Post-Triathlon: WOOHOO!

Me, about 30 minutes pre-race.

I woke up at 4:50 AM, threw my brand-new race jersey on, and my bike shorts, then the warmer clothes I planned on wearing post-race. Shoes- check. Bike gear- check. Fuel during and post-race- check. Loaded my bike up, and was on the road as daylight was kicking into gear at 5:20 AM, thinking to myself "My god, I haven't been up this early in...uhm..."

Made the drive down to Federal Way. Did you know no one is on the roads before 6am on Sunday morning? Parked in the transit lot and rode my bike to the race site at Steel Lake. Met up with the Hett ladies, racked our bikes on the same rack. Set up my transition zone (towel to dry my feet off in front of my bike, fuel/sunglasses/socks ready to go in my shoes, helmet and bandana positioned on the bike. Struggled to get the wetsuit on (those things are tight!). Chatted excitedly with the Hetts. With 20 minutes till race time, made it down to the lake to get the suit wet and "make peace with the lake", as I've heard it called. One pre-recorded National Anthem later, we were walking out to the end of a very long dock with a group of oh...30 other ladies? We all jumped into the water, and about 30 seconds later "3! 2! 1! GO!" And we're off...

I couldn't get my face to stay in the water, it was a self-preservationist thing. I'd get a bit panicked, and then I'd feel the wetsuit squeezing me, and I'd flip to my back. I did a majority of the race on my back, or a modified front crawl (with my face out of the water the whole time). Did that in 27 minutes, which I thought for sure would take me 40 or more. Yay!

Next was the bike leg, which I was most excited for. I love riding my bicycle, especially since buying this Kona hybrid off my coworker last summer (my other bike is a Novara mountain bike; it's heavy...I call it The Beast). The route was down a long hill, then two laps around the Weyerhauser headquarters (which is really quite lovely; the building is all concrete and glass, with great swaths of green vegetation growing all over it, set beyond a decent sized lake...and there's a big garden, too, but couldn't see it from the route), then back up that big long hill, and one very steep hill, then into the transition area. I held my own in the bike leg! Somewhere around 53 minutes, if I recall correctly. 12.4 miles down.

The running leg is my least favorite. I don't know where last year's passion for running went, but "the thrill is gone". The route was two laps around Steel Lake. A total of 4.1 miles. It was very hilly; the only flat stretch was in the shoulder of Pacific Highway (which was not great anyway because it was the shoulder of a highway!!). I mostly just speed walked, and then ran the downhills. I came out with about an average 13 minute mile. At the end, as I was re-entering the park for the last time to make a dash through some woods and finally pop out across the finish line, I saw Miranda. She had finished probably 10 minutes earlier, but was waiting for her mom and sister, who were not far behind me, to cross together. Almost there, almost there! I ran the whole way from her to the finish line; had to finish strong. I could hear the music (Doobie Brothers was on, which is ironic because I had just seen them two days prior with my parents..."Listen to the Music" was playing) and the announcer say my name. I was just so happy and giddy, I skipped the last 20 feet over the finish line. Jane was not but a minute or so behind me, and said she didn't see me but could hear the announcer shouting "Oh, she's skipping!" Haha.

It was a really great experience, and one which I'm sure I'll do again. More practice swimming in the lake, more hours to log in with running (blech), and more focus in the transition zones, and I know I can drop down to 2hrs 15 minutes. Maybe even 2 hours with better training.

Next year I am captaining my first Ski to Sea team, and plan to do the Seattle to Portland bike ride :)