been known to trip on linoleum. Anyway, I started out slowly on the run, figuring I would pick up the pace about a half-mile in, once my legs were no longer rubbery from the bike ride. Well, at that point on the course, the road ended and the course entered an unpaved, uneven, rocky and root infested trail through the woods! This was very unexpected! After running 200 yards on the trail, I stumbled twice on roots/rocks/etc. and decided that it wasnâ™t worth it to run and risk not finishing at all. So I walked the two miles of trails and let all the other runners pass me. I learned later that several runners did indeed trip and sprain their ankles and three or four didnâ™t finish. I ran the last half mile that was again on pavement, and triumphantly crossed the finish line. I placed first among entrants named Yvette.
I will pack up my bike tomorrow morning, to be picked up by the movers with the rest of my household on Friday. I’ll see her again after Labor Day, but she probably will be relegated to the bike rack while I play with my new toy. I saw this beautiful Feltâ¦
And this off-season, in addition to training on the new bike, I will put major efforts into my running, which, even if it had been on pavement for this tri, would have only been the difference of about 10 minutes.
Thanks to y’all for your encouragement and support!
To view the rest of the post or comment on the post, please log-in to www.ontri.com