Galveston Race Report and a name change.......

Saturday, April 9th, 2011.  A date that loomed in front of me for 6 months, and then all of a sudden was here.  This was the day I did my first sprint triathlon.  Last week I devised my race plan.  Which came down to, don't drown, don't fall, run fast.  I have to say that I was able to follow my race plan to the tee!

Friday I left work early and drove down to Galveston to pick up my race packet.  All though I was very nervous, this was a very smooth process.  The only bump is that I didn't realize that in tri's they make you the age you will be in that year.  What a bunch of crap!!!  I will not be _ _ until December!!  Jeff and I shopped around for a bit, though I didn't buy anything because the Ironman store didn't have anything related to the Sprint, they just had half distance items, and I didn't feel right buying any of those.  I did buy some ear plugs for the swim.  I tend to get lots of water in my ear while I am at the pool and I didn't want to deal with that during the race.

Friday night we went to dinner with the friends we were staying with, and with fellow blogger Jon and his girlfriend Kelly.  Everyone let me pick the place since I was the once racing Saturday.  I wanted pasta/seafood.  We ended up at Landry's, which was awesome.  We had great food, with great company.  But had to cut it short so I could get some sleep.  And surprisingly I did sleep.  The next thing I knew the alarm was going off at the crack of dawn Saturday morning.

We got to the race site (with VIP parking) and I headed to body marking and transition.  I found my spot in transition and started setting up my space.  I looked and looked and looked and realized I forgot my socks.  What the hell was I going to do?  I went to talk to Jeff and he gave me his socks.  Right after that I found a spare pair that I had in my bag!  I headed out of transition and went to meet Jeff to put on my wet suit.   I then headed down to the swim.  The location where the race was being was doing some construction and had asked that spectators not go to the swim start.  Luckily, since Jeff was volunteering with out tri club he was able to come to the start with me and hang with me for a little while.  As the time for my wave to start approached I headed over to my "age" group to wait.  Now all of Friday people kept asking me if I was ready and excited.  My answer was no and no.  I was so nervous and not excited at all.  These feelings only got stronger the closer my wave got to the edge of the dock.  We were lined up on a dock to jump in the ocean and every step I got closer the feeling I was going to vomit got stronger.  However, I held it together and jumped in the water, where we had to wait another minute to start!  However, when I jumped in I knew there was no turning back so the gun when off I started to "swim."

I have to say that I really wasn't swimming, but was doing whatever I could to propel myself forward.  Whenever I started to swim like I had been practicing my breathing was all off.  I couldn't get in a groove and had to flip over on my back to catch my breath.  I didn't want to be one of the people that the kayaks came up to though so I tried to at least look like I was calm, cool and collected.  I finally got into a groove with about 100m to go, probably because I could see the finish.  I was finally out of the water.  1 down, and 2 to go.  Goal achieved, I didn't drown!

After my wet suit was stripped I got to transition, which was 5:49 and finally made my way to my bike.  One thing I learned is to make sure I have my Garmin on and in the mode I need it in before I start.  Other than that I don't know how I will be able to speed up my transitions except with practice.

As some of you may know, the bike was my biggest fear of the race.  It actually ended up not being so bad after all.  It was a super windy ride, with a nice crosswind.  The whole time I felt like I was going up hill.  I did actually end up passing a good amount of people, and even chicked a couple of guys in the process.  I was even able to drink once while on the bike.  I quickly grabbed the tube for my camel back and threw it in my mouth.  It was backwards, so I had to maneuver it with my tongue, but I got it and got some water.  I was able to complete the bike in 47:03, which was a 16.9 pace.  And I didn't fall at dismount!  Goal 2 achieved!! And 1 to go!

Now for the run.  I had to screw around with my Garmin again to switch to run mode.  I really need to learn how to use the multi sport mode!  I had another slow transition, but was finally off and running.  The water station where our tri club was volunteering was the first station on the run.  My legs were feeling like jello so having them there was just what I needed.  I actually looked at my watch after passing them and was running a 7:49 pace!  I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that up, so slowed down a bit.  The run was very fun, with lots of support along the way.  I felt pretty good for the most part, and even passed someone who was 10 years younger than me!  I do need to practice bricks though!  I ended up doing the run in 27:20, which is an 8:46 pace.  According to my Garmin, the course was a little short of a 5k, but I will take it!  So I will say, goal 3 achieved!

My overall finishing results are:

Swim   Pace  Rnk   T1      Bike   Mph   Rnk    T2      Run    Pace  Rnk   Div/Tot  Final 

16:39  3:20   454  5:46   47:03  15.9   341    4:03   27:20  8:46   281  19/42   1:40:49

I had such a blast doing this race, and by the end was already thinking about doing another one, with a lot more training behind it!  I think I will shoot for another sprint in October and then go from there.

And thanks to my running buddy and good friend Ruth Ann I have decided to change the name of my blog.  Since I no longer work in retail and am now going to give this tri thing more of a try....hahahahah, I am going to go with the name Don't Drown, Don't Fall, Run Fast, which was her synopsis of my pre- race report.  Thanks Ruthie :)