I was able to get two races in before June ended. Race reports are here!
Post race.
Two weeks ago I doubled up and did two races back to back. My first triathlon of the season was the Wednesday evening Triceratops Triathlon in Brighton. It was a hot one, mid 90s. The course was in Island Lake Recreation Area. Swimming in Kent Lake, tough bike course over and around Island Lake, run was half uphill & half down. This is my third triathlon and 2nd season as a triathlete. I am enjoying it so much and I am really improving. This race I took 10 minutes off from the last race I did at this distance! Very pleased! I will fully disclose before my race synopsis that I am really not a bad swimmer, but in my head I’m a terrible swimmer.
Well after the disclosure you must know what’s coming, I swam terribly. I get very anxious about the swim and no amount of zen meditation has knocked me back to earth yet. Mainly because the water was warm and I would rather be able to wear my wetsuit (aka my safety blanket). I swam about 1/3 before treading water and then it was a gradual slow down as I got farther out into the lake. Needless to say I am not yet competitive in the swim. But I make the whole distance one way or another and I haven’t drowned yet. So, I’m keeping a positive attitude and assuming in another year I’ll have the hang of it enough to put in respectable times.
On to the bike. I felt great on the bike. It was quite a hilly course but I climbed really well. It flew by and I was very competitive (tied for 4th in my age group).
Then the dreaded run or so I thought. Surprisingly I didn’t hate it. Apparently marathon training has put me in a new place with running. I paced really solidly and stayed to my game plan. I ran slower than I thought I should for the first 2 miles and then I turned it on for the last mile. Game plan achieved! It felt really great to have enough juice to push hard to the finish line. Results were good with new a PR and I had a great dinner with beer and friends after.
Then the same week on Saturday, I did the Militant 10k in Mt Pleasant. It was a very fun race for me because I had a whole bunch of friends to run it with. The whole reason I was there was to support my friend Sarah who I may have cajoled into trying a half marathon. There was a half, 10k and 5k. We had 2 in the half (both first timers!), 3 of us in the 10k and 1 running the 5k. We all did extremely well with the heat. This was my first race at the 10k distance. It was fun just to be with friends, but it was a PR for me as well. Ran 1 hour 40 sec. My fastest race pace yet! Sarah did amazing and I was so excited to see her power though to the finish! I also loved the cutest support crew ever!
Support Crew!
Next up Pterodactyl Tri at Island Lake again in 2 weeks. Hopefully I can take some time off from my swim by then!
