Thinking Makes My Head Hurt
Well the third triathlon of my personal season is in the books! As you may recall, this was the one that I was using as a test for the big day. While I am happy to report that I think I excelled and did better than I expected, it didn't come without some learning along the way. Why don't I just keep things simple??
This was the same Triathlon that I had already done earlier this year in Ft Pierece, FL. This was the 3rd in their series called the "Patriot Tri" where everything was centered around 911. I was gauging my entire day on the previous event and wanted to see if my times had imporved. Before walking to the edge of the water, I told Stephanie that my was goal was 4 hours and 30 minutes since my last event was completed in 4 hours and 36 minutes.
Standing on the shore of the Indian River Lagoon, I met fellow Floridian and triathlete Wayne Saxer who is also getting ready for IM FL 140.6. We had met in a IM group online and got to finally meet in person. Its always nice to know someone at these things. After the National Anthem was sung, I noticed that the buoys were not in the same place as last time. Surprisingly, they were WAY off and I had to ask the race director who was standing nearby. He replied "Last time we accidently set them up at a distance of 1/2 mile and not the 1 mile they were supposed to be set up at. Today they are correct". Immediately fear came over me as my pre planned time in my head was now blown! I did the previous event's swim in 19 minutes and there was no way to shave time off this one now. All I could do was make up for this snafu on the bike and run. As soon as the start was given, Wayne and I dove in the water and off we went. None of the normal anxiety set in like usual which was nice, but salt water filled my googles instead. After a little ways out, I had to stop and readjust to let the water out. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was on a sandbar and could walk forward as I worked on my googles. That was when I stepped on a blunt object and cut my foot up. Ugg! I came out of the water finally at 28 minutes which was not too bad seeing as the distance was doubled now and I learned 2 things; 1) Its time to go buy a new pait of googles and 2) Dont walk when you are supposed to be swimming.
While in transition, my fans (Stephanie & Kyle) were cheering and snapping pictures when Kyle yelled "Daddy a shark bit your foot". Sure enough, the injury to the foot was bloody and beginning to hurt. But I was too busy groaning that all my gear was covered in ants that were eating my energy waffers that I had opened up to save a little time. I don't know why I do this, the 2 seconds I save will never win me an event and now I was covered in ants too. I finally made it out of the Transition zone, but was a littel wiser in that I learned never to leave sugary stuff OPENED!
The bike was uneventful with a nice tail wind on the way south and a dreadful head wind on the way north. I planned in my mind after the first lap to be done with the bike portion in 2 hours and 30 minutes since last time I completed the same course in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I figured that a conservative 10 minutes would be acceptable. Along the route I got the see my fans twice and I made sure to smile and wave this time, because last time I was scolded by them for looking angry. I was still picking ants out of my hair, but was happy with the bike ride nonetheless. I returned to the Transition zone in 2 hours and 31 minutes, 9 minutes faster this go around.
Off on the run and it was quite humid and the sun was blistering hot. It was an uneventful out and back course and I worked hard to find shade every step of the way since I could feel my skin burning with every step. Upon approaching the finish line I was so happy to see my fans there (last time they were in a comfy movie theater beating the heat) and as I approached the timing mats I had to sprint like a rabbit to race ahead of an approaching racer that wanted to beat me out! The run and that sprint really caused my foot to scream in pain! My time of 1 hour and 13 minutes was 3rd fastest runer of the day and it shattered my previously set record of 1 hour and 34 minutes. I learned that I should probably wear sun screen like Stephanie always suggest ....
.911 mile swim, 49.11 mile bike, and 9.11 mile run was done with the final time of 4 hours and 16 minutes with a longer swim this time!
Like my little inner sparklikes to remind me, "You got this" and so I did this time around. I can only pray that the IronMan plan that seems to be working for me right now continues to help me get to the finish line in Panama City, FL! I just have to remember to keep things simple and start listening more .....
