2nd Triathlon in the books!

Tdisckree- 19th 2hours 26minutes 55 seconds
Tdiscpye- 22nd 2hours 30minutes 40 seconds

As I stood in the water waiting for the horn to go off I thought to myself "Why do I do these friggen things?"

I woke up at about 5:15 am and was on the road by 5:30. My preparation the night before was a huge benefit to me. I just got up and put on my triathlon outfit and packed all my equipment and left. I didn't feel very well...I was feeling tired and kinda sick to my stomach. That worried me a little bit.

I really became on edge when I arrived in parlee beach. It literally turns my stomach when i'm in the transition area getting things set up. When I waded out to the starting line I wanted to puke. It just doesn't get any easier the second time.

The horn went off! I ran a few steps and then dove in the water. The first mouthful of salt water nearly made me gag. Next thing I knew I had veared to far to the left...frig! Back to the right I had to come. The first bouy was quite far in this race so we didn't have the intial crash and bang going around the first turn. My swim went pretty well. I came out of water in 24 minutes. I was quite happy with it but I wasn't feeling that well after taking in a large amount of the water. The run to the transition was brutal!

The bike course consisted of 6 loops. I was terrified of missing or doing to many laps so I really focused on counting them. The first half was quite easy but the back half had a head wind. The good thing about doing a lot of loops is that you become quite familiar with the course. My bike time was great! The run....that's another story!

The feeling you have when you start your run is brutal. You literally feel like your not moving and your legs feel like they are smashing the ground. My biggest problem when I get off the bike is my back gets really tight and I find it hard to breathe. In the run I didn't feel very well for the first 5k but I was able to keep an ok pace. The route went out and back so you were meeting runners on the way back...this really motivated me because I was meeting some of the top guys not far from the turn. Due to the heat I was walking at every water station to make sure I got enough water in to me. The last 2.5k I knew I was going to make it so I really put the hammer down. In the last 300m I noticed someone coming up on me relatively fast so I picked it up to almost a sprint...to the point of nearly puking. As I crossed the mat I looked back to see him making the turn for the second 5k! Oh well...made for a bit quicker time.

Doing triathlons is an addiction. As I sit here today I can't help but think about how close I was to breaking the top 20 and breaking 2hours 30minutes. I'm not sure if i'll do another triathlon this year, but I know i'm not going to let myself go like I did last time. Tuesday I hit the pavement!

Till next time,
Tdiscpye


"Racing is a matter of spirit not strength." - Janet Guthrie