Get your own Free Home Page14 March 1998
The Marsh, Minnetonka, Minnesota
20 min. swim, 20 min. stationary bike, 20 min. treadmill run
Prologue |
This is one of the indoor tris I had attempted last year, and I was aiming to improve on last year's dissappointing bike leg due to a bum bike! I knew I could do better, and although training hadn't been up to the mileage of last year, I was ready and willing! I arrived early enough to see that the organization was much like last year, with a clean locker room and plenty of food for the famished racers! Yahoo!
I was also hoping to meet some of my internet contacts, Jeremy Dando and Julie Stauffer. Jeremy was a relative veteran at this sort of thing, and he managed to bring his wife along to try a row-bike-run event. What a guy! Julie was a triathlon newbie, and this was to be her first event! Wow! It would be interesting to meet these people, who up to now had just been figments of my own imagination, sprinkled with maybe a few verbal quotes from e-mail or over the phone. I couldn't wait! |
The
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I knew my swim training wasn't up to snuff this season (in the pool only 2x the past three months?! What was I doing here?). I regretted the lack of training, but figured that since my other training was going well, I should finish with about the same yardage as last year. With this being a timed swim, I could either pace myself and attain similar results as last year, or go all out and die the last 5 minutes. I wisely chose to pace myself :-)
As I prepared for the swim, I ran into some people I had raced with last year at this event, the Skeltons. Glen was racing today, but Lizann was "expecting", so she was there to support hubby! Great people, and it's always great to see people stick with the sport, especially as long as Glen has! (Don't worry, I won't tell you how long....) And now it was time. I slid into the pool. We pushed off at the word "Go!" I wasn't really ready.....but I made it work! Because I hadn't been a water-lover this season, I didn't have very good feel for the water, and it showed. My stroke was poor, and after the first 300 or so, I was taking waaaaay too long to get from end to end. I wasn't performing abyssmally, just off my game. I stroked on, anxious for it to be over---I wanted that bike to begin! Eventually, we had one minute left, and I just made it another 50 before we were stopped. 1250 this year, compared to 1325 last year. Not bad! Only 3 lengths different! OK! On to the bike! |
The
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Because this was an indoor event, we received equal transitions of 7 minutes between events. This was WONDERFUL! I was able to get my strength back, and mentally prepare for this bike. Since last year was so devastating, I just HAD to improve! My group mounted, and we were given some hasty last-minute instructions; I knew what to do, so I just concentrated and pictured reaching my goal!
Without warning, we were instructed to begin. I was focused, and before I knew it I was chomping at the bit! Cruising at 175-200 watts, I spun at 100-110 rpm for most of the time limit. Tried cranking it up to 225, but I felt my strength wasn't there for the long haul, so I stepped it down to 175. As I neared the end, I chucked it up to 275 for a short minute to reach a new record (for me) of 6.7 miles (in 20 minutes). much better than last year, and a good indicator that my cycling training indoors is paying off! On to the run! |
The
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Another 7 minutes awaited me, and I took full advantage of it; downing lots of water and mentally prepping for the run. It seemed we were being sped along a bit, but I was ready to go! We hopped on the "dreadmill" and pressed "start". And we were off and running (in place!).
I didn't quite know how to approach this run, since I had been running quite a bit this winter with the exceptionally warm Minnesota weather. I took it nice and slow at first, getting into a rhythm, then cranked it up a few notches every 2-3 minutes. By the end, I was really into a groove, and I knew I'd be happy with my distance! As I stopped, I noted the distance, and it was 2.592 miles! .021 longer than last year! Yeah! |
Postscript | Great race this year, and much more indicative of my true capabilities! Food after the race was excellent, and although the awards "ceremony" was a bit bungled, it was still a great way to begin the season. Next week, I travel to Tucson for Spring Break, and I am attempting a race out there on a mountain bike---should be interesting! |
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