The Crossfit Tri (1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run) .
She reluctantly agreed to run the 5k after I once again promised we wouldn't be last (unless she walked and took her time).
I had put in a huge week (for me that is) of swimming hitting the lake nearly everyday for a week and racking up over 9 miles with my guns dragging me back and forth for hours in through the waters of Aurora Lake. My arms were thrashed by Saturday night after doing a long swim of 1:45, and I was going to pitch an internal fit if I didn't beat my time in the water on Sunday for the 1/4 mile swim.
Originally, the relays were to start in the last wave with the 50+ men and the clydesdales. GULP! I could only hope they would be gentle with me. I ran a 15 minute warm-up very slow on my tender foot and hit the bathroom while the earlier waves went off before donning my wetsuit and swinging my arms around like I was pro swimmer. I noticed a few copper colored caps (my color) exiting the water. OH SHIT! I jogged over the the RD and asked him if he had changed the relays and he informed me that he had indeed, but it was no big deal I could just go off in the last wave (the 50+ and clydesdales). Whew! I was fine with that. I just wanted to race. Hindsight I wish I had gone off in a faster wave, but I will get to that in a minute.
Finally, it was my turn and waded into the water and got in 2-3 minutes worth of strokes. I usually need about 10-15 minutes of swimming before my arms and body get in sync and I feel more fluid in the water, but that wasn't going to happen today. There was a lane line to my right leading out to the far buoy, but it was crooked and it was going to cause congestion, so I started on the outside giving myself the straightest shot at the buoy. I jokingly, begged the men not to pummle the copper cap before the horn sounded and then we were off.
I took it out hard. I was surrounded by men and I need to let them know I wasn't just a floatatin device in the water - I had my own motor, plus I refused to give up my position and get swam over, kicked of wailed on by a stray arm. It was a fast start with men all around me pulling hard. I fought to keep my line and saw myself pull through the field in front of all but one swimmer on my left who pulled himself across my line. I slowed and let him pull right then went by. I dropped all but one guy. I thought two men had pulled ahead and dropped the field, so I found a guy just a little ahead of me and kept pace with him. My heart rate had rocketed and I was gasping for air. I tried to center myself in the water and calm down as we made the turn. It was so pleasant. I had no bodies around me for the first time ever in a sprint! We headed back and I backed off the pace a little trying to recover what I had spent. The guy in front popped up way sooner than I did and started running, but I kept swimming (next time I am running too -- he was definitely faster on foot, than arm). I popped up and ran at a near dead sprint for T1 and I was moving -- I couldn't believe how good I felt. I had recovered a bit in the water and I was sprinting from the time my toes hit the sand. All that work in the water got me a 1.2 second PR, but I did feel better than ever coming off the swim.
T1, I wrestled with my wetsuit struggling to breathe or not and get the thing off. I ran through the grass and fumbled a little trying to clip in to my pedals at the mount line. I have looks for flying dismounts, but man they are a pain otherwise. Also faster than last year by 0:24 seconds.
I could tell I still had a lot of blood in my arms and I was running on adrenaline in the legs. Lately, on my longer rides I have noticed I am kind of spent by the end because I have no control throughout the ride. I spent the first few miles trying to "control" myself and get in a rythm. At the Twinsburg Duathlon a few weeks ago I had bulldozed my way through the 10 miles out of control with my HR avg at 170 bpm. I had suffered with lactic acid in my quads for the entire race. I tried to encourage every person I passed through the 2 loops, except the 4 (dare I say assholes, 2 with ironman tatoos), I saw drafting in a pace line; them I called out as they rode by and dropped a F-bomb for good measure. I pushed myself, but rode nice and controlled back into the park. My legs felt way better and as I dismounted I ripped my chip off before entering T2 and ran to my rack. Third time was a charm as I was 53.3 seconds faster than the year before. I passed the chip to my mom and my day was done.
I changed my shoes and jogged over to say hi to my dad before running the looped course through the grass (grass feels so much better on my foot). My mom was running really well as it took me almost a full lap to run her down. I jogged with her through the first lap before doing another loop in reverse this time. When I passed her in reverse I said "I'll see you at the top of the hill," which is less than a 1/2 mile from the finish. As I jogged up the hill, I hoped she would be there when I got to the top, but she beat me to the top -- YES!! I could tell she was having a PR day. Our goal was 1:25 and I checked my watch -- we had lots of time. I ran with her and encouraged her until we hit the grass then I started telling her "I want us to break 1:25! We can do it, if you run hard. It's all on you!" She picked it up as she got nearer and nearer to the finish. She was laying it all on the line that day. I knew we would be way under the time, but I kept yelling at her and she kept going. She hit the finish in 1:22:19.9. She may or may not have called me an "a$$hole" for trying to kill her coming into the finish, but she was definitley all smiles when it was over.
Team Silver Fox and Flash, the Turtle had struck again! We were the fastest relay time on the day.
They haven't corrected my swim time so it say 22:06.5. My dad said I was 2nd out of the water in my wave out of 51 (50+ men and clydesdayles). Sometimes, I am able to draft and I think that may have helped get me a tiny bit more of a PR -- oh well.
Swim: 7:06.5
T1: 1:10.1
Bike: 36:23.5
T2: 0:24.7
Run: 37:14.9
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