Triathlon Training Tales: Spring Meadow Triathlon

23 minutes better than last year! :)
Swim - 33:27
T1 - 2:09.27
Bike - 1:18:56
T2 - 1:18.05
Run - 56:28
Total - 2:53:20

Setting up transition

Coach photobombing :)

I did the Olympic distance Sunday (.9 mile swim, 24 mile bike, 6.2 mile run). The weather Sunday morning in Helena was not great. It was really windy and right before the race started, it started raining! ARGH! I was cold before the swim, teeth chattering/shivering uncontrollably type of cold. But, once I started swimming it didn’t take long before I warmed up –thankfully!

BRRR - let's get going!

SWIM
The swim was pretty uneventful, didn’t get kicked or hit too much, and eventually it thinned out enough that I had lots of room to not even notice other people. Last year the safety people (in the kayaks) were beside me so I knew I was the last one or close to the last swimmer. This year I didn’t see the kayaks so YAY! I knew I wasn’t last!! :) I still wish I were faster but, it’s a work in progress.

I'm not last!

Me - on the right/middle

BIKE
It was still raining when I exited the water and the roads were wet for about the first 4 miles of the bike. The rain stopped and the roads dried out which was much better! The wind was huge factor on this ride though and it definitely affected my speed and gear selection for this course. This bike course is an ‘out and back’ and with about 8 or 9 miles left it is a downhill grade back to the transition area. I was able to get rolling and did about 30 mph for 5 miles and then when the grade decreased I averaged about 24 mph! YAY! Love rolling along like that – it’s so much fun.

T1 - everything is wet

Yep I'm barefoot. Game time decision. Socks were wet so why bother putting them on

Getting started

Finishing up on the bike

RUN
The run is a 2 loop, mostly flat course. Almost immediately after starting the run I got a side stitch which eventually spread across my whole diaphragm. No fun! I had to slow down to help ease the pain and when it would subside I would pick up my pace again but, each time I tried to go faster the stitch came back. My coach was standing about mile 4, and as I was just passing another runner, he yelled, “Pass everybody Chris”… Inwardly I smiled but, all I could do was go “ARGHHH”! I was hurting. But, not long after that the stitch went away and I was able to get rolling at a good clip and finished strong.


Guy I passed right as Matt yelled "Pass Everybody" - I'm sure this guy appreciated that! :)

FINISH - Broke 3 hours!!

It was a great day! I had lots of support which is always appreciated! My coach, my WWT friends, my cousin Cheri and of course, Pat! Pat was awesome – he was up at 5:00 AM with me and then spent the next 9 hours hanging out, waiting for me to finish. You may wonder why 9 hours… Well – my plan/coach had me go ride the course again after the race (just for fun), so Pat had to wait around for another 1.5 hours while I completed that task.