August 20, Saturday before Tobay Triathlon. Tomorrow, the 21st is Tobay as well as the YMCA registration for the kids. Lee is not so computer savvy and we were worried about getting the kids registered. At 8pm she announces that she will go to the YMCA at midnight to pick up a registration number for sunday. ACH! It's the right thing to do but it does not make sense that she goes. If she goes, I won't sleep. If I go, she can at least sleep. Damn, I was actually hoping to go to sleep early. At 10:20, even though I planned 10pm, I went. The line seemed big and I ended up getting 62. I think they must have handed at least 200 numbers that night. I left there at midnight and went to sleep after 1am, then woke up at 4am for Tobay. The one smart thing I did was get Lisa to agree to go together. This way I won't fall asleep on the wheel.
August 21, Sunday. We're there. Tons of people already there. People I have seen across the season show up. I see someone from Gold Coast. I see someone from Jeremy's tri.
We set up our things and hang out. Before we know it, the first wave is off. Last year, I was in a very late wave. This time, 5th. Very carefully, I go in the water careful not to get cut like last year. I started swimming and seemed fine. The water was fine and I found my rhythem alternating between freestyle and breast stroke. As I come out of the water, I see my watch and the time and start freeking out. After all the torture and the swimming, my time is worse then last year. HA! But, I felt strong (unlike last year) which was a comfort. I ran hard to T1. Many people actually were shouting to me that it was a great run.
The bike went fine and I was looking forward to "the hill". I walked 1/2 of it. Damn embarassing but!
The hills went mostly fine. Loved the down hills. Loved the bike computer showing me at 36 MPH down the hill going aero. I actually tried to peddle and the bike started wobbling and I started thinking of the great crash it would be and how spectacular it would be and decided to enjoy the moment. I was actually screaming in the thrill of it.
Some annoyances did happen. There was a guy drafting another guy. Normally that does not bother me. I am not going to win so one more guy passing me is no big deal. What did annoy me was that in drafting, the 2nd guy almost ran me off the road at 20+ MPH. Man was I pissed.
At one point, we reached an intersection and this pickup truck sees me and this group of riders in front of me and decided there is plenty of room. Man, I was flying down a hill at 25+ MPH and I was not stopping. The truck did though because of the other group. I ended up going on to oncoming traffic screaming, "on your left" as I passed the truck and that group. SUCKER!
The run was uneventful. I wished I would have attacked earlier. I did attack at the end and passed many but I could have done better.
Now for the good news. Everyone grumbled about the swim so I paid attention to it. The swim was supposed to be a 1K swim like last year. Instead it was 1400 yards. BTW, 1K = .62 miles and 1400 Yard = .79 miles. Yes, my time was more but so was the distance. Can't compare. Luckily they give you an average time for a 100 yard swim. Last year it was 2:23 and this year it was 2:03. I shaved 20 seconds per 100 yards. That's good - Now I am happier.
This is an interesting article I read about the triathlon (after the fact). It's mainly regarding the bike portion. It is available in a Doc format but also available in a PDF format .
Another little article here .
This is some pictures of other people:
Lisa Bike 1,
Lisa Bike 2,
Lisa Bike 3,
Irwin, Lynn
