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tri-3

June 11, 2011 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
PRERACE: got up real early to get from tybee island over to the park where the triathlon was. anticipation! ate a banana and a clif bar during the car ride-- no iron supplement, because i didn't want it to mess with my race. got to the park about an hour early, set up my transition area. it's been a couple years since i've done a triathlon (the last one i tri-ed (see what i did there) i fell off my bike and ended up in the emergency room) so i wasn't super-prepared as to what to do pre-race. so i did pretty much the same thing i would for a running race. ran a couple miles, then stretched. standing around near the lake, it seemed that everyone was looking at me funny, i assumed it was because i was wearing running shorts, while everyone else had super-high-tech triathlon suits.

RUN: finishing the bike, my legs felt pretty fresh, but i realized while pulling into the transition area, that my running shoes were still untied (i'd lose some time on transition). anyways, i dismounted, changed shoes, and began to run, and my legs, particularly my quads were heavier than i expected. i was passing people pretty regularly, but i still felt slow and heavy. the course was two laps, completely flat around a lake. i hit the first mile in about 5:45, which was surprising, because i didn't feel like i was going that fast (also i decided i'd be happy with anything under or around 6-flat pace). caught a young guy around 1.5mi, tried to encourage him to stay with me, but he dropped. at about 2miles (another 5:45ish), my legs started to feel better, the shock from the bike had worn off. finished pretty strong into the finish, but there wasn't anyone close by, so it wasn't much of a sprint.
POSTRACE: drank a bunch of water-- i was pretty dehydrated. ate some fruit and cookies. cooled down a mile on the backwards run course while encouraging those still finishing. got heckled for showing off because i was probably running faster on my cooldown than they were racing. ended up finishing 13th overall (out of 128), and 1st in my age group 15-19 (out of 1). even though it was a no-contest win, i got a medal and a plaque that say "age group winner" it was a really fun time. i think the triathlon atmosphere is more lighthearted than pure running because no one's great at everything. they're all just out to do their best and have fun.
at some point in time on the ride home, i agreed to doing another one next weekend. i found this out today, when i got an email confirmation for sunday's race. it's shorter, which was kinda disappointing, but it'll be nice cross training.