500m Swim, 15 Mile Bike, 3.1 Mile Run
My time: 1:41:37
First of all.. there wasn't anything sweet about this race except for the ice cream at the after party.
My mom and I left Round Rock a 4:30am to head out to Spicewood. It was quite dark out there. And my friend Terri was there so I was thrilled about that.
The lake: Supposedly it had half the water its suppose to have. Here's my thought. If a million fish live in the nice big lake.. when all the water dries up where do the fish go? Please tell me they aren't all condensed in the remaining water. Gross.
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The Swim: Needless to say I was not comfortable in the water. I didn't like it one bit. I didn't do a single stroke of freestyle. I did breast stroke the entire time. Gotta say, I must rock at breast stroke. I came in 9th out of 81 people on the swim. The swim was not out and back it was point to point and as I was about half way done I thought "I wonder if my mom is walking along the shore following us". Sure enough, I look over to the side and there she was. So I waved. She could easily pick me out since I was the only fool doing breast stroke. I saw something every interesting on the swim...I saw a girl actually swim over another girl. For some reason they were crossing paths despite us swimming in a straight line. They were both right in front of me. They ran into each other and did the thing where you dart back and forth because you dont know which way the other person is going. Finally, one girl just basically climbed over the other girl. The girl that got swam over had a look of disgust on her face. I decided to breast stroke right passed them. I figured I better get out of their way before I get swam over. Oh, at the start I got slapped on top of the head by someone. It was funny. Wouldn't have been funny if she knocked my goggles off though. I would have swam over her if she did that.
The Dash: What is a "Dash" you say? Its what occurs when the lake is so low that you have to run 1/2 mile to get to transition. Not only that, you have to run uphill on rocks and what used to be the bottom of lake. This triathlon was definitely a 4 sport event. The 4th sport being off road / rock climbing / sand running. ALL IN FLIP FLOPS. This is no easy task. I actually walked for a few minutes and I try to NEVER walk during a race. But the swim killed me and then running up pile of rocks in flip flops was the kicker.
T1: The transition from Swim/ rock climbing into Bike. I ranked 223 out of 495 overall OUCH (16 out of 81 in my age group). Turns out I shouldn't be wasting time putting deodorant on. Who knew ;) I also had to make sure I got every grain of sand off my feet because I wasn't about to do the run with a beach in my sneakers. Oh ya, I threw some Bengay on my back before the ride to try to mask the massive back pain the bike causes me. Worked for awhile. I actually thought a small fire broke out on my back because I thought it was reacting with the sunscreen. Plus the sun beating down didn't help. The good news is that my back only hurt somewhat.
The Bike: Ok so I totally got whooped on the bike. I thought I was doing great for about 10 minutes and then everyone started passing me. I was in the first wave (ages 29 and under) so when I saw 40 somethings passing me I knew I was in trouble because they started the race about 15 minutes later than I did. I have been trying to convince my wonderful husband to let me get aero bars and bike shoes and clip pedals - this should increase my time considerably. But, as usual I was one of the only fools out there on my bike in running shoes. I guess that makes me appreciate my final ranking more knowing that I worked a lot harder on that portion of the race. But, I seriously got WHOOPED on the bike. It was sooo hilly. My last 3 races were in Houston and I had forgotten what hills were. Hills = not fun. Don't get me wrong, I can run up a hill but biking is a different story. I really need to start training. Seriously. I gotta stop winging it race to race. Actually it might have been a good thing I wasn't in 1st place on the bike because the volunteers were actually yelling at people to dismount after one lap. The course was 2 laps, 7.5 miles each. So, some people got screwed because of that. But they probably still beat me despite dismounting and whatnot. Oh, when I finished the bike I actually missed the turn for dismount because no volunteers were telling me what to do- so I had to turn around. Ugh. Bike result = 58 minutes, 15.4 avg pace. I ranked 145/495 overall and 18/81 in my age group.
T2: I threw on my race belt which would later be malfunctioning through the run and I headed for the run start. Good thing I heard my mom yell "HELMET"! Ooops, I started running with my helmet on. I had to run back to my transition and put my helmet back. I attempted to throw it to my spot and of course failed so I had to run over there and nicely place it on my spot. How embarrassing would that be to actually have started the run and realize like 1/2 mile that you are still wearing your helmet. That would make some hilarious pictures :) My T2 time was 1:08. 99 overall and 23 in my division. Looks like besides the bike that transitions are still my weakest link. Stupid helmet.
The Run: Helmet free I started running. Man was it HOT. And I teach boot camps at 5:30pm and it doesn't bother me. So you know its HOT when I say HOT. I didn't realize this wasn't a road run but more like a trail run. There was no even ground to be found. The choice was to run on loose sand or very very bumpy compacted sand/rock mixture. I did the scary ankle roll thing twice. The hills on the run didn't bother me at all but the uneven ground sure did. So did the dusty air. I have some nice shin splints complimentary of the Sweet and Twisted Tri. 3 people passed me on the run and I passed about 10. I think only 3-4 of which were in my age group. When I finally saw the finish line I tried to pick up my pace and I knew at that moment the asthma attack was inevitable. But I also knew it wouldn't hit until I came to a stop. So, I just cranked it up and finished strong. Then BAM the wheezing began. But luckily it was a small attack and didn't last too long and I didn't FULLY loose my breath, just about 3/4. I actually finished 2nd in my age group on the run and 22nd overall. I can't believe the run is my best event because I am so not a runner. I know I have room for vast improvement in all 3 events. Like the swim especially ;)
My goal was to finish the race in 1:34 but once I saw the distance from the swim to the transition and saw the bike hills I knew I wasn't gonna get that goal. I ended up at 1:41 and got 6th place in my age group and 53rd out of 495 overall. So, if you see Jason tell him I could have placed if I had bike shoes, clips and aerobars.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, was Sweet and Twisted 2009 at Pace Bend Park.
More of the same in Sept except twice as far? Dude Girl 2009 out a Pace Bend Park, do I dare sign up for you?
Wurst Tri Ever next weekend in New Braunfels.
Until the next finish line,
Laura
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