First tri of the season - Issaquah

Wow, it has been a very long time since I wrote one of these here blogs.   Well I guess I haven't much to say. 
However, I do want to capture every exciting and mind blowing moment of my attempts to recapture the athletic prowess that I haven't had since...oh wait, I never had it.   Well then, my attempts to capture some athletic prowess,  so, here is another blog - Issaquah Triathlon part 2.

As you may remember from last year, or not, the Issaquah Triathlon was the first race I realized I can't swim.   Years of youth swimming in lakes and water skiing be damned, I was shocked (literally - brrrr), and have been hoping ever since to improve my swim.  Alas, it was not to be this year either.  Perhaps I need to do more working and less hoping....another blog for another day.

On to the race!   So this year, I didn't want to spend hours manically packing and unpacking my bag, making sure I got everything on my checklist, so instead I distracted myself by making Tramps a baby shower cake.   Wow, how time flies when you make 20 crepes and stack them to make a crepe cake - it was 11:10 by the time I finished!   So I quickly packed and tried to go to sleep.  But of course I couldn't sleep....but I did manage to pop out of bed when the alarm went off at 4:45.

First off, I must say that the race was much more organized than last year, as they have a new management crew.   I could tell this everywhere I looked.  Except for the sectioning of transition for age groups.   I found the W 35-39, 40+, 29 and U, all the men's racks, but I couldn't find the W 30-34.   But don't worry, the helpful volunteer let me know that the 29 and U really meant 30-34.   And he treated me like a moron for not knowing that.   So I found one of the two racks marked this way and found it full of 20-something newbies.   Full is not the right word, as they had put  4 per rack, and spread out nicely to give themselves a full towel of setup on each side of their bike.   They also argued somewhat when I let them know that they needed to let me fit in, until one finally left and went to the 29 and Under rack.   I racked up and set up my gear and then wandered down to the beach to check out the swim.  

I saw a few teammates and we checked out the transitions in and out, and one gal had let me know that the Bike out was over gravel.  Feeling that was strange, I went and checked it out...yep, gravel.

So, I wet back and suited up, and went to fill my water bottles (note to self, do that at home next time), and then went into the water for a dip, and to get used to the cold.   Colder than I expected, but not too bad.

I got in with my group, and we were off!   I went out with about 15 good strokes, and was feeling like I could probably do this fine.  Then, I got kicked, and I popped my head up  -- this was a mistake, as I was pushed into my usual inability to swim with my head up and breathe at the same time issue.    So, I pulled on the string of my wetsuit, opened it up a bit more, and kept slugging along.   My goals for the swim were twofold, yet I still fee like I failed...  1) swim faster than last year and 2) DO NOT meet up with any Kayak people (friendly as they are).   I did manage to make both of these, however, I was having a seriously asthmatic moment by the time I got out of the water.  It was seriously scary - and I don't have asthma.

So, I got out of the swim, I am pretty sure DEAD LAST, and got to getting to my bike.    The swim to bike run was reallllllly long, and I walked much of it to get my breath.  The good news  is that I caught my breath by the time I got there, not like last time.   I didn't sit down this time, but rather pulled on my socks and shoes standing up like I was taught to at the TN transition clinic.  I gulped down a gu of some sort and then I was off.

I felt pretty OK on the bike, but I wasn't passing anyone.   My dream of moving out of dead last was not going to happen.  I am not sure where all the out of shape girls I picked off last year were, but they were not in Issaquah.  I felt a little stronger going up the hills, and much less timid going down the hills.   My gears were wonky though, and I think my bike needs a trip to Gerk's.

I scooted into transition and as I ran up, I realized one of the blessed broads I was sharing a rack with had not bothered to rack her bike.  It was just laying there.  Given the lack of respect she showed the bike, I didn't feel bad at all picking it up and throwing it out of the way a few times until it stayed out of my way on the rack.   However, this was extremely annoying and used energy and time that I didn't want to waste.  GRRRR - I hate people without race manners!! (perhaps yet another blog to write).   In any case, I got into my shoes and was off.   I used another trick learned at TN transition skool - and had little clippies instead of tying my shoes.  Saved me the time I wasted throwing that damn bike around.

So I was off to the run.   I was looking at my schedule and last few 5ks and have realized that I haven't run comfortably since January without some sort of ache or pain or other medical issue.    I am happy to say that the PT I have been doing has already been paying off.  I took off at a nice little sustainable shuffle and was happy to feel no pain in my legs!!  About a mile in, I got a little tight in my calves, but that loosened itself up and the trend of no pain continued.  About 2 miles in, I realized I had forgotten my race number at transition.   I managed to run most of the way, I would just take a walk break each time I took a drink of water out of my handy water bottle, or when I ate another Gu-like substance.  Also, unlike last year, this race had a full 5k run.   The run last year was quite a bit shorter.

So, there are a few things I did well....
1) I fueled properly.   I started before the bike, and consistently kept shoving a Gu-thing down the gullet every half hour until I was finished.
2) I hydrated properly on the run.   Carrying a little bottle  really helped with this.
3) I got to the race early enough to have time to do what I needed to do.
4) I employed some new tricks from Transition Skool.

Things I need to work on:
1) Swimming anyone?
2) Hydrating on the bike
3) Shifting between the large and small ring.
4) Having more confidence.

Update: my times were:

Total  02:05:15 Swim 00:15:45 T1 00:04:47 Bike 00:56:44  T2 00:02:06  Run 00:45:55

So, I took about 2.5 min off my swim,  3 min off my bike, 40 seconds off T1 (in spite of the long run to transition after the swim),  2.5 min off T2, and who knows on the run, as the course was quite a bit longer.   Not too bad, I suppose.  Not great, either.  :)