Batavia Sprint Tri Report
Sunday was the Batavia Sprint Triathlon – my first tri in a couple of years, and what I consider my first “real” tri. You know, with guys and stuff. My previous tri had training wheels – an all women’s race geared towards newbies.
So anyway, I didn’t train specifically for this race and basically signed up for it because I’d been yammering to everyone that I was going to do it. I should probably note the last time I was in the pool was, let’s see: March 30th. It’s like riding a bike, right?
I knew the swim would be my problem area, I just didn’t realize the monkey wrench Mother Nature would toss my way: it was cold Sunday. Not snowing cold, but chilly. I wondered just how cold the water would be. I didn’t have to ponder long because in the transition area this obnoxious, devilishly gleeful man with a bullhorn was broadcasting the water temps every 17 seconds. “In case you were wondering, the official water temperature is 62 degrees. 62 degrees”.
I looked around to see who else was dumb enough to be at the race without a wetsuit and there were quite a few. At least I’m not the only idiot. Besides, 400 meters…I was confident I wouldn’t die of hypothermia in 400 meters.
After about 45 minutes of standing around in a jog bra and shorts, it was my turn to jump in the water. Despite conning, cajoling, sweet-talking and convincing myself it “wouldn’t be that bad”, nothing could’ve really prepared me for the shock of diving headfirst into 62 degree water. Let’s just say…you haven’t lived until you’ve tried it once.
The swim was more of a swim-run activity – the water was very shallow at both ends of the quarry (2 laps = 400 meters) so I ran about ½ the swim. I was secretly glad I hadn’t spent hours in the pool for this race. All those treadmill miles, however, were really paying off on the swim.
The bike was awesome and I knew it would be. 14.6 miles on rolling hills and a bit of a headwind on the way back. I cruised through and made a game out of it – I was going to ride hard and see if anyone passed me. No one did until the very end, literally in the dismount area (*** clown), so I’m not counting him. Besides I immediately re-passed him on the run.
The run was…interesting. I hadn’t anticipated the only real drama of the run. My feet were frozen. Like I couldn’t even feel them frozen. I guess that’s what happens when you swim in ice water and then hop on a bike in well ventilated shoes for 45 minutes. I just went through the motions of running and tried not to trip and it seemed to work really well. The run was over before I could even warm up and then I was done. My first tri in a couple of years and my first one with, you know, guys and stuff.
STATS
2/14 F30-34
12/127 Females
146/410 Combined Male/Female
“Swim” 400 Meters 7:29
Bike 14.6 miles 45:30 19.4 mph
Run 4.1 miles 33:01 8:04 pace
1:31:54 total time w/ transitions!!!
