Until this spring, when a friend nudged me to enter my first ever IRONMAN event. IM AZ Nov 15, 2015. It's been on my bucket list for awhile and this year seemed the perfect one to tackle it.
So I've been training swim-bike-run since late April and decided I'd better go and do a few triathlons to get myself back into the mode.
The first was Lake to Lake, an olympic distance tri -a few weeks ago in Loveland. It did not go well. Upon entering the lake for the swim, my wetsuit seemed to constrict around me and I hyperventilated. I struggled to keep myself in the water and not just bail out on a kayak. I had a panic attack the entire 1500m, mostly doing head-up breaststroke or backstroke. Not a good way to resume my multisport racing career. I was nearly last out of the lake. I took my frustrations out on the 30mile bike, earning the Strava QOM on that portion. Then I suffered through the 10k run -my longest to that point - and finished a humbling 9th place in my AG.
Last weekend I competed in the Rocky Mountain State Games sprint triathlon. This one went MUCH better ...
This time I resolved no matter what to actually swim the swim, versus just survive the swim. My focus paid off, as I actually began catching swimmers from the group that had started before us. I exited the water with a not-totally-awful time (granted it was only a 750m swim so...) , and then proceeded to crush the 10mile bike, which was fairly technical with lots of turns and consisted of 3 laps of roughly 3.3 miles each. There was also a nice little punchy climb on each lap that I tackled with vigor, passing many riders each time.
I exited the bike leg into T2 with the woman who would go on to beat me in my age group. The run has notoriously been my weakest leg, and tho I tried to keep her in sight she ended up putting :30sec into me over the course of the 5k run. However I was pleased with my time both on the run and overall, and couldn't complain about my performance. I was the 7th woman overall.
I was pleased to podium in this race- the first triathlon or event that involves running, that I've ever podiumed in. It changes my mindset, from being a finisher, to being a competitor. There is a fine line between pushing oneself too hard into injury, and pushing oneself hard enough to leave it all on the race course. This is a line I'm still learning to navigate back in these "unfamiliar waters" of triathlon.
Sadly, my fellow AG racers didn't stay for awards so I was solo in 2nd place on the podium--
