improvement

Well, I completed my 2nd sprint triathlon!  I liked it even better than the first one too.  I've swam competitively since I was 10, racing in hundreds of events, and I still get sooo nervous before a race.  Again, I didn't sleep well the night before, mostly due to nerves.  I'm beginning to wonder if I will ever get over the "nerves" before a race.

I put a slower swim time down in order to get a later start time. :)  My wave started at 8:30, which was what I wanted.  Before I started I was able to talk to a nice lady that has been doing triathlons for a while.  She told me about some other triathlons in the area that I may look into.

Triathlon #2

The Swim:
This was the only part of the tri that my time improved.  I swam it in 8:26 and it felt really good.  Like always the first 150 yards are tough until I get into my groove.  I swam all but about 50 yards freestyle.  I like to through in a few links of backstroke to catch my breath.  My backstroke is just about as fast as my freestyle.   I was the 2nd person out of the pool, which was good because the last 2 parts are the hardest for me. :)

Transition:
Ugh!  I'm still so slow at this.  I thought I had learned how to improve this, but I still took way too much time in this.  The shorts were sticking to my went skin and I shouldn't have put on my shirt until I was on the bike. Oh well, next time will be faster, right?!

The Bike:
Well, I initially thought I had cut some time off this compared to last time, but nope, I added a few seconds.  This time, the bike was the hardest part.  I was breathing really hard and just didn't want to over do it, knowing I still had to run 2 miles.  I said earlier that I was 2nd out of the pool.  I ended up being 2nd to LAST off the bike. :)  Obviously the bike is not my favorite!

The bikes were again right by the track so there wasn't much transition time between the two, thankfully.

The Run:
This felt much better than last time.  Except for the first 1/4 mile.  My legs were like jelly and I was still breathing pretty hard.  I considered walking, but I'm glad I didn't.  After about a 1/2 mile, my legs felt better and I was breathing more rhythmically.  I was able to finish the last 1/4 mile pretty strong.  I ran the 2 miles in 17:45 (a few seconds slower than last time).

Overall time: 49:55

My goal was to be under 50 minutes, so I was pleased with my time!  I guess you could say I've got the "tri" bug.  Looking forward to my next triathlon.  In the meantime, I will continue getting stronger, trying out some yoga, and start looking for a bike so that I can do an outdoor tri.

I love having to scrub that marker off

yay mommy!

And the moral of the story is...Start strong, finish stronger! (stolen from my nike shirt) :)