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San Diego USWTS - Roxy's First Tri
Hello, Friends!
My first tri was today. It was fantastic. I rode the cycling leg for a relay team and we placed 9th out of 11. Not bad for a bunch of rookies, I think, and our swimmer and runner had only started training two weeks ago.
Okay, so my day really started yesterday at the GoTRIbal Fest. That was a blast. Lots of vendors (I spent way too much money) and great course talks, nutrition talks, transition demonstrations, and so on. I came home all energized about it. I packed my bags and my bike so all I'd have to do this morning was mix my drinks, eat, shower, dress, and go. I'm glad I prepared ahead of time.
I woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep, so I went ahead and got up at 3:30, which got me out of the house at 4:30, even with all of that preparation.
I arrived at 5:03 and I was the first person to rack my bike in my wave, so I got the premium rack spot, right on the end. (See the photo below, orange arrow.)
I need to give a lot of credit to DH here, for setting me up with some great gear. He bought me a ISM Adamo Typhoon seat and it arrived Friday. He fitted it for me on Saturday, and it comes with a handy dandy tri rack-ready hook on the back. I felt like such a pro. He also loaned me his Mavic wheels, Maxxis tires, and Ultegra cassette, and he let me have his Garmin 305 a couple of weeks ago when he upgraded to the 705, so I was feeling totally tricked out.
I pumped up my tires as soon as I arrived, per his instructions, and it was hard to use this pump. I'd never used this particular one before, and I felt like I really had to pump hard to get it to 130lbs pressure, per the gauge. I rolled into transition with it and racked it, then walked around for a while looking at stuff and finding my friends who were coming in here and there. I had six people I know in this race with me, two of whom were my relay team members.
My swim partner arrived and I met her at the rack. It was 6am by now, or maybe a little later, but still dark. I was helping her get into her wetsuit when we heard a loud pop. I thought someone's balloon had popped, but she glanced at my back tire and sure enough, it was flat. Shoot.
I snatched the bike off the rack and headed for the High-Tech Bikes tent, where they were doing pre-race bike checks, airing up tires, and such. I paid out $5 for a new tube and they changed it for me, too, and I had them check the pressure in the front tire, too, just in case I'd overinflated that one as well.
Back to the rack, 6:35 - ten minutes to go before they closed transition. It was getting light by then, so I racked the bike and walked down to the water with Tina. They had a boat showing where the course would run and we watched it. It's a half-mile course, and the announcer was making jokes like "We want to see wakes like that coming from you ladies, too!" It was a great atmosphere. It was nearing 7am when they began the National Anthem. We stood together while that played, then I hugged her and wished her luck and headed back up toward the rack.
Our runner arrived about then and found me. I was so relieved. I thought she might not make it in time (her husband is sick with H1N1 and is quarantined at their house - scary stuff). She is perfectly healthy, though, and was rarin' to go.
We walked back up to the rack to wait for our swimmer and while we were there, I was trying to text DH to see where they were, but I wasn't getting a signal. I heard "Mom!" and looked up to see them walking toward me, just outside the transition area. (See photo below)
We had our round of good lucks and DH helped me tighten my helmet and took the pictures. Our swimmer finished amazingly fast, we switched the chip from her ankle to mine, and I was off. (see below)
I felt great getting onto the bike, and just as I did, I realized I'd forgotten to turn on the Garmin, so I did that and it took over a minute to find the satellites, so my data isn't quite complete, but I only missed a minute and a half or so.
I started out way too fast and had to tell myself to slow down - I was practically sprinting and I wasn't even out on the main road of the course yet. I was passed a lot, but I felt great. I've ridden this course several times before, but always on my mtb, so I was expecting to go a lot faster on my road bike, and I did.
Average speed mtb: 12.9
Average speed road: 14.5
I think I can do better, though. I need to train more.
I was passed sooooooo many times, but a lot of the women who rode past me called out encouragement, which I appreciated. On the windward side of the island, I was riding directly into the headwind and my speed dropped to about 8mph and I was pedaling so hard, even in the granny gear, that I wanted to hurl, and I remembered something someone here (was it TriGirl?) said: "Hammer 'til you puke!" It made me laugh and push on through.
I was even passed by a woman who'd apparently wiped out at some point because her left upper thigh was raw and her helmet was on w-o-n-k-y. I tried to catch up to her to see if she was okay. I saw her shaking her head to resettle her helmet, and it slid down into place, sort of. I couldn't catch her, so she couldn't have been in too bad a shape.
Most of these women were incredibly fit. Seriously. Not skinny. Powerful. Strong. Well-muscled. It was cool to be part of the group (you know, as they flew past me like I was sitting still and called out encouraging words, ha!)
Two laps around Fiesta Island and back to transition. I nearly fell getting off my bike because my legs were so wobbly, but I looked around behind me and I wasn't the only one, so I didn't feel too bad. We all wobbled into transition and I made it back to my rack, switched the chip from my ankle to Runner's and she was off. It took me several minutes to recover, and my swimmer friend stayed with me talking about her swim. She said it was harder than she'd imagined, but lots of fun. She'd do it again.
I got my bike back on the rack and stowed my helmet, gloves, and glasses, and we walked around the running path to cheer everyone on there. We spotted some of our friends, and DD and DH found us and he took more pictures. (I don't have their permission to post them, or I would.)
We all got our medals - they're pretty! - and went out to breakfast at a place called World Famous right on Pacific Beach here, so we got to watch surfers and tourists enjoying the now-sunny day, and mimosas! (I'd never had one before.) I'm so glad the marine layer held out through the end of the race.
That's about it. I performed about how I expected - about 50 minutes for 12 miles. I'm glad the tire exploded on the rack and not on the road.
We're thinking of doing another tri in Palm Desert in April. I need to get some running shoes.
Thank you all for the love and support. I really love being part of this community.
Roxy
Results: 9th overall out of 11 relay teams
Swim: 17:08
T1: :55
Bike: 49:33
T2: 1:08
Run: 30:34
Time: 1:39:17
