Remind me again ... why do I do this to myself??
They say no pain, no gain. Well, after this past weekend, pain is the name of the game, and it's just what you have to endure if you want to do this sport. It is what comes between a true athlete and a wannabe.
Training has been going really well and I am racing well. I was in a little race this past weekend called the Great White North Triathlon - a half Ironman consisting of a 2 km swim, 90 km bike and 21 km run. The swim was in Hubbles Lake; the bike was from Hubbles to Stony Plain and then to Genesee Power Plant and back to Stony Plain; and the run was on the walking path through the town of Stony Plain.
It wasn't a personal best for me, but a second personal best. Considering the windy, rainy conditions on race day, I had a very good day.
The day started at 5 am. We awoke to what seemed to be a nice enough day, but by the time we arrived at Hubbles Lake, the rain had started. Call me Miss Innovative because I made a raincoat out of the garbage bag I used the previous night to protect my bike from the rain. Figures - there was no rain the night before, but on race day there sure was. No biggie since we would be getting wet in the swim anyway. There were about 1,000 swimmers in the lake and it was a dog-eat-dog world. I got kicked, my goggles were almost knocked off and it was every man for himself. Who knew triathlon would be a contact sport! I was happy with my swim time of 43:23.
Now onto the bike...
Since it was such miserable weather, I decided I would put on my riding jacket. Well...putting on a jacket while wet does not make for "slippery when wet." It was a less than speedy transition because I couldn't get my arms in my jacket and when I did, I couldn't get my Bonk Bars in the pockets. Spandex on wet skin just doesn't work very well. I did however have my shoes on my bike to save some time clipping in. I don't know how much time I really saved, but it will get easier with practice. The bike was windy and wet - challenging conditions at best. Good thing I put my jacket on. You have to plan for these things. For the most part I was over 30 kph, and at times over 45, but at other times, I was directly into the wind and down in the low 20s. The roads were wet and I think that causes more resistance on the tires. My computer said I rode the course in 3:05, but the results said 3:12. The official time includes both transitions from the swim to the bike and the bike to the run. That doesn't seem fair. Why can't they add two more timing mats - at the start and end of the bike - like in Ironman? I had to dry off my feet so I could get all the dirt off so I wouldn't get blisters on the run. That slowed me down too. On top of that, the winner of the race crossed the finish line while I was just getting my running shoes on. I just laughed at that and didn't let it get me down. Maaaan, that's just SICK!
NOW the rain decides to stop...
My coach said I was not allowed to walk on the run, so being the diligent athlete I am, I ran most of the course. My legs felt really heavy for the first few km. I knew that feeling would eventually go away, so I forged on and didn't stop. I had the timer on my watch beeping on intervals of 5:41 to know if I was on target to complete the run in two hours. I started out being way ahead of target, but as my legs grew more and more sore during the last half of the half, I decided to shut the damn watch off. It was getting depressing and I don't need those feelings at a time like this. In the last four or five km I started to walk occasionally - just for a few seconds - because it was getting too painful to run the whole way. A lady in my age group and I were playing cat and mouse for the most part of the last half, and every time she would pass me when I started to walk, I would pick it up again. Maan, it's hard to start running once you've been walking, but it's hard to keep running when your legs are so sore. When I got near the finish line, I picked it up even more and steadily accelerated to the finish line. By the time I crossed, I was running like a woman possessed. I guess that's what you call adrenaline.
Now for the best part of the race - the post race food. The hamburgers sure looked good. I was 25 cents short of the price of a cheeseburger, so I asked if she'd accept $4.25. If you don't ask, you don't get. After I ate the cheeseburger (oh yeah, I guess she felt sorry for me), I had a hard time standing up and I needed help. It was hard to step down the curb for gawd sake. It was worth it though because that burger was delicious.
I was happy with my results - 17th in my age group of 62 women. I wonder how much better I would have been if I would have ran for 10 minutes and walked for a minute throughout the race. That's what I intend to do for Ironman and my legs won't get so sore. Here are my results.
Why do I do this you ask! Because I can!!!
