USWTS Triathlon Experience

This is my last official triathlon for this year - a year with a whopping two, but as a newbie I think it is good. I was looking forward to this race to see if I have improved and also because it supports ovarian cancer research. One of my best friends from college lost her mom to ovarian cancer; so this is a cause dear to my heart. Besides I had heard that this was a newbie friendly race since it is an all women's course.

I got to the race super-early and setup my spot. I had an end spot again which makes me happy and calm. Met a few women who were racing for the first time and it was fun to talk to them - one even flew out from New York just for this race. My swim heat was a weird age break down it was 32-36 year olds....but I was competing in the 35-39 year old age group - made for a little confusion on the racks. The race took place at the South Shores Boat Ramp in Mission Bay. The walk to the water had me very concerned since it felt like I was walking on glass. I have tender feet and the rocks and whatever else was on the ground made for slow going. This is the first race ever that I have done that had a water start. The waves were going every 3 minutes apart. The waves were about 75 women in a group. I ended up middle of the middle for the start and then they said go and it was a roller-derby start. I was under the impression that women were civilized. Not at this race - there was elbowing, pushing, kicking - it was a free-for-all. Not sure if this just got my competitive spirit revved or if I just wanted to get away from everybody, but I knew I was having a good swim when I started passing swim caps from the previous two wave starts. Came out of the water and felt great. Feet must have been numb because I didn't notice running across the shards of glass =)

Transition was pathetic - over 3 and half minutes(3:37), but got out onto the bike course. I have been having a lot of discomfort on my bike seat and this race did not start out well as far as the feel went. I kept my bike in the big chain the entire race - I think that might have been a mistake, but I am experimenting. I just missed a crash by a few seconds. There were water bottles and bike parts flying and people making erratic moves throughout the bike ride. There were a couple of tight turns but I managed to stay in my lane not cause any wrecks and not fall off my bike. It was my first time riding Fiesta Island and I enjoyed that. I kept thinking on the bike how lucky I am to live in San Diego. But overall I just wanted the bike to end. I kept standing a sitting on the bike, but could not get happy.

Next transition from bike to run was better 1:22. Legs felt tired, bit besides for a brief walk through a water station ran the course. The best part was at the end somebody tried to pass me and I was able to hold her off and finish ahead of her. I was able to kick it up quite a few notches - think I could probably push myself a little harder on the run portion.

It was a fun race and I am glad that I felt well enough to go lift weights and then salsa dance after the race. I'm still a long way from being ready for my half-ironman in April, but am happy with my progress.