Bricks

As in, that is what my legs feel like.

After a swim/bike/run brick (is it really a brick still if you do all three?)

Today was practice day for the Siouxperman. I still love the name. Oh, Sioux Center IA, how funny you are! This was Kori and my first realish triathlon (it has a pool swim), so it holds a dear place in our hearts.

Anyway, today Kori and I did a run through - 300 yd swim/16.5 mile bike/5k. The pool was pretty packed when we got there so we shared a lane and Kori started maybe half a length ahead of me. My goal was to not let her lap me. I managed to do the 300 in 7:25 or so, which is a total rockstar performance by yours truly. My fastest 300 all year has been like 7:40. Yeah, I'm still slow, but I'll take it. Even though Kori was out of the water maybe 30 seconds ahead of me, she is too nice and got sucked into a conversation with this older woman who does triathlons on the pool deck. I have been sucked into such conversations before, so I jumped out the pool and booked it to the locker room, leaving Kori to fend for herself. T1 time was a-wastin'!

Okay, so T1 was sorta long. I wanted to put on a long sleeve shirt but when I took off the shirt earlier, one sleeve was inside out, so I wasted a good 30 seconds struggling with evil sleeves. I never thought I would contemplate this, but I am sorta considering trying to leave my bike shoes on the bike. This entirely stems from the fact that the transition region at Siouxperman is this huge room with a slick concrete floor. Last year I ran out of transition barefoot before putting on my bike shoes because I was pretty sure I was going to slip. So just leaving my shoes clipped in would be ideal, but I am pretty sure would result in me wiping out, probably taking out other triathletes in the process of embarassing myself for trying something I have no business trying. If only I could ride my bike around a room covered in gym mats so that when I practice, the falling will be soft and cushy!

Anyway, the bike! So after talking trash in my last post, I pretty much was obligated to drop Kori. But she was not letting this happen. See, I am never going to beat her on the swim or the run. The bike is all I have! The first 8 miles I was working. It was into the wind the whole way and there were some good hills. And... I. Could. Not. Drop. Her. I could see her shadow creeping up on (which probably meant she was within the draft zone - yeah, that's why she was so hard to drop :-)). We were averaging about 17.5 mph, which is good for me!

Then we turned out of the wind and I cranked up the gears.

And it was bliss. With the wind at my back and a slight decline, I was effortlessly going over 20 mph, getting over 30 mph on a particularly sweet section.

And I finally made some distance in front of Kori. Not much! And I trashed my legs in the process, but I averaged 18-18.5 mph overall. So I gained maybe three minutes on her...

Only to lose all three minutes on the run...

Sigh. It was to be expected.

It was rough. I did a 32 minute 5k and it hurt. That is slow for me. Off the bike I typically come off at like a 9:30 mile and have to slow down. Not today.

Lessons learned:

1. Remember stupid hat! Sweat was stinging my eyes.

2. I love my new tri shorts. Yay TYR! For Jenny

3. Trashing your legs on the bike won't do much for you if you can't run.

4. Kori's T2 was also destroyed by this same woman who kept chatting with her; being a cold-hearted Masshole like myself and not a polite Iowan guarantees faster times.

5. Kori and I might give the same swim time so we start close to each other. We are both competitive types and I'll work harder on the bike to stay ahead of her and she'll work harder on the run to catch me and then I'll run harder to try and keep up. Win win for everyone!

There is a biathlon this weekend in Nevada (the next town over - pronounced Nuh-vay-duh - silly Iowans). Now I think of biathlon as involving skiing and shooting, but it is just a bike/run race (15 mi/5k). Good practice I think! But seriously, I am not doing it unless they are doing age groups (which is looks like they aren't). I need some motivation!