Train-n-Tri: Weekend of Triathlons Day 1

This is my weekend of back-to-back triathlons.

Today was Day 1 - Seal Beach Sprint Triathlon.

600 meter open water swim; 10k bike ride; 2 mile run.

The reason I originally signed up for this triathlon was that I REALLY wanted to get an OCEAN open water swim triathlon under my belt.

I had signed up for the Encinitas Sprint Triathlon in May, but my triathlon turned into a duathlon when the waves that day were HUGE and scared me!

http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-am-duathlete.html

Today was my first Ocean Water Swim Triathlon and it was fabulous!

When we got to Seal Beach everything was socked in with fog.

Oh, no, I thought, not another fog day.

A couple of months ago several members of my triathlon club met at Seal Beach and went for a swim.

While we were swimming, the fogged rolled in.

http://train-n-tri.blogspot.com/2013/08/swimming-in-fog.html

Today was just the opposite of that experience.

By the time we racked our bikes and had our wetsuits on the fog was gone and the sun was shining.

Do you think Robert is comparing our transition setups and wondering why his has so much compared to mine?

It was a gorgeous day at the beach.

I had signed up for the YELLOW wave, which was comprised of people who thought they could finish in less than 30 minutes, but longer than 15 minutes.

My swim was 17:37 minutes.

But I think my actual swim was shorter than 15 minutes. When I got out of the water, I stopped on the shore and stripped off my wetsuit and then carried it as I ran the long, long, long sand run to transition. It was the LONGEST run from swim to transition that I have EVER done. I was glad I striped my wetsuit before I took off running. Going into transition they had a water station and I grabbed a cup, but instead of drinking it, I poured it over my feet to wash the sand off my feet.

The results don't give transition times, but in T1, I put on my bike shoes without socks, put on my sunglasses, strapped on my helmet and I was out of there.

The bike course was kind of tough only because I could not go as fast as I wanted to, or as I could have gone.

The bike course was on the San Gabriel River Trail and it is pretty narrow. I only had one guy pass me at the beginning of the ride. I passed a lot of people, but it was frustrating when I would get behind someone and had to wait until it was SAFE to pass them.

This was the bike trail we were racing on. But with LOTS of cyclist on it going fast, it was kind of dicey in places. I stuck with safety first and had to forgo my speed in lots of places.

My T2 time was fast (though I can't prove it). I rolled into T2, took off my helmet and bike shoes, looked at my running shoes, the quickly left them there and ran out.

Yes, I was a barefoot runner!

But it was on sand.

Running on sand is hard work!

I ran until my quads burned and then I walked backwards. Yep, I walked backwards until my quads weren't burning anymore and then turned around and ran again.

It worked and before I knew it I was finished.

Finish Line!!!!

I didn't have a clue about any of my times until the times were posted because I evented NAKED today!

I didn't wear my Garmin 910, I didn't have my Garmin Edge 705 on my bike, I didn't have my Cateye computer on my bike and I didn't wear a regular watch.I had no clue how fast I was going at any time or how long anything was taking me. I just knew I was going.

My goal was to be in the top 10 of my age group.

I placed 4th.

One of the best parts of the whole day was having my athlete, Orietta, place 1st in her age group.

She has been training so hard and is so dedicated.

I am so proud and happy for her.

Of the 364 people who participated in the triathlon, Orietta was 49th over the line.

Another best part of the day was having my guy along for the fun.

It's always great to have Robert along at our events. He works so hard for our family, and still puts himself out there to event, sometimes with not enough training (or sleep) under his belt because he has been so busy working.