Parris Island Sprint Triathlon

The good, the bad and the ugly.

Glad that race is done and over with. As much as I was looking forward to it, it didn't turn out like I'd hoped. But, I only have "ME" to blame. We both were pumped on the way down, cranking tunes like Linkin Park and Audioslave, talking about how great it was gonna be - the start of the triathlon season. All to fall apart by lunchtime on Saturday.

I say fall apart, but we both finished so no DNF's. So, all in all - that's good, right? I'll let David tell you all his story.

I went into the race thinking "It's for fun" and "I hope I do better than last Aug". Well, I had fun and did better than G'ville in a few categories, but have realized like the running races, that's it's got to be more than that for me. I want to be pleased with my time, not so much pleased with it stacked up against everyone else (because that would be a LONG time away from now), just with myself. I wasn't.

We got there fairly early, in plenty of time to do everything we needed, sit and wait, and chat with friends. David even went on a pre-race ride with some team guys. We were in high spirits and even "I" had a positive attitude. Yes, I know - hard to believe. Picture of us before the swim, taken by Robin's friend J. The tri started at the nice hr of 9. David's swim time was 9:30 and mine was wayyy later at 10:15. I watched some of the team guys leave the pool, into transition to the bike, and even caught David leaving the pool before I needed to go in and get myself situated in the water. Despite all the people saying the pool is usually VERY hot, it was quite a little colder than what I'm used to at the Y. Anyhoo.....

Swim:
The swim, I think was okay. Not great, not bad - just ok. I had thought I'd do the 500meter in 12:00, but I came out in of the pool, ran outside and hit the transition mat at 13:13. I didn't have people trample or swim over me, so that's good. I had 3 people at the most pass me, at the wall and I even waited for someone to pass me at the wall. I passed 1 guy at the wall, so all in all - it was okay. I think I didn't consider the time of leaving the pool, and transitioning in my overall 12:00.

Bike:
As I started on the bike, I could see what seemed like EVERYONE returning from the run. The run and beginning of the bike course were on the same route, which IMO can be good and bad. I saw David returning from the run and a few other friends, so that was nice. This course is pancake flat so there was hardly any gear shifting at all, except when I first started out. I had expected to do 15mph, but ended up with a 16.24mph for an 11.9 mile course (Supposed to be 13 miles). Not bad, for me.

Run:
I bonked on the run totally! I started out, not feeling good as it was, and it was getting hot. I just felt tired. I did a run/walk which I'm not proud of, but that's just how it goes. My time was not great, and 3 min over what I wanted to do this in. I trained harder with the bike/run than I actually performed Saturday on the course. I know it's all mental and know that it was my self-doubt I have about myself that drove me to sort of give up. I have ALWAYS had low self-esteem for myself and it's been hard in every area of my life, to get past some of it. Obviously, I have a long way to go.

Transitions were faster this race than last year. In G'ville I had a 2:10 (T1) and 1:38 (T2). In PI, I had 1:32 (T1) and 1:19 (T2).

Lessons learned:
1) Don't give up on the run! You can run, Mendy
2) MORE bricks!!
3) More swimming, and more focus on technique.
4) More biking - better yet, harder biking.
5) Need aero bars for my bike.

My goal going into this was 1:37, and I did it in 1:33:05. However, the bike course was 1 mile short. But, at 15mph on the 11.9 mile course, I would have been coming in at 47:36 and I came in at 43:55. So, for this event the bike was my strongest - Yea, for all you FAST triathlete's, that's a stroll in the park. Remember, I'm just starting this multi-sport world. If I had signed up in the Athena category (cause I'm overweight), I'd placed 3rd in that category. I signed up in Age group. Oh well.

After a disappointing finish, and some lunch, we attempted our 3.5 hr drive home, and quickly realized it was gonna take longer than expected. With storms, a parking lot on I95, tornados, and some back tracking to come up through Charleston, it was a LONG way home. Grace stayed with Grandma another night, and we got to go out for a recovery ride yesterday morning. Yes, David stayed with my slow arse for the almost 10 mile ride.

Today is some swimming and running. I need to work on both, so from the mouth of David "It's on like donkey kong".



Time to kick the training up a notch!