Tri-al Run

Nine days until the triathlon.

Yesterday was the first time we did a full practice run-through. There are four or five of us training together (depending on the week), though only three of us will be competing in this upcoming triathlon.

Our normal routine has been to meet together after work on Mondays and Fridays at Reid Park to swim and then run; we had talked about biking together at other times, but logistically we never worked anything out. I managed to do some biking on my own, but really not much, so I was pretty concerned about that aspect.

Yesterday, we all met at Mike's house at 5:30 pm. We were in the water at the community pool a little after 6. I think swimming is my weakest event. Everyone else had finished 400 meters before I got to 350. Since only Mike knew the whole course, we agreed to wait for the slowest (generally me) so no one would get lost.

It probably took 15 minutes after getting out of the pool before we were on our bikes and rolling. The others all have racing bikes; I have a mountain bike that I am borrowing from my son. I've already spent several hundred bucks on this triathlon, and I can't justify buying a whole new bike just for one race. Nonetheless, I did much better at biking than I expected, I was not too far behind the others. At a few points, I was even ahead of Melissa and Joy. This was the first time since training began that I did a full 20K bike ride.

The transition from biking to running was the hardest. This was new for me; we'd always just gone from swimming to running. My thighs were angry with me within a minute of starting the run. But I pushed through it and after a half mile or so my muscles adjusted. I was able to finish the run without having to walk any of it, and Joy and I came in just a couple minutes behind Mike and Melissa. I was amazed to find out that less than two hours had gone by since we got in the pool!

Also, once I caught my breath, I didn't feel at all tired (that would come the next day). I think I finally experienced that "runners high" that they talk about.

We all headed to Texas Roadhouse for a celebration dinner. This week we are taking it easy, and eating lots of carbs, as we get ready for the big race.