diamond in the rough triathlon race recap

I completed my second ever triathlon on Saturday up in Perryville, MD (North of Baltimore right on the Chesapeake).  They had an international distance and sprint distance - since I only signed up 2 weeks ago and hadn't been in a swimming pool in over a year, I decided to go for the sprint. 

I snapped the stinking valve off of my bike tube while I was pumping up my tires the night before the race, so I got to spend the evening changing my very first flat tire.  It was harder than I thought it would be, but now that I've done it once, I feel much more comfortable going out on my bike knowing that I can handle it if I ever get a flat tire.

The morning of the race, I woke up extra early to make sure I got up to the race on time.  When I was halfway there, I realized I had forgotten my bike helmet, so made an emergency stop at Wal-Mart to pick one up.  (It's hot pink.  I kind of love it.)

The race was pretty awesome.  We swam in the Chesapeake, and the water was incredibly choppy so after about 30 seconds I was already pretty pooped.  Don't worry, after I got warmed up I felt much better.   I also realized that I am not a huge fan of the wave start since throughout the whole swim I would take about 3 strokes and then plow into somebody.  But it kept me from getting off course like I did last year! 

I learned from last year and actually ran to the transition zones instead of taking my time and walking.  Apparently that's what you're supposed to do when you're racing.

 

 

I decided on Thursday that it would be a really good idea to do a boot camp at my gym so that I get my money's worth out of my gym membership.  Too bad my quads felt like they were on fire after the class.  By Saturday morning, they were still burning so the bike portion of the race felt way harder than it should have.  It was a nice pretty course with rolling hills, but man, those hills killed me.  That's what I get for thinking that doing 100 squats would be no big deal.

 

 

The run was my favorite part because I passed a lot of people (don't worry, I don't have a competitive bone in my body.  ha.)  My legs felt like lead and I was 100% convinced I was running 11-minute miles, but they were actually 8-minute miles, so that was a pleasant surprise!  My favorite part of the race was that the race photos were FREE!  I have signed up for races based solely on the free race photos, so that was a huge plus for me!

I think this was the most fun I have ever had in a race.  I decided that I am going to do a half ironman next spring.  I think there is one in The Woodlands that happens to be the same week as my break from school! If I can find one out here, though, that would be even better.