Tri-curious Post Script/Honolulu Triathlon Reflections

So you know what I said about the tri bug?  I may have a small bite, but it's hard to say.  Today was definitely an interesting experience.  Even though I knew I wasn't going to race, I was nervous last night and didn't sleep well.  I think it's the anticipation of pain that makes me nervous.

Then my plan to get to Magic Island early so that I could park nearby was foiled, and I ended up having to bike a bit to the transition area.  Speaking of the transition area, what a maze.  It was hard navigating the entrances and exits in the dark, so I wandered around the entire area trying to orient myself.  I happened to run into a friend, who gave me a really quick orientation.  Just seeing a familiar face was comforting.

I had lots of time before my wave started, so I waited in line to use the bathroom.  It was too far to walk back to my bag to get my slippers, so I waited in the bathroom in my bare feet.  Gross.  I kept telling myself I was jumping in the water soon.  I got to the front only to find out there was no toilet paper, though, so ended up not even using it.

Anyway, before I knew it, it was game time.  I entered the corral with the 39 and under Olympic distance women, and I fought back my nervousness so that I'd have a nice, relaxed swim.  I tried to remember all the feedback I had gotten from the UH Swim Clinic, mainly to keep my arms from crossing over, which is what was causing my shoulder pain.  Things went pretty smoothly, although I did get kicked in the face, and my goggles filled with water.  As it turns out, I also lost my left contact at this point, but I didn't realize this until after the race.  Every so often, someone would crawl over me or pull me down or wack me.  I expected all of this at the start of the race, but I actually felt that all throughout the race.  It was pretty crowded, but I stayed calm and just stuck with my game plan.  This was the farthest I've swam in a while, and I could feel myself tiring at the end but finished strong.

When I got to T1, I was NOT looking forward to the bike and took my time putting all my gear on.  I figured out how to get out of the corral and was on my way.  I tried to keep a pretty good cadence and didn't want to kill myself on the bike, but I was around 17-20 mph most of the time.  Still, it felt like everyone and their mom was passing me.  I tried to enjoy the fact that I've never ridden my bike along Nimitz Highway, but soon the lanes got narrower, and my attention became focused on keeping pace while trying not to draft and not getting stuck behind someone going slower than I wanted to be going.  That pretty much occupied my mind the whole time.  When we finally made the last 180 degree turn to head back to Ala Moana, I was stoked to be running soon.

As we got to the dismount line, a guy was yelling at people to hurry up and get out of the way -- proof that some people take this way too seriously.  I think this transition was a lot faster, but I drank zero water on the bike and had to refuel while I could.  I guzzled down some water, changed my shoes, threw on my visor, and was on my way.  I felt my left calf twinge a bit on the bike, so I didn't know if it would act up on the run.  I figured if it did, I'd just walk more.

So began the 10k.  It was HOT, and there were people running every which way.  With relays and runs and various tri distances going on, it's hard to tell where you're at.  I thought my legs would feel better, but they felt quite heavy.  I started out trying a 2 minutes run, 1 minute walk ratio.  Soon it became 3 to 1, and then I felt fine so I just kept trotting along.  My watch pace seemed really off, so I had no idea what pace I was running.  It felt like 9ish.  Every so often, I stopped to walk because my legs were fatigued.  I walked through most of the aid stations and tanked as much Gatorade and water as I could.

We finally turned into Magic Island, and I picked up my pace thinking we were one turn away from the finish line.  Psych!!!  We went on this windy path all through Magic Island and back.  I was pretty hot and annoyed, but mostly I was just undertrained.  But I finished!  

It was so hot and I didn't see anyone I knew, so I just tried to find some fruit and water, got my free shave ice, and made my way back to the bike and packed up.  Even getting out of that place was tricky, but I made it back to my car pretty quickly and got an iced coffee as a reward.

I was satisfied but disappointed that I felt so slow on the bike.  When I checked my time and data online at home, I found out I got 3rd place in my age division.  What?!   But then I figured out that I didn't do the 2nd loop of the 10k route, so that's why my time was wrong.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll have to do this again some other time.