lobsterman tri- less is more ;)

a few weeks ago when my upcoming work schedule came out, i found out that i was free the weekend of sept 14-15th. i contemplated joining a reach the beach team but ultimately decided that i really didnt want to run far/not sleep much this close to marathon #7. also its about 30 degrees at night now so sleeping in my bed vs a sleeping bag on the sidewalk sounded much better. and then theres that whole "we got a puppy" thing. hes kinda a lot of work.

so instead, i convinced andy that the lobsterman triathlon would be a great idea, and he agreed! (side note: hes easily convinced) (side side note: i may or may not have told him i would do the bike and run and all he had to do was swim. he signed us up before our conversation was even done, and then i kindly reminded him i didnt have a bike. hehe. danielle- 1. andy- 0).

i havent raced a 10k in over a year so i was a little nervous but i played it cool. hey, at least i wasnt swimming and biking first! i met up with andy before the race to talk strategy and he was still half asleep and wearing what he slept in. while everyone was lining the beach in their wetsuits to take a quick dip, he was chatting it up with his fellow teammates and sipping tea. uh, time to get ready dont ya think? (of course i still had over an hour and a half to just chill, and chill i did... it was about 45 degrees and looked like it was about to rain!)

as we made our way into transition to get our timing chip and get body marked, we saw kellie and made sure she gave us legible numbers.

im still annoyed by these triathlon rules...

but i like my number a lot better than his ;)

i think we can see who knows more about transitions

what, this isnt what you do?

after some light reading and 18 trips back and forth from the car to transition for water bottles, we went and hung out with the sustainable athletes for awhile before we all had to meet for the pre race meeting. andy finally decided it would be a good idea to get his wetsuit on, they went through all the rules (that hopefully didnt apply to me since i wasnt really listening), and then the first wave got ready to get in the water. the waves were split up among sex/age groups and each wave had different colored swim caps. as a fun twist of fate, andy got pink, my favorite color! and lucky for me, that swim cap is now mine :)

(i guess i dont have a pic of the pink swim cap, but the shirts were pretty cool...)

and at least they remembered the "L" in triathlon...

oops. (polar bear tri shirt)

although it was a bit chilly, the atlantic ocean temp was said to be about 64 degrees and the sunrise looked beautiful at winslow park.

since we were in the relay, andy's wave didnt start until just after 9:30. i waited to see them off and then walked to the car to get my sweatpants. i was still freezing, and i knew it was going to rain.

i was able to see a bunch of people i knew coming out of the water as the rain poured down, and then quickly turned sunny and warm.

once andy got out of the water and out on his bike, i knew i had over an hour. i got my stuff together for the run, went to the bathroom, and did a warm up mile. then i took a nap stretched in transition.



what....?

this is what marathoners do at triathlon relays

when i saw andy coming into transition, i picked up my handheld, popped in a piece of gum, and grabbed the ankle timing chip as he mounted his bike. shortly after taking off i could already tell that the timing chip was going to drive me insane. not only was it annoying around my leg, it was wet. gross.

i headed out on the dirt park road at about a 7:15 pace. oops. i knew i probably wasnt going to PR this 10k since i havent done legit speedwork since i dunno, may? but i figured i was in good enough shape to do low 8s. and i knew i had a hill to come up at mile 4ish. what i had forgotten about was the hill at mile 1. mile 2. oh and mile 3. barf.

i had a mix of gatorade and water in my handheld, and had eaten half of my chocolate waffle before even beginning the run (i guess my 3/4ths of a bagel at 7am wasnt enough, who knew?!) since the sun had come out it was also hot. i took it easy on the first two uphills and powered down the other side. i felt bad passing all of the people who had just come off the bike, so as i passed i told them all good job and hoped they saw the big R on my leg before cursing me. (i know you all hate people like us, thanks michelle). i stopped at each mile marker to throw a cup of water down the back of my neck and took a few sips as well. the heat with the hills was just killer, but with a mile left (downhill) i gave it my all and cruised in at 7:30 pace to finish 51:53 (8:20 overall pace), passing a guy with "75" on his calf. sorry buddy, i know youre more hardcore than i am but im gonna beat you anyway.

overall it was a really fun race, very well organized and the volunteers were excellent. ive never had a bad experience at a triathlon, and i just love watching everyone compete! i still feel like i totally do not fit in with all the triathletes though and im scared as hell to do an ocean swim so im glad it was andy and not me. and although it kinda sucks to wait around, im thinking relay tris are the way to go :)

team "less is more ;)"