Week-End Updates

Whew!  Saturday morning I ran the Panther City 5K - this race started and finished from a brewery right down the street!!!  Who knew this place was even there?  Not me!  Anyway, it was mainly on dirt and not cement but I am not sure I would go so far as to call them trails.  Just dirt.  I started out way too fast (7:44 first mile) and knew it pretty soon :)  Got passed at the end by the only person I was concerned with in my age group -  I did not turn it on to catch her either, decided to save it for another day.   It was a PR for her, it wasn't and wouldn't have been for me.  I was at least a minute off my PR, so I will catch her another day.  Ended up with 2nd in my age group with an average pace of 8:23.  I will take it and work on my pace.

Saturday around noon a friend from an online group I am in (Brooks First Marathon, Inner Circle) arrived from Oklahoma.  We are both doing our first Sprint Triathlon on Sunday - St. Patrick's Day Triathlon in Keller, TX. We have never met in person - it was so awesome and special to actually meet in person.  We went to packet pick up, picked up some belts to hold our bib numbers, had some lunch, watched some You Tube videos on transitions for the Sprint Tri and went to bed early.  The alarm went off at 4:15...AM...mercy.  We got to Keller a little after the transition area opened at 6:15am, got marked and set up our stuff.  

My number was 501.  The first athlete went in the water at 7:30.  There was a 5-7 second wait between athletes.  Needless to say it was a LONG wait and those that started first were FINISHED before I ever even got in the water.

Swim portion - the lanes were 50 meters long.  I had to rest after 100 meters.  We only had to do 300 meters...I spend almost half of those last 200 meters on my back instead of doing the free style.  Hey, whatever it takes.  I took a salt stick capsule before I got on the bike.  Got my PF sleeve and socks on my wet foot, threw on a shirt over my wet Tri suit, helmet and glasses and took off running with the bike.

Bike portion - a 2 loop course.  With hills.  Dang it.  I have yet to ride in a group or even with another person so I winged it the best I could.  I passed 1 person, I was passed by about 100.   I guess I need to invest in my own bike (I borrowed one) and actually get pedals and shoes that clip in.  It's only money, right?  And time.  And commitment,

Run Portion - My legs felt wobbly and I had cramps in both calves as well and the shin area of my left leg.  I took another salt stick capsule but I had nothing to drink - oops.  It did kick in around mile 2 so I was able to finish strong.  I felt better after mile 2 than I had most of the day.  Maybe because it was almost over, maybe because of the salt stick, or a combo of both.

Lessons learned:

* Must improve on the bike - need to work with the Tri coach on this.
* Must improve on the swim.
* Remember to start my watch - I remembered to get the satellite but forgot to press GO.
* Take salt stick early and often, with liquid.
* Turn off all alarms and notifications on my phone.
* Bring food and drink to the swim portion if I am in the back of the pack
* The competitors in this race were the nicest, most encouraging people I have ever raced with.