CB&I Triathlon - 1 week late

I competed in my first post baby triathlon last Saturday. It was a very fun race just as it always was before. Most of my training consisted of running twice a week. Yep that was about it. I got on my bike twice before the event for mini bricks (30 minute rides + 10 minute runs) and I did absolutely no swimming. I hadn't been in the water since August, 2008. I was confident enough in my swimming ability that I wasn't too worried, but I was a little fearful about cramping in my leg mid-swim which has happened before.

Lisa, who has been diligently running with me on Saturdays for the last several months was also competing in the race. Yeah! We noted how few people we knew at these events compared to 2 and 3 years ago when we were very active in HRTC.

I jumped in the water before the race started to make sure that I wouldn't drown during the event. The water temperature was perfect! I love May races in Texas. I decided that I was going to be okay during the swim.

Once the race started most of the butterflies in my stomach started to disappear. I started off right behind a small crowd of swimmers going just a bit slower than I wanted to go. I feel like this always happens. I finally got around them just before the turn and then I was alone for most of the race. Before the race started it seemed like there were many buoys in the water, but once I was swimming I noticed that it was really hard to see the next buoy. I couldn't always tell which direction I was supposed to go next. Oh well, I made it out and I was quite excited about that.

Swim Pace 2:28/100m
2008 Swim Pace 2:13/100m

I got on my bike with no fancy transitioning. I decided to put my shoes on and run with them on instead of clipping them on my bike. The long run out to the bike start made that a pretty bad decision. I felt pretty good on the bike. I had no heartrate monitor or bike speed to gauge myself with. I just pedaled as I felt like it. I passed lots of road and mountain bikes. I got passed by several women in the age group ahead of me. I hardly saw anyone from my age group. I figured they were all ahead of me because I was so slow in the water. Biking in The Woodlands was really great that day because the sky was overcast and for some reason it felt like I had a tailwind the whole time??? I am pretty sure there was no tail wind. All the trees in The Woodlands probably just blocked any breeze that may have been present. When I got off the bike I saw the girl ahead of me jump off her bike so that she never had to slow down (where you kick your right food behind the bike and just run off...). I used to do this and hadn't practiced it since my last race 2 years ago, but I just went for it and did it successfully!

Bike Speed: 18.9mph
2008 Speed: 19.7pmh

The one thing I was worried about for the run was stomach cramping which plagued me in my 2006 and 2007 race seasons. I was pretty paranoid about starting off too quickly in hopes of preventing any cramping. All in all I felt pretty good the whole time. I passed lots of people which always feels good. I saw Cameron and Nathan cheering me on which was GREAT! About 1/2 mile from the end I started having muscle cramps in my quads - the same ones I got during the marathon and the half-ironman. I thought that was a bit odd considering how short the race was. Luckily it didn't debilitate me in my last half mile. I did manage to get the upset stomach feeling at the last quarter mile so I decided that I had done a good job of giving it everything I had (as opposed to taking it easy)

run pace 8:30/mile
2008 pace: 8:22/mile

Total time 1:29:26
2008 time 1:25:34

I was very pleased with my results for the amount of training I put in. I placed 11/30 in my age group. I will probably do at least one more before the water temperature starts to get unbearable.