Exceeding Expectations

At the annual family reunion, I was discussing my affection for triathlons with an uncle of Wade's.  He kept asking why I did them if there was no chance of me winning.  He was wondering if I could actually win one if I hired a coach and if I put in more time training.

In short, he thought it was silly that I would pay money and devote time (but apparently not enough time) to something that I knew I wasn't going to win.

I sorta shrugged it off, but the truth is that the conversation has bothered me for most of the summer.  I was signed up to do my annual triathlon out here in Stansbury, but I knew I wasn't going to win.  And I did spend some time wondering if I was just wasting time and money.

But, oh well.  I love the race and I love the competition and I'll probably keep doing it because of those factors and not because I have any hope of winning.

So Saturday was the annual triathlon.  I had one goal--take 1st place in  the age category.  Since it's such a small event, it's the same competitors--more or less--every year.  For example, I know who the top three women are going to be.  And there's no glimmer of hope to break into the top three.  But, my main competitor in the age category had taken the year off to have a baby--the joys of being in the 20-29 age group--and I figured this was my year to take the top seat there at least.

Last year, I was pretty middle ground in all three events.  I was expecting the same thing this year.  I had put more time on the bike but I wasn't expecting any big leaps in that area.  I had a specific time goal for the bike, but it was pretty lofty and dependable on weather conditions being perfect.

So Saturday, it was a gorgeous--windy--morning.  Wind not really being your friend in the biking department, but at least it wasn't raining like last year.  I arrived at the lake, pumped up and ready to go.  My parents came out to watch and took some  good pictures for me.

This is my training buddy, C (the other one, H, was out of town).

I had borrowed a wetsuit from a friend to see if that really helped in the water.  The jury is still out, but part of the problem was that it wasn't a triathlon-specific suit. 

Wetsuits have a way of making everyone look hot!

There were two waves of swimmers and I was in wave 2.  Wave 1 started and then we got into the lake to get ready for our turn.

About three minutes after the first wave of swimmers left, the buzzer went off for us to go.  I had forgotten to take off my watch and lost it in the first 5 seconds of the swim. :(  But, overall, the swim went as well as can be expected.  It's the event that's the toughest for me.  I did a little bit better than last year, but not as well as I had wanted.  I'm not sure what the key to becoming a better swimmer is, but I'm going to have to research it. 

I swam along, gulping lake water like it was fresh spring water and praying that the ducks that had so serenely passed us right before we started didn't lay anything fresh in the water. 

On the last straightaway I finally found my groove and was able to pass the guy that I had been swimming neck to neck with the entire way.  Eventually I made my way to the shore and the race was on.

Hey where is everyone else?

The funny thing about triathlons are those silly transitions.  You can know what you're suppose to do in your mind, but unless you practice the transitions, you really don't know.

And since I didn't practice those silly transitions, we can all guess how I did in those.

The swim to bike transition was a little chaotic.  I had to peel of the wetsuit, put on my clothes (Ha!  Made you look.  No I wasn't nekkid under the wetsuit, I was wearing bikini bottoms and a sports bra), put on my biking shoes and my helmet and get going on the bike.

The top ladies--40 seconds.  Me? 2:48.  Could use some work here.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I left on my bike.

Just a reminder:  My bike was one of the cheapest road bikes I could find anywhere.  I wrote about it and the reasons why I chose it here.  And I can't say that I've been disappointed in my bike, but I do know there are a lot better bikes out there. 

So off I went on my bike.  The wind had started back up and it was a little hard to get in a groove, but it really helped that there were cops and crossing guards at all intersections so I didn't even have to slow down and obey traffic laws.  It also helped that I knew the course like the back of my hand.  I could ride it with my eyes closed.  To date, my fastest time on the course was 41:40 (12 miles).  I was really hoping to go sub-40 minutes for the race, but I figured with the wind, it was a long shot. 

I had six friends doing the triathlon with me this year.  When I left on my bike, there were four ahead of me on their bikes.  I passed two of them on the course and started thinking it would be cool (for me, not them) if I passed the other two on the bike even though they were (a) in the first wave of swimmers, so an automatic 3 minute head start and (b) considerably better swimmers than me.  So they had about a 7 minute headstart. So I hunkered down and rode as fast as I could.  I passed one more and caught sight of the last one right at the turn around.  It took a little bit to catch up with her because it was downhill, but at 28 mph I did.  I passed her and then just kept chugging along.  As I was coming down the last little bit, I realized that I was going to be really close to breaking my 40 minute time goal. 

As I crested the last little hill, I saw my mom and waved at her.  She just kept looking at me and then it finally dawned on her that it was me and she did manage to snap a picture of me coming in on my bike.

Here's another funny thing:  Somewhere in the last few miles of the bike ride, I made the conscious decision to push it as hard as I could despite knowing that I would probably pay for it in the run.  It was then that I knew I had crossed over into a true racer. 

You see, beforehand, I would've ridden more conservatively so that I could save some energy for the run.  However, as any true racer will tell you, sometimes reaching a time goal within the race is more important than doing your "best" overall.  And I wanted a sub-40 minute ride more than I wanted a few minutes (seconds?) shaved off my run.  I had a good grasp of who my competition was for 1st in the age category and provided that there wasn't someone lurking ahead of me I had discounted, I pretty much knew I had it in the bag.

And I did it, crossing at 39:23. 

The bike-run transition was another slow one (top ladies: 40ish seconds again, me: 2:11).  I was really winded and my asthma was flaring up.  So I took my time to get going on the run.  And then I ended up having to walk up the first hill and then walking a little more because my legs were cramping up from the bike.

The run course had us run to the elementary school, run around the parking lot, and then run back to the clubhouse.  At about a mile into the run, I started seeing the top ladies coming back.  I was really excited for them  and waved and shouted encouragement like I was a freakin' parade attendee.  I was a little miffed that no one was returning my sentiments.  So to entertain myself I was counting how many women had come by.  I was at #5 when I turned to go to the elementary school and it dawned on me that unless there was a herd of women hanging out in the turn  around spot, I was in the top ten of the women finishers.  Top ten?!?  #6 and #7 passed and then I was running around the parking lot and headed back to the finish line. 

I didn't really think much about my possible top ten finish because there's no way to know depending on swim times and bike times.  Really, all I wanted was the 1st place in the 20-29 age group.

I headed back to the finish line, where Wade managed to snap a picture of me with BOTH feet off the ground.  Except for I still have what he lovingly refers to as chicken wings.  While I crossed the finish line 3 minutes faster than last year's run, it certainly wasn't my fastest run on that particular course.

At the finish line, they handed me my official finishing card.  I immediately honed in on what I wanted: 1st in women (20-29).  And then I caught a glimpse at my overall placing: 8th!

I was 8th OVERALL for the women.  Out of 54 women.  Un-freakin-real.

I got my medal, sharing the podium with two friends:

Of the seven of us, four of us took home medals!

Afterwards, I looked up the results online and found that I was the 6th FASTEST woman on the bike.  The 6th!  Though my swimming times and running times were pretty dismal, I'm still stoked that I was the 6th fastest woman on the bike.  I guess we know what event is my forte.  And where I need to concentrate.  And this proved my theory that you can make up some serious time in the biking portion of a triathlon.