Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Honolulu Tinman Triathlon

A week and a half ago, Mike and I completed our first (mostly) Olympic triathlon. An Olympic tri is 1500m swim, 40K bike, and 10K run. Tinman has a shorty swim at only 750m. This turned out to be plenty. The race started at 5:45 AM in waves based on age and sex. Mike went at 5:55. My training partner Joe followed at 6:00. My group of ladies was the last and smallest group. Small but mighty!!! (too much? k sorry) About five years ago Mike and I ran an x-terra triathlon at Deception Pass in Washington. I trained hardest for the swim and was very unprepared for the thrashing mass of bodies that swimming with a group entails. This time, I was smarter. I trained with a buddy and learned to keep an eye on him to space myself. So, during the Tinman, I started all of the way to the outside of the group and stayed there the whole time. As the pack spread out and thinned, it was more comfortable. I survived!
I had practiced the bike ride several times. I tore out of the gate and made great time. There was one intersection that wasn't protected by a police officer and I was nearly hit by a car. Not optimal. Anyway, I averaged 18 mph moving pace over the 25 hilly miles. That's my fastest overall ride yet!
Transitioning to running was really hard for me. My legs didn't want to work and I felt like I was jumping up more than actually moving forward. Imagine how a toddler runs. That was me. Luckily I came out of the transition gate with Joe, who coached me and kept me moving down the road. After a couple of miles, I felt better and ran/walked the rest of the course. My heart rate was really high the whole time. As I approached what I thought was the finish line, I heard Mike cheering me on. Then someone on the side line yelled "Pass her!" to the runner behind me. Of course my first thought was "Aw HELL NO!". I took off at full sprint and realized the course kept going around 2 more corners. So I ran and ran and ran and crossed the finish just before him. We high fived and I tried not to die. This picture was taken 3 seconds after a whole series where I look like I just took a kick to the stomach. I like to pretend I ran across the finish line with such a big smile on my face.
I had a great time and I am really excited to run the H3 Triathlon in October.

1 comment:

  1. We are so proud of you and your success in this race! I am so impressed that you worked so hard training and that you and Mike were able to complete the race. Thanks to Joe for keeping you focused in training! Congratulations on your success!

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