The Third Triathlon

 

Last weekend I competed in my third triathlon and it went fantastic! This race was the one to replace the crappy memory of last year's olympic distance race. I chose to do the sprint knowing that I wouldn't have a ton of time to train and that it would most likely be pretty darn hot. And I'm glad that I did! 

I was scheduled to start swimming at 7:35AM and we had a whole 2-3 minutes to spare after getting my transition set up, a bathroom break and a heavy application of sunscreen. This was the first race that I got to wear a full wetsuit and man am I glad that I took the plunge and purchased it. It kept me so much warmer than the sleeveless one and the buoyancy difference was significant.  Last year, I had a huge struggle with the swim. It felt like it never ended, I was freezing the entire time and because of being so cold I had cramping as soon as I got on the bike. This year...much different. I was cold but warmed up quickly, it was a relatively quick swim and I was much warmer when I had gotten out of the water.

Heading into the water! I'm in there somewhere ;)

 

After my swim, I took about 4 minutes in transition and moved onto the bike pretty quickly. I did my best to keep my legs moving as fast as possible and to just get my breathing in order. We had a hill immediately out of the gate but then it was mostly rolling hills up to the turn around. Like I said, I did not have a ton of time to train for this race. I tried to get a bike and swim in each week as well as my running for the half marathon we have next week. I was very grateful that the few biking sessions I had done were very hill heavy! You can always tell when people didn't train on hills. They would pass me on the downhill and I would pass them on the uphill. Always a good feeling! 

 Annnddd now onto the last leg, the run! I was the most apprehensive about this portion because I have had injury after injury for the past several months. I was dealing with IT band pain just the day before and was not thrilled about having to push myself to think of my form and landing throughout the 3 miles. That and of course I dealt with cramps immediately after T2 -_-. It certainly didn't help that the first 1.5mi were on a really crappy dirt trail. I believe I came close to tripping and twisting my ankle at least 4-5 times. Once we hit the pavement I was able to find my stride and the only issue I was having was with my side cramps. But coming into the finish line I was blinded (in the best possible way) by Niki's signs and was able to sprint that last little bit which felt fantastic!

I seriously have the BEST cheering team. Niki and her husband were there, my handsome fiance was there (though he's kind of required to be), and Chris' parents are always there to cheer me to the finish. I can't tell you how much cheering helps. You realize that if you don't push hard, they came out for nothing and that they love you and want to succeed so why not shoot for it? It's by far one of my favorite parts about racing.

And now the next thing on the calendar is the OC Half Marathon next weekend. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am thoroughly looking forward to getting it over with. I miss riding my bike, I'm pretty annoyed with running and I want to start BBG back up again. One more week!