Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Rookie Triathlon 2015



 The Rookie was my first tri of the season and the first of the 4 race entries I won from Austin Fitness Rentals. I wasn't at all stressed about this race, just excited for a morning of fun & friends! The Rookie is a 300 meter swim, an 11.2 mile bike, and a 2 mile run. I was a little worried the water would be cold especially since I wasn't wearing a wetsuit, but I figured for 300 meters, I could just suck it up and be cold. Pre-race was mostly chatting with friends and giving hugs to those I hadn't seen in a while.
Tri Zones pre- race. photo credit: Melissa Dubbick
 Time trial start this year, which I don't actually dislike (I was always a big fan of mass swim starts- I know, I'm a little crazy). I got in the water, it felt pretty cold at first, but after a few fast strokes, it felt pretty comfortable. By the time I got in my groove and started passing people I was already to the final turn buoy and almost finished! swim time: 7:40
finished with the super short swim! Photo credit: Melissa Dubbick
 My transition was slowish, but not terrible for me at Decker 4:19. I got on my bike and tried to remember to push hard since I only had to run 2 miles after the bike. Up and down and all around Decker Lake, it's a hilly bike course, but I had fun and enjoyed it, even made it up Little Tard with minimal huffing and puffing. Of course the faster and older Tri Zoners were passing me along the way, Nancy, Red, Judy, Rhonda, Katie, Linda, Kendra...I expected that and enjoyed their encouragement. Except Rhonda who yelled at me for coasting down the hill after Little Tard :) Then on 130, Eva passed me, I yelled something encouraging to her about kicking my butt even after bilateral knee surgery, but inside, I was disappointed that she was able to pass me...she wasn't even supposed to be riding those hills yet, and she still passed me after just having bilateral knee surgery?!?

After I finished I was hanging out with Linda and Laura and they asked me if Eva had finished yet. I said "Ha! she finished a long time ago, she passed me on the bike" They replied, "I don't think she passed you" and then "oh look, there she is finishing now" and yep, Eva was finishing the bike right then. So who in the world passed me on the bike??? I maintain that IT WAS EVA!! Of course Linda and Laura started asking "well, was it Judy? Katie? Kendra? etc" "No, IT WAS EVA!"  I have no idea what happened out there, either some mystery person who looks just like Eva passed me or I hallucinated the whole thing.
Eva who did not actually pass me on the bike :)
 My bike time was 45:42, my second fastest ride ever on the Decker bike course, and my T2 was 1:45, not bad for the first tri of the season.

The run felt pretty good, I tried to keep up a good pace since I only had to run 2 miles. I passed Linda, but that wasn't as much fun as it would be if she wasn't injured. Run time was 20:43 for my fastest run pace ever at Decker.
Finish line! Photo credit: Melissa Dubbick
 Overall time was 1:20:11. I had a great time, enjoyed the race and enjoyed the beautiful weather and fun with friends post race. Next up is Skeese Greets on June 7th, the exact same course, so I'll try hard to beat my Rookie times.
Tri Zones post race Photo credit: Melissa Dubbick
Laura, Justin, me, Eva, & Linda at the beer/bloody mary tent

1 comment:

Amy said...

Yay! Great job, Heather! If you're getting PRs on your first race of the season, I can't wait to see what you do with the rest of it!