How Is It Wednesday Already?

I kept meaning to write about the Sprint-distance triathlon that Molly and I went to on Sunday. It was in White Bear Lake. We both thought it would be a good idea to just go watch an event. It was a beautiful morning for a race. What I think was most beneficial was standing near the transition zone, where racers changed their gear for each event. The one thing that I can say with absolute certainty about all racers is that no one transitions gracefully. For most it looked like quite a disaster, but they all got the job done.

Transitions can be tough because you have to perform a multitude of tasks in very little time, heart bounding, likely out of breath, and more than likely you have family cheering you on from the other side of the fence. Its quite nauseating to think about really. Before the race each person gets a spot in which to set up their gear. Among the things that people will have:

Transition 1 (after the swim, getting ready for the bike):

1. bike (which has at least one water bottle on it)

2. helmet

3. gloves

4. sunglasses

5. cycling shoes (snazzy people have the shoes on the bike already, I won't because I will fall down)

6. water bottle or tub of water to rinse feet after the swim, they're pretty sandy at this point

7. towel to dry off your feet before putting your socks on

8. socks are optional. I'm going to trying doing a couple of rides without them to see how comfortable it is. Apparently tossing some baby powder in your shoes before hand really makes a difference...

9. Eat an energy bar or something

Holy crap, that's a lot of stuff for just one transition. Most importantly you have to remember your helmet. If you leave the transition zone without a helmet on you are immediately beaten to death. Oh no, wait, we're not gladiators, but you will be disqualified from the whole race.

Transition 2 (from bike to run)

1. Take all your bike gear off

2. Running shoes

3. Hat

4. Sunglasses

5. Race belt

6. Eat some energy Gu

Then you have to try and run. This is the best/worst part. Its pretty damn funny to me. As soon as I get off my bike and try to run my legs are like spaghetti. And to watch other people to it, well, that's just entertainment. See, I can laugh because I'll be doing it myself. Like I said, you have to change in and out of all of this stuff and more than likely people will be cheering you on from the sidelines. So you try and smile and look like you're doing great!

For Molly and I to watch another event, one that was completely unrelated to ours, was important. We could talk through what people where doing and think about how we wanted to handle our own. It was very smart.

Let's see. Sunday, after we watched that tri, Molly and I did a short run that just about killed me. I was either too dehydrated or needed to recover from doing our own sprint-distance the day before. Monday night we did an open water swim with a small group of TNTers. It was great. I really need to work on spotting. Spotting is when a swimmer looks up every 5 or so strokes to see where they're going. Not such a bad thing to practice...

Last night was great. Marie (my Ironman woman) came to the pool and swam with Pete and I. She's kicks ass. Pete was going to watch her swimming and give her some tips... but said afterward how well she did and that her swimming was excellent. You rock Marie!