A few Saturdays ago, I competed in my 9th triathlon, my 1st since Ironman 70.3 Augusta. I did the
, hosted by
. This was my 2nd ever triathlon back in 2013, which you can read about
. This race is always a sprint distance, but this year it was especially short, which I liked.
Photo credit: Team Magic
200 yard swim: 4:31 (2:28 per 100/m pace)
Man, I really hate a pool swim. You can't get around people, you can't push off the wall, you have to swim under the ropes. Bleh. But I did okay. I definitely did better than what is now known as
.
T1: 4:14
This is the time it took me to get out of the pool, run to transition, put on my bike shoes, helmet, gloves, Garmin, sunglasses, etc. and run my bike out of transition and onto the bike course. My brain forgets that these transitions are part of the race, so I tend to loiter. I could be faster.
Photo credit: Team Magic
9.6 mile bike ride: 35:08 (16.4 mph pace)
This is the fastest I've ridden in a race, just barely beating my time from
last summer. And it felt fast. Nine miles seemed so short that I decided to just blow it out and if I died, I died. Unfortunately, it was pouring, so I slowed down on the turns to avoid crashing and scraping my face skin off. Also? So many people were riding in violation of USAT rules!!! I'd come flying around a corner and there would be people riding 2-3 abreast and I'd have to yell and slow down to get around them. This happened like 3 or 4 times. I was kind of losing my mind. And my voice.
Mile 1: 15.8 mph
Mile 2: 18.7 mph
Mile 3: 16.2 mph
Mile 4: 15.6 mph
Mile 5: 16.2 mph
Mile 6: 18.3 mph
Mile 7: 18.2 mph
Mile 8: 15.7 mph
Mile 9: 17.1 mph
Mile 9.6: 13.5 mph
T2: 1:47
In this transition, you walk your bike back to the rack, hang it, switch shoes, reset your Garmin and run out of transition onto the run course. At my peak, I do this in one minute. Meh.
2 mile run: 20:20 (10:10/mile pace)
I didn't exactly train for this race. I think I did one brick? Turns out, didn't matter! Thanks, muscle memory. I ran this stupid race faster than I run on my best day. Who knows?! Thanks, body!
Total Time: 1:06:01
Lessons Learned:
Lessons learned? I'll tell you what I learned. I, like Maverick, feel the need, the need for speed! That last part was said by Goose. In my head. But seriously, screw long distance. I'm on the sprint bus now and I'm going to ride it to the end of the line!
The women in my age group who beat me, finished at 52:00-55:00, which I'm not too far behind. I could have easily shaved 7 minutes off my time to come in at under an hour. Looks like someone needs to practice her transitions...
Looking Ahead:
I'm doing the
on June 6. It's also a sprint distance race, but it's longer than Cedars. It's a 0.6 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 4 mile run.
, it took me about 2 hours. Last year it was hot as blazes and I almost heart-attacked out during the run. Hopefully that won't happen again. I also lost my front tooth in a sandwich last year, so I
really
hope that doesn't happen.
Cedars Of Lebanon Triathlon:
Swim: 4:31
T1: 4:14
Bike: 35:08
T2: 1:47
Run: 20:20
Total: 1:06:01
14th Age Group (35-39)
As always, thanks to Team Magic for putting on a great race! And thanks to John, Susi and Janet for standing in a monsoon for an hour to cheer me on!