Saturday I volunteered at the Black Fly Triathlon in Waterville Valley. Volunteering is always fun! ANd the excitement there from all the athletes, well, I caught it. I also had a free entry to the race so it didnt make sense not to use it. I decided to do a relay team in the next day's sprint. Jen volunteered for the bike but I couldnt get a runner. Later Saturday I decided I would do the run myself, as well as the swim.
The water did not smell, but I didnt know how to get in. I was one of the last to enter the water (time trial start) but the line moved faster than I had thought it would and I was messing with my goggles ( I had to rinse and spit with water from a water stop which was nearby) I didnt get a chance to see how deep it was at entry and how to enter. I didnt think it was deep enough to dive, so I jumped. The water was cold! 58 degrees they said. I was discombobulated from the start. It was my first time in open water this year, first time in a wetsuit and I got off to a rocky start. I didnt feel like I was pulling too hard and down by the beach it got warmer. After that I didnt notice the temperature but there were so many buoys, I spotted on the wrong one and went way off course. My swim split was 7:07, not great, but hey, I can't be too hard on myself, I just cracked a rib! Jen took off the timing chip and got on the bike. She told me she thought we had competition but it was so hard to tell. All the other relays left long before we did. She had done the whole race the day before, the longer course so she was tired, but had a good bike. I left for the run and felt great. I felt light and strong and there was a picture of me running....and smiling. I had been feeling really discouraged since my times were so much slower but I passed 11 people, some strategic people and was happy with my pace of 8 minute miles for the 3.4 mile race. And then to top it all off...we won first place for a women's relay! What a great day!
The water did not smell, but I didnt know how to get in. I was one of the last to enter the water (time trial start) but the line moved faster than I had thought it would and I was messing with my goggles ( I had to rinse and spit with water from a water stop which was nearby) I didnt get a chance to see how deep it was at entry and how to enter. I didnt think it was deep enough to dive, so I jumped. The water was cold! 58 degrees they said. I was discombobulated from the start. It was my first time in open water this year, first time in a wetsuit and I got off to a rocky start. I didnt feel like I was pulling too hard and down by the beach it got warmer. After that I didnt notice the temperature but there were so many buoys, I spotted on the wrong one and went way off course. My swim split was 7:07, not great, but hey, I can't be too hard on myself, I just cracked a rib! Jen took off the timing chip and got on the bike. She told me she thought we had competition but it was so hard to tell. All the other relays left long before we did. She had done the whole race the day before, the longer course so she was tired, but had a good bike. I left for the run and felt great. I felt light and strong and there was a picture of me running....and smiling. I had been feeling really discouraged since my times were so much slower but I passed 11 people, some strategic people and was happy with my pace of 8 minute miles for the 3.4 mile race. And then to top it all off...we won first place for a women's relay! What a great day!
