August 25, 2003 ~ Yesterday i competed in the Sprint Triathlon - the weather was gorgeous, no humidity and a high in the 80s. Thank goodness it wasn't raining!!!!

This race was unusual and i don't just say that because it is my second one, but it truly is. The bike transition is not after the swim, you have to run 1.2 miles to get to it. So setup is a little more involved then normally. You have to drop your bike, helmet, shoes and whatnot off first and then go down to the swim start and set out what you need for your run. All my transitions worked out good and my setup was perfect for them.

The race itself... the swim started in waves, which was nice and there weren't that many women going off in my wave. The bank was muddy and slimy, but the water nice considering how chilly it was that morning. The swim is difficult for me, it seems the first 5-10 minutes or so i am gripped in absolute panic and feel i am flailing about in the water. My form is non-existant, my stroke erratic, i am afraid of bumping into people and afraid of people bumping into me. I reach the point of "i can't do this, what was i thinking" and then it finally happens that i settle down and my swim falls into place. With this short swim race though that gave me only a very short window of comfort with the swimming. So i make it to the end and slip and slide my way out and head to change into my running shoes.

The run up the hill was grueling - there is a very little downhill and then up, up, up. The legs were moving and i was slow, but i made it to the top. Quickly changed and escorted my bike out to the start. The bike ride i actually felt like i could catch my breath a little bit while my legs were able to stretch out. I also had my mixture of half gatorade/half water on my bike and i was able to enjoy that. I should mention though by the time i got to my bike, there weren't very many left on the racks - so i will be the first to admit - i am slow. The bike ride was nice, rolling hills and it wasn't hot. On the downhills i even got a little chilled so i kept on pumping. I came around a corner at one point and saw a hill and coming down it were 3 bikers riding telling everyone to not look up and just attack the hill. The words going through my mind at that time...oh shit. It wasn't a hill - it was a mountain - a slow agonizing climb and the whole time i kept saying to myself if i could make it up Afton Mountain, i could make it up this (thank you Tim for taking me up Afton). So i made it to the top - legs were pretty much shot at this point and unfortunately there was only about 1/2 mile left to the end and i didn't really have a chance to stretch my legs for the run. So wobbly legged i dismounted my bike, slipped on my running shoes and repeated to myself - right, left, right, left.

The run starting wasn't bad because it was going down the hill i had already climbed. I just had to not lose control of my muscles and form. One mile into the run the trail ran began. This is the first time i have run on trails. It was difficult to say the least, but in a way it wasn't bad because my toes didn't go numb, which i have had happening lately on longer runs. But i was twisting and slowing and speeding and getting out of the way of other runners. I walked 2 major hill climbs, but because the track was really rough and there were LOTS of loose rocks on it - i didn't want to turn an ankle at that point. Eventually i emerged from the forest and headed down the home stretch to the finish and after a grueling little hill, i was greeted by my mom, dad, Tiana and Amos!!!!

So my unofficial times according to me are...swim - 13"27, transition and 1.2 run - 16"28, transition and bike 13.5 - 55"32, run transition - 1"56, run 3.2 - 35"53 for a total time of 2"and 19 seconds. When the official ones are out i will post those, but i know my total time was 2 hours.

So keep swimming, biking and running,
Jeni