Post Tri

Well.. the Pocatello Triathlon is over! What fun! They started the ladies 10 minutes after the guys and teams. I knew from the beginning there was going to be a cluster @#&$ in the pool by the time I got there! I was right... That picture is from the Twin Falls Triathlon...

It was a weird tri with the run starting things off. We ran from Ross Park out to the Cheyenne Crossing and back. 3.1 miles in all. I felt pretty good. Jenny Downey was way up there... I knew she'd be fast and furious... but I felt good about where I was at. I was really happy because there were skinny runner girls in front of me - just about 100 yds - and behind me the whole way! That makes a 160 lber very, very happy! I was the sixth or seventh woman to finish... and I held 8 min mile pace so I was pretty happy about that. The transition went pretty smooth, too... I was much faster than my previous two tris this summer. Not changing clothes and taking the laces out of my bike shoes helped! That velcro is TIGHT! :) (I know... I'm just stupid to have had them in in the first place... but I PAID for them so I might as well USE them, right??).

The bike was cool. I was pretty spent from the run so I coasted for the first 4 miles to recover a bit. What a headwind we caught after Century HS... we got under the Interstate underpass and BAM.. there it was! Those spokes became SAILS (credit to Bodily on that one!) pointed the WRONG direction... I passed three chicas on the bike... but one of them got me back on an incline coming back... I think she really liked having me break the wind for her in the gap (hell.. I'd like me breaking the wind, too!) I kept her in my sights, though after she passed me. Averaged 18.6 on the bike... not too shabby, I suppose.. and I think my total bike time was 39 minutes.

Now... the swim... LAST! Only 500 yds in the pool! My GOD my arms hurt! Whatever! THe pool was a disaster area... all the slower guys and teams finishing up their races... all over the place! The race organizer's master plan of two to a lane didn't work... I was #3 in my lane and no one was circling up... I had to dodge a double arm backstroker on one side and a dude I'm convinced was drunk on the other. I navigated to about an 7:30 water finish... Not bad for sore arms. Add the transition time and I finished the whole deal in 1:14. I was pretty stoked! I won the Athena class... cool. I like racing against women my size! I was 3rd woman overall.

Brent did AWESOME! This was his first solo tri in about 12 or 13 years. He used to do them all the time... He was such a stud! He just picked up running again a couple of weeks ago... He darn near beat my run time, too! Give him another month and I won't be able to keep pace with him! His bike was rad, too... and his swim time was the EXACT same time as me! That makes me laugh! I wish we could've started at the same time... we could've stayed together and finished together... Too funny!

My friend (running partner) Vicki did good, too! She ran a 23:40... which is awesome! She was on a womens' team and they won, too! I'm excited for her because she watches her daughters do sports all the time and now this is her time to shine! I still don't know about joining her for that half marathon next month, though... still might be a little much for me!

My friend Karen's husband, Sam won the whole thing in 55 min. He's such a stud! He CRUISED on the bike... to be expected!

Time to eat dinner now! Burger and a margarita. Don't want to lose my ATHENA status!

I'm out!