Race Report - I Finally Did A Triathlon!

Yep, after all of these months of pretending like I was getting ready to do a tri, I finally actually did one. Thank goodness, because frankly I was beginning to feel rather like a poser. Like the girl who pretends she's doing triathlons, but never actually does one. So yes, my maiden tri voyage is now complete.

The race was at the old Enka Lake (now Biltmore Lake, in a total bastardization of the body of water in question.) And it was SO MUCH FUN! At least that's what I was thinking on the bike. And I even had the presence of mind to think "remember how much fun you think this is now, because the run is going to be a different story." And sure enough, it was. On the run I was thinking "six miles a week is not enough!!!", and going up the steep hill in the neighborhood I was thinking "just don't walk - there's no walking in triathlon. You can run veeeery slowly, but just don't walk." But then, here's the weird thing, my run actually turned out to be ok - it felt like I was running 9 minute miles at the absolute best, but in fact I was running 7:25 pace, which I find absolutely astonishing. Particularly because for that big hill I mentioned I'm pretty sure I really was running 9:30 pace. So I guess that goes to show that (a) you never feel fast running off the bike, and (b) swimming and biking can keep you somewhat fit for running, because I didn't run at all for April, and literally about 6 miles a week for May, and then maybe 10-15 miles a week in June (the good news being that it worked- my bursitis seems to be gone, fingers crossed.)

So overall I ended up 3rd in my age group and 10th overall, which I'm soooo happy with. The results pretty much tell the story of my experience in each of these sports - I was 21st woman out of the water (in a swim that was way more comfortable than I had feared- I never really tried to push it, just stayed relaxed, and it felt good - although my arms were getting tired rather than my lungs, which means I definitely need to keep heading to the masters group.) Then I had the 14th fastest bike, and the 7th fastest run, which is kind of funny because it's an exact reflection of my experience level in each sport. So now I'm all pumped up to try to put together an actual training plan (that includes running!) and head to a few more this summer. Soooo much fun.