Teigyr beat me to it

[HeatherErin]

She was online posting yesterday while I was laying on the couch with the cats.

Despite the shorter swim, this one wiped me out. The rain was kind enough to hold out until the afternoon. I'm bound and determined to do a tri in the sunshine, though! Brrr.

A lot of chop and a lot of bumping during the swim. It sucked as much as the last one but it was shorter so it sucked for less time. I swear the swim might be the death of my triathlon experience, but I'll keep at it for the time being. I was far from the last person out of the water so yay for me.

I considered the bike cruel and unusual punishment. At least until I got to the last few miles. I had driven the course the day before so I knew what to expect, but still, while riding, I kept thinking, "I don't remember this hill being THIS LONG, or THIS STEEP." It's alot easier in the car. My time was sad, but after I got back to the transition area I really felt like I had accomlished something. I was proud of myself.

The run was tough at first - don't like going uphill right away - but I passed my sister and friends cheering for me and that gave me a boost. I ran/walked the last half with a very nice woman named Sabrina. We pushed each other to keep running and generally encouraged each other. I improved my run time by almost four minutes over my last tri! I was happy with that.

I saw Teigyr in T1 and hollered at her during the run. We encouraged each other with promises of beer after. In the end I was tired but happy.

[Kimmyt]

Congrats!

... did you get your beer?

[KSH]

Sounds like you had some fun out there! Well, some torture and some fun. HA!

Yes, hills are much smaller in a car than they are on a bike. That's nice that you found a friend on the run. I always enjoy the run more when that happens.

Congratulations on your first race! Great job!

[teigyr]

Beer was obtained

That bike course was nasty. I've done a lot of centuries, etc., in my past life and I have to say that is one of the most challenging things I've ever ridden. While I guess some people do tri's to have major challenges, it would be nice to have had the hills that were kind to mere mortals. I have never felt my legs burn so much nor have I had so many swear words go through my mind at any point in time. The hills also snuck up on you, there would be flat parts then a sharp corner and THERE would be the immediate incline. Was difficult to prepare in advance for gearing, etc.

HeatherErin did incredible though!!! I saw her briefly on the run and she looked really strong. And most importantly, despite the heinous swim cap color, she looked fabulous

[mimitabby]

where was this nasty bike ride?

[teigyr]

Kirkland. I can let you know the exact route if you'd like torture! It would have been a good but difficult training ride. I know it went by Washington Technical College at one point. For the first 8 miles it was hill after hill with not much by way of downhill. In exchange, the final miles were ALL downhill but that was no consolation early on. It wouldn't be a bad training route, all roads appeared to have bike lanes and I bet traffic wouldn't be that bad.