The first triathlon of the season is now finished. I have been off/on with training and so I was nervous about this first race. However, I did ok. It was a good benchmark for me to properly evaluate where I need to focus.
The swim was great at first. When I was about 20 feet away from the buoy, 2 monster waves came down and me for breakfast! The bottom was so far down and I did not swim deep enough to avoid the bottom of the waves. I was pushed/curled around and away from the buoy. After reaching the second buoy, on the way back to the beach, I felt as if I were swimming in the same place. I asked a few latri members how they felt on the their swim back and they had the same particular sensation OR maybe they were just being nice. My ego chooses to believe that we had the same experience. =)
The bike segment felt amazing compared to a few years ago. Strawberry Fields Tri was my first triathlon ever! I used to have an old bike that I had purchased from Craigslist.com. I remember pedaling so hard against wind that blew sand in my eyes with my regular bike pedals and sneakers! This time, the bike segment was MUCH easier. I have better equipment, mindset, and have logged more time on the road bike. My average was 18.7 and my goal for the year is 21 average for this kind of course. So, I did well, and yet I have some work to do for the year. =)
The run segment was difficult, because I still was unable to feel my feet. I began to feel my left foot about 2 miles into the race. I kept checking my polar watch for my pace and moving my arms faster to try to make my legs go faster. I need to re-calibrate the equipment. It said I had a 9 minute pace the whole time. I was so frustrated. Next time, I will be very very careful when I calibrate. The website results said I had a 8.29 pace. Of course, I will believe the website until I re-calibrate. I'm excited about using these new toys!
After the race, I felt amazing. I still feel super charged. I did a brick today with a few latriclub members in winds of tornado intensities. We had a good time and we all wished we had power meters to see our exertion level. =)-
=)
Emma Petrie
