Sunday, May 04, 2008

Rocky Point Tri Report

below: about to start the swim   top right: running towards the finish line   middle: before the race trying to calm down my nerves--I'm in the middle of the group of people smiling. 


I did it! This was my fourth triathlon but I found myself very nervous a few days before the race and the intensity of this feeling only grew as I found myself walking into the ocean Saturday morning to start the swim. Would I be able to swim in the open water? I had only been training in a pool. Would I have to stop and take a break during the swim?The recent reports of shark attacks in triathlons had me wondering why I had signed up to do this. Before I started I prayed that I wouldn't be bitten by a shark, stung by a jellyfish, or stung by a stingray (after the race they announced that out of the 900+ people who participated--5 had been stung by a stingray. Luckily I wasn't one of them).  I didn't have to stop during the swim and felt good about how I did. I made my way up the sand hill to the bikes and headed off on the trail. I felt really good--averaging a pace that was faster than during my training. At mile 7, I felt something hit my leg, I looked down and saw that my water bottle holder was coming off. I grabbed the bottle before it fell, took one last chug and chucked it to the side of the road. I was coming to a downhill section that had a huge speed bump on it that I had to slow down for. There was no way I could hit the brakes with the water bottle in my hand too. I finished the biking (so I thought!) and dismounted as I saw the girl in front of me dismount. Big mistake---I was not quite to the point where I should have dismounted. It would've taken too long to get back on my bike, clip my shoes in, and get going again, so I just grabbed my bike and started running. Now it was time for the run. And boy was it hard--lots of hills. But I had my GPS watch (this was the first time I was able to use this in a race) and I had it set to show me what my pace was. I wanted to stay below a 9 minute mile. I did just that. I slowed down a little on the uphills but was able to make up for that going down. The last part of the race was in the sand to cross the finish line. I pushed as hard as I could but felt like I couldn't move in the sand. I was so happy when I finished and felt great. My goal was to be under 2 hours (I really thought I was going to get messed up by swimming in the ocean). I was ecstatic when I saw my time was 1:15:45. Not only was I way under the 2 hours but this was also a PR for me from my last tri where I got 1:19:43. I shaved off 4 minutes!! Not only that, later I found out I got 4th place in my age bracket (out of 42). Very excited. Then I found out that the person who got 3rd place only beat me by 9 seconds!! Can you believe that!?! 9 seconds! I'll get her next year...now onto the next triathlon: July 12th in Sierra Vista, AZ. 

8 comments:

Suzie Petunia said...

WOW! Great job on your PR! This must have been a lucky weekend for the Marathon Mommies who live secret lives as Triathon Mommies, too. :)

Part of what scares me about Tris is swimming... especially in open water. So, my hat is off to you! And I am very glad you didn't get stung!

Kelly(M&M) said...

I am impressed with your race! What a way to beat your goal. And so nice to know that the open water wasn't as hard as you thought it would be. I am inspired by you and Foxy, and I am pretty sure I am going to do a tri at the end of July. I am sure I will be asking both of you and all the other closet triathletes for help! Great job!!

Megan said...

That is awesome!

foxontherun said...

What an awesome time. What were your splits. I'm so jealous of your time. Great job!

Team Hanni said...

I'm so glad you didn't get stung..... that would really stink! I am scared to death to try a tri - I am so so so impressed! Way to go!

Anniebananie said...

Yeah! Great job! It is so exciting to hear you PR'd and made 4th. Keep Moving Forward!

mylittlegems said...

Rocky Point tri!That is great! I heard about this- but am no where near in shape for something like that. CONGRATS! Most likely we will be back in Southern AZ soon... I only dream of trying a tri- so I am very impressed.

Ang said...

Simply amazing!!