Petersburg, Illinois plays host to a series of well-run triathlons in April and August. I did a bunch of graphic work for the race director and as a result, was comped in. Free races don't come along every day.
Being early in the spring, the race is held at 1:00 in the afternoon in the hope that there will be some sunshine and warmth for the racers. So I had all morning to be nervous and start beating myself up mentally for not being better prepared, not focusing more on the run, not losing weight, blah blah blah.
On the drive out, a deer darted in front of my vehicle, narrowly escaping death by about ten feet. I could see the individual hairs on its haunches as it skidded across the road. The adrenaline rush was awful and added to the general feeling of illness.
The swim is indoors in a heated pool. You guestimate your 300 yard swim time and line up accordingly. I bunched in with the other >6:00 group and we were slowly funneled up the side of the pool. Got caught behind some breast strokers but otherwise my swim went ok. Passed a few.
Felt off on the bike, couldn't really get into a groove. I passed a lot of people on the hills and felt pretty cool about that.
The run is my worst. I absolutely dread the run. I am slow and I know it and I am ok with that. Decided I would not use the Garmin and just run by PE, which actually seemed to work pretty well. Found my legs pretty quickly, even after losing the bike in transition, and kept a slow but steady pace.
I placed first in my age group, which shocked the hell out of me since a) my time was 1:30 and b) I was not the only one in the AG. Drove home thinking maybe the training was paying off. Reindeer Mary also placed first in her AG. Above is a pic of us smiling happily with our plaques.
Being early in the spring, the race is held at 1:00 in the afternoon in the hope that there will be some sunshine and warmth for the racers. So I had all morning to be nervous and start beating myself up mentally for not being better prepared, not focusing more on the run, not losing weight, blah blah blah.
On the drive out, a deer darted in front of my vehicle, narrowly escaping death by about ten feet. I could see the individual hairs on its haunches as it skidded across the road. The adrenaline rush was awful and added to the general feeling of illness.
The swim is indoors in a heated pool. You guestimate your 300 yard swim time and line up accordingly. I bunched in with the other >6:00 group and we were slowly funneled up the side of the pool. Got caught behind some breast strokers but otherwise my swim went ok. Passed a few.
Felt off on the bike, couldn't really get into a groove. I passed a lot of people on the hills and felt pretty cool about that.
The run is my worst. I absolutely dread the run. I am slow and I know it and I am ok with that. Decided I would not use the Garmin and just run by PE, which actually seemed to work pretty well. Found my legs pretty quickly, even after losing the bike in transition, and kept a slow but steady pace.
I placed first in my age group, which shocked the hell out of me since a) my time was 1:30 and b) I was not the only one in the AG. Drove home thinking maybe the training was paying off. Reindeer Mary also placed first in her AG. Above is a pic of us smiling happily with our plaques.
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