I participated in the Splash and Dash last Thursday evening in 100 degree temps. It was a quick swim and a 5K run and I got to say, the water was nice and inviting, despite the hoards of blood thirsty triathletes waiting to kick and drown me through the water. During the run my face felt hot. I've never had my face feel hot to the point I thought it was going to burn off my neck. But it was a good confidence booster for the triathlon on Saturday.
Saturday, I participated in the Danskin SheRox Triathlon and loved, loved it. I forget how much I love triathlons till I do a real open water, hard core, in the heat of the desert type of triathlon. But, this one was all women and no, I did not miss the men. All the women were commenting on how everything was cleaner; the port a potties were so much cleaner; the bike course was so much safer--no men coming at me at 25 miles per hour yelling at me to "get to the right" and then when I do, they come within 2 inches of me anyway. Thank goodness for all female triathlons, as much as I love men, this was a nice change of style, but not change of pace. I still tried, despite hardly swimming or biking lately. In my age group, I placed 19th out of 81 in the swim, 14th out of 81 in the run...and 54th out of 81 in the bike...sheepish face. I know it! I am not a biker. I am more of a casual shift gears all the time type of biker, which will not win me any races. The people who win triathlons are the bike handlers, plain and simple. It is the longest portion of the race and the toughest and I think, most dangerous, although people who hate to swim wouldn't concur. Overall I came in 25th out of 81, but if I had biked the way I should have, I would have been 15th out of 81. I usually bike faster. I even biked faster in a half ironman than I did in this race. I need to get myself motivated to bike more somehow. I promise myself after my marathon I will crank the bike out more often. It's just so much work and so much gear and too many cars to run me over.
