sooooo sleeeeepy

So Saturday was my first tri run through. The DC Tri club ran a training triathlon. 400 meter swim, 17 mile bike and 3.2 mile run. About sprint triathlon length, and about 1/2 of what I'll be doing (trying to do) later in the season. I thought -no problem - I am doing twice this next month so . . . . .say it with me "how bad could it be."

Woke up at 5 (that is 5 AM in case you were confused). Got down to Haines Point about 6 (yes, yes, AM) and got set up. Lay out the bike, pump up the tires, lay out the socks and shoes, the sun glases, the sunscreen, the wet suit (which I was then told I could not use - grrrrrrrrr), the packets of gu, the water, the accelerate drink - you know just a few things - I moved less stuff when I left college. After gabbing it up with the other people (most almost a clueless as me), checked in, had Simon write my # (100) in indellable ink on my arm and then headed over the to the pool. Now I felt cool. 100. That's right. then I realized, numbers were handed out based on projected order of finish. whimper.

So we are at the pool, all standing around. Lemmings seemed about right - 125 peope waiting to jump into the Haines Point pool. But after a while it was my turn, hit the water and away we go. And it turns out the swim was not nearly as bad as I thought. I took it slow and steady, managed not to windmill, even passed two people (sorry Casey, nothing personal) and got out in about 10 minutes. But man was I disoriented when I hit dry land. Managed not to take a header in front of what was left of the crowd and headed over to the T1 (hello Arnold) transition area.

So it turns out trying to put on socks and shoes when you are soaking wet and breathing hard is . . . well . . .hard. Hard to bend over and compress the lungs, hard to pull my cotton socks over my wet feet, etc. So after 9 minutes of struggling, I finally got my wet and tired butt onto the bike and out ot T1 (goodbye Arnold).

Now I have learned to like biking. Its fun, not too hard and you get to go reasonably fast. Except today. I felt like I was biking uphill both ways. I had to really push to get up to 20mph and managed an average of about 17-18 mph. It took longer than I thought and was a real struggle. I kept wondering if I should get a new bike, maybe there was a flat - the first move is always to blame the equipment. Either way, the bike was my weakest leg and I had expected it to be my strongest. Julia kept passing me (which I hate) and it was really hard to maintain speed.

Finally completed the bike and hit T2 (hello Arnold). This one was much better. Dump the bike, change shoes (no socks to worry about), drank a bunch of accelerate and off I went. 2 minutes in T2 (goodbye Arnold) and off I went.

The bricks we have been doing have really paid off. I also biked at a high cadence on my final 1/4 mile to get the blood back into my lower legs but I took of pretty quickly and felt pretty good. I managed to run about 8 minute miles with a real nice kick at the end. I passed a bunch of people (nicely, I chatted, encouraged, etc) and felt like I was "racing my strength."

All in all, it took about 1:35. I felt good afterwards, but think now I did not feel so good because I slept most of Sunday and there was no way I could swim this morning as planned. My ass is dog tired. Have to work on recover and once I recover train a lot harder/smarter to make sure I can step up to the next level.

The event was useful to see what worked and what did not. But thinking I have to do a lot more is making me nervous all over again. Ah, to sleep. Perchance, to dream.