Another week and another race. Maybe I wouldn’t have attended
if I haven’t paid already, because going 30k on bricks was going to be tough
and I haven’t swam 1k for a long time. But still…I like triathlon and the
longer it is, the better!
Unfortunately the start time was not at pleasant 9am and I
had to be there already at 6:30 to put my bike in the rack. Then I had to wait
another hour until my time came for 20 laps in the pool. I knew the venue, the
race course and procedures very well, so I got everything prepared, felt
confident about it and was eager to race. I got even my tri shoes attached to
the bike with a rubber bands like a pro J
There are ten lanes in the pool, so you have to
swim there and back in each lane and then switch. I started strong with long
strokes gliding as much as I could and for the first time in a race I did a
flip turn at the end of the pool! For the first lane change I did it normally,
for the second also, but then I tried to a barrel roll for the third. Big
mistake, because I focused so much on doing the flip quickly than I can look
underwater where to swim next, that I flipped so quickly that instead of
staying down I emerged from the water on the spot and completely disoriented! I
had to kick water and count lanes to check where I was, then cross to the next
lane and continue. “I hope I haven’t changed one lane back!!” I worried and
kept swimming. But all my tempo, calm and technique was disrupted and gone, so
I was just slow, splashing around and waiting for finish!
When I got out of the water my time was the expected 20
minutes, so I got back in the mood a bit. I did a proper tri transition just
putting on sunglasses and helmet, grabbing the bike and running away in 17
seconds. And then the bricks came again! In the first corner my only nutrition
fell off, then after one lap I lost the CO2 inflator and luckily I
put the bottle holder on the frame and not behind the seat, because I’m sure I
would have lost it also!! So like this I was pushing through all the corners, ratting
on the bricks and somehow I felt I couldn’t push as hard as last time. I just
couldn’t get my heart rate higher than 165. Maybe I was fearing a puncture J
But good thing was that Cameron and Ryan were gaining on me
only little as I was meeting them almost at the same spot each of the 6 laps. “So
maybe I’m not going that slow” I thought and the third best time almost five
minutes better than fourth proved it J
Then my favorite discipline came. I had to save a lot of
energy on the bike, because I was just flying! Going rather easily 3:30-3:40
min/km pace and feeling like a wind. Wind actually played a role here, because
headwind was shaded by trees and buildings, but the tailwind piece was quite
open, so it was a really fast run. The feeling was just awesome. The lightness,
the speed, that ease of such movement…it was like in a dream and I felt like
watching my body from outside. So empowering…so invincible J I
ran 8.5km with 3:34 pace…in a triathlon. So I really don’t dare to say how fast
I could be when doing a solo 10k run!
Anyway…with my decent bike and super run I easily
recovered the lost swimming time and finished 3rd overall with 1:42:46,
behind Ryan with 1:35:06!! and Cameron with 1:42:03. I won also my age group
30-39, but again I just got some medals and no prize, but I actually don’t care,
because I’m happy with my time and improvement J Maybe next time for overall
series placement…
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