2nd Sprint Triathlon

I completed my 2nd sprint triathlon! My goal was to improve my time from last year, but the training process didn't look like it would yield the results I wanted. Last year I swam a 6:40, biked at 15.5mph, and ran a 7:53 pace for the 5K. I knew I could improve the swim easily, but my bike pace was around 15-15.3mph and my run average was stuck at an 8:15 mile pace during the months leading up to the race. I was super frustrated because I had been training all year, including hills and speed training on the bike, yet my times were not improving! (I even had new bike pedals with cages for my feet, which was supposed to help improve my time using different leg muscles.) There wasn't much more I could do about the biking, so I started focusing on the running. After I ran 3 or 4 miles outside, I started coming home and doing mile sprints on the treadmill while slowly increasing my pace. That helped a lot!

A week before the race, there was a 5K race in my neighborhood that I signed the whole family up for. There was a one-mile option as well, and the family bailed out on me and picked that over the 5K. My race was first, and I came in 6th place. Three high school track kids beat me, one guy, and a 6th grader, so I was the first woman to cross the finish line. :) My pace was a 7:35 average per mile, which I was super proud of. It gave me a lot of confidence going into my sprint triathlon the following week!

Caleb came in 1st place right behind the pacers at a 5:55 mile. (He asked his high school track buddies that beat me in the 5K to pace him in the mile run at a 5:30 pace.) Carter was a minute behind Caleb in 2nd place. Bryson finished around 9 minutes and Matt and Austin ran together at a 9:30 pace.

My sprint triathlon the following week began bright and early waking up at 4:15 and leaving the house at 5am. The race started at 7am....for some people. The swim is first, which took place in a high school natatorium as a snake swim. It takes time to cycle everyone through the swim. Last year I waited 30 minutes before I got in the water, which was frustrating, but I just chatted with a friend until it was time to start. This year I waited over an hour! It was so difficult to see people finishing the race before I even started! Plus the wind and the heat picked up the later it got in the morning and my adrenaline decreased. Everyone was supposed to "self seed" at the start of the race, which worked okay last year, but this year there were more participants and people started jumping in line because they got tired of waiting. So when I finally did get in the water, I had to pass 5 or 6 people during the swim, which is very difficult to do in a snake swim! It was not the best start to the race, and I was frustrated to know that an improvement in my swim time likely wouldn't happen after all since I had to stop swimming at one point stuck behind 4 people in front of me.

The bike portion was on the feeder of a 4-lane road. I passed 10 roadkill and had to watch for sharp rocks and glass the whole time, so it was a little nerve-racking.

It is SO hard to run after biking. Your legs feel like jello for the first quarter mile, and it improves only slightly from there. 

About to cross the finish line. I was grateful to be done!

Though it was a rough start to my race, I actually improved in every single area! My swim time was a 6:15, biking averaged 15.9mph, and my running pace was a 7:44 per mile. I was thrilled and exhilarated! I'm glad that I did it again to prove to myself that I could beat my time, but I don't plan on continuing. I can't do much more about improving my swim and my run. The only area that I could take off significant time is my biking...and the only way to do that is to drop thousands (ballpark 10 grand) into a new road bike. I can think of many other options for that money! So I am hanging up my swim cap and goggles. I loved achieving something that was scary and different than anything I've done. It was fun to pursue a goal and succeed this year. I'm going to keep the cycling going as part of my workouts since it's actually something I enjoy!