NinkyBink Boutique

Sunday, August 01, 2010

Elite Endeavors Women’s Only Sprint Distance Triathlon

Today I completed my first sprint distance triathlon! It was an absolutely wonderful experience through and through, and I came out of it with a delighted feeling of accomplishment. I was caught by surprise at my swimming split time, as it was actually pretty decent given I haven’t swam competitively in many years. Turns out I had the 5th fasted swim time of the day, out of 305 competitors (and it was 1st fastest in my age group!)! My 5k time made me pretty happy too, it was my fastest on record (though I have not done that many 5k races, so that doesn’t say a lot). For the run, I had the 19th fastest split time out of 305. Now for the biking…I wasn’t all that fast. But I did my best, and a part of me wonders if I could be faster if I had a slightly more suitable bike next time. It’s an opportunity for improvement!

I made two videos for this event. The first video is a SHORT version, and it is mainly just a recap of the event itself. The second video contains all the same footage as the first, but also alot more. It was made for other future athletes who may be interested in trying out their first sprint distance triathlon. I could not find much on youtube regarding sprint distance triathlons when I was getting involved, so I thought I’d make a video myself.

Results: By Age Group

Results: Overall

We got to the race site at around 6:30am. I had not fallen asleep until after 1:30am!

Sans makeup for a change…

Getting our transition areas set up before the race. There was not much room at all!

Headed over to the quarry. I had no idea what my swimming skills would be these days.

Concrete steps of varying heights led into the water making for a tricky hill climb afterwards on tired legs.

Putting on my swim cap before hopping in for a warm up. The water was a perfect temperature, if not erring on the side of hot. I’d much rather it be hot than too cold though!

A sea of pink! Each of us had to stand in a group of our predicted swim. I chose the “under 8 minute group” and I’m glad I did because I ended up with a 7:21 as my time.

It was very hard to see in the water & very different from the pool swimming I am used to. I had too many bodies in my way, but kept “going in for the kill” trying to swim past them all.

As soon as I finished the swim, a sprinted up the stairs for
transition to the bike. I needed as much time as possible to put on my Vibrams!

The first shoe went on quickly, then 2nd I had a slight pinky toe issue, but I quickly resolved it.

Grabbing my bike in transition 1

Headed out for the ride. This is my worst sport of the 3!

Perhaps next spring I’ll get myself a new bike!

Returning from the ride and onto the final segment, the 3.1 mile run! I was feeling great and full of vitality at this point. I must have paced myself well!

This was at the beginning of the run as I was just taking off from the transition area. I felt very steady and well paced on my run!

In the final few yards I ended up charging ahead of #326 with all I had left in me. I heard a friend call out to her, “watch out, she’s coming from behind you!“ It was a nice ending for me!