Swim, Bike, Ruh-Ro

EDITED: Splits are now in!

Alternate titles for this post:

• Was that a Bee or a Bullet?

• How Much Jank Can Come Out of One Person’s Nose?

• Bored on the Bike

• Cycling Makes My Hoo-Hah Hurt

• Imagine if I Had Trained!

• Banana Gels Makes for Banana Burps

But honestly, you probably can’t take any of that seriously, because…TA DA!

I don’t mean to be pretentious when I tell you that coming in 3rd place for my 30-34 age group at the Moss Park Triathlon was a surprise…It’s just that I really didn’t train at all. In fact, I sort of forgot about signing up for this race until a few weeks ago.

Now, in fairness — my normal routine consists of swimming, cycling/spinning and running, so it wasn’t like I’ve been a couch potato for the last few months. But I went into this race really wanting to enjoy it (just wait until the race photos are published) and cross the finish line with a smile.

As they all do, this one started very early, but I was thrilled to rack my bike next to Elizabeth St. Hilaire-Nelson, a fellow Syracuse University girl and the feature of one of my favorite Growing Bolder stories (“Creating a Life of Exquisite Harmony.”)

Elizabeth, by the way, placed second in her age group — and this was her very first Olympic distance triathlon!

SWIM (24:23):

The swim is my strongest leg, so I felt good in the water. I didn’t push myself as hard as I normally would, but I really haven’t been swimming enough long distance practice sessions, and I was afraid I’d burn out too fast.I did have plenty of time to notice that my nose was particularly janky and had to keep stopping to wipe it…ahhh, this is such a sexy sport. I also spit in my goggles and licked my palm to get gel off it later. Just thought I’d round out the disgusting descriptions.

I know I was at the back of the very fast first group of women, which made me happy. And I passed a lot of dudes. Ya got chicked, guys.

T1 (SWIM TO TRANSITION 2:06):

T1 (TRANSITION TO BIKE 1:58):

BIKE (1:18):

I loved this ride today…well, most of it.

We had a headwind on the way out (which, thanks to the 2-loop course, I got to experience twice) but a tailwind coming in. It was my first long ride with aero bars, and aside from one panic attack (I could not will myself back out of aero and nearly collided with an oncoming rider), I felt great.

Toward the end, with about 5 miles left, I really started to feel sore in the saddle…and believe me, I was ready to be done. It got a little boring. In fact, I brain-wrote all of the alternate post titles while on the bike.

This is also where the bullet bee and banana burps come in. I must have been riding at about 18mph or so and a bee flew smack into my collarbone. It didn’t sting me, but it left a big welt. Ouch.

And since it’s super hard for me to fuel during races (I have no appetite and sometimes even get a little tummy sick), I forced down a banana-flavored hammer gel, which tasted OK but gave me burps for the rest of the morning.

T2: :55

RUN (53:24):

Not my best day…I went out at a strong 9:15/mi pace, which was better than I expected since the first miles is usually when my legs feel like jelly from the bike.

I made it to 2 miles before taking a short (60-second) walking break. My pace fell off after that, and I took another two or three very short walking breaks.

To be honest? I don’t regret those breaks. Had I not taken them, I think the heat of the day would have hit me even harder than it did, and I would have been miserable.

As it was, I only lost 5 or so minutes due to walking, and it didn’t make a difference in my standings. The girl ahead of me in my age group was WAY ahead (she passed me out of transition).

TOTAL TIME: 2:40:58

Best part of being a triathlete? That pesky post-race calorie deficit isn’t going to solve itself.

I packed away a big plate of Thai food and then an overflowing cup of Menchie’s.

And now, it’s time for the next best thing. NAPTIME.I’ll be back for my 5pm webinar — if you really want to reward me for today’s finish, go sign up! It’s free!