Gary Kirby Tri (2008)

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Rex Wellness Sprint Tri

Yesterday I went to packet pick up to get my numbers and my race shirt. I'm pretty sure when I put in my registration in I registered for a Men's Medium shirt because with my shoulders I usually don't fit into the Women's shirts. I showed up with my picture ID (which they asked for), and they handed me a Women's Medium shirt- I asked if they had a larger size. They said no, and I said they could keep the shirt (it would fit a 10 year old). The lady at packet pick up said to check back after the race to see if they had any extra's. When I looked at my number I was surprised that I was 105, as this is a pool swim based on your swim time. I grew up a competitive swimmer and swimming tends to be my strong suit. Middle of the pack makes me nervous and I was not looking forward to having to pass many people in the pool. Ohh well, this is supposed to be a fun triathlon I figured I'd just make the best of it.

Today I got up at 5 am (I'm lucky I live pretty close to the race site, and have a husband who was kind enough to take my sweet puppy dog for a walk this morning). After getting all my stuff together (most of which I gathered last night) and filling up one more water bottle I put pumped up my bike tires and put my bike on the car. I got to the race site at 5:39am, and found my friend Kim immediately. We set up our transition areas as we were just a row away from each other, because of my crazy swim time. I was 105 and she was 120. We surveyed the in's and out's (bike in, bike out, run in, run out) and went to see the pool.

This was a 250 yd swim, which we snaked through the pool. As the race started I was watching the swimmers go, when we got to about #22 swimming, I thought this is where I should be swimming at. YIKES! It got progressively slower as my number got closer. As luck would have it they took a break in the swim before I started my swim. That was AWESOME for me. The swimmer in front me swam approximately 3 lengths of the pool before I started. I had free and clear swimming for most of my swim and I by the end I caught up to the swimmer in front of me. I was just happy to not have to climb over any swimmers in the pool, or be effected by any breast-strokers or walkers. It took me 4 minutes and 29 seconds to finish the swim.

The run from the pool to the transition area was pretty long, but over concrete and grass so easy on the feet. I got to my bike put my helmet and sunglasses on, wiped off my feet and got my socks and bike shoes on, ran my bike out to the mount line and off I went. My T1 time was 1:39

It was a hilly bike course, but I didn't get passed by anyone on my bike and I passed quite a few people. I always like it when I don't get passed. I do have a slight advantage with biking a hilly course as my "normal" Sunday bike ride (47 miles) is in N. Raleigh and very hilly. I felt good coming off my bike. Of course I'm a talker on the course so I was yelling out encouraging words to my fellow athletes, having a good time. My bike time was 33:24

The next transition probably shouldn't of taken me as long as it did, but it did. It's always hard getting off the bike and getting my legs moving for a run. It's a shuffle. My T2 time was 1:26

My run could of been better, but again it was a hilly course lot's of inclines and declines not much flat. I did walk up more than a few of the hills, but I'm pretty sure I could walk them faster than I can run them! It's just hard to make my legs run after walking up a hill. I did it though, and my friend Kim never caught me. It would of been nice to run together, but I'm happy that she didn't catch me. My run took me 37:02.

Overall it was a fun race. I placed 2nd in my division with a time of 1:17:58. This race only gave out prizes for 1st place, and the 2nd, and 3rd place prize money was given to the Rex Wellness program. So I'm glad the money that would of been spent on a prize for me went to a good cause.

Ohh and I did end up getting a men's medium race shirt! WOO HOO!! Happy Fun Sprint Triathlon!!

My friend Kim gave me the facts, and here they are:

Here are the stats.
1 -- you took second in the Athena Class
2 -- you were 37th out of 103 females
3 -- if you look at the splits for those 103 females, you ranked 6th in the swim and 5th on the bike.
All of this crazy summer training is paying off!

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