In honor of this weekend's IronGirl

Image from Mapmyride.com

You know when you've got a race coming up, and you think to yourself, "I have done the training. I've worked hard and put in the time." And even if you're not exactly sure how it's going to go, you can feel confident in your preparation.

Yeah... this weekend is not going to be that race.

For reasons not really worth disclosing at this point, I ought to just say I haven't been real motivated. Which kind of blows, because after the SHAC triathlon I got a taste for how fun and how much potential I have as a triathlete.

Likewise, I kept thinking I was going to piece together my videos from SHAC, and then just post that with a few snippets of typeface; but it never happened...

(The following is the long-winded version of my memories from the race...which could've been showcased in with 3 excel columns and a bunch of videos, only one of which I'm including.)

OK, so here's the breakdown from the triathlon on April 2:

Final Time: 1:13:13.7

400 yd Swim: 7 minutes and two seconds

T1 (that's tri speak for transition 1, apparently): One minutes 37 seconds

10 Mile Bike: 36 minutes and 40 seconds (Help me with the math... is that pacing at 16.4 miles/hr?)

T2: 1 minute and one second (I only had to rack my bike and throw on my running skirt)

3 mile Run: 26 minutes and 50 seconds (Under a nine-minute mile which is pretty decent for me considering I couldn't feel my legs or get a deep breath for the first mile!)

The final results showed me missing a medal by one minute...but it's all smoke and mirrors because the 1st and 2nd place finishers in my division also happened to be the leaders overall for the women (so I technically took 6th out of the 30 - 34 yr old ladies).

Here are some of my fonder memories:

• Comparatively speaking I did pretty good in the swim (4th in my division). But my older sister heard I did it in 7 minutes and was positively embarrassed for me... tough crowd at the Suite house. (If you look in the far right corner of the video you can see me 'trot' to my lane and then dive in... Danny get's a flip turn and calls it good. He also says he hates hearing his voice on the video, so if you're watching this and he's sitting next to you turn down your computer volume).

• The fact that I don't wear bike shorts because there's NEVER enough padding for my sit-bones and girl parts; so I opted for one of those awesome foamy-blubber-seat covers instead and just rode in my one-piece swim suit and Vibrams (that's right; those clipy-foot pedals scare me). Yes, I looked pretty classic in a short-bus kind of way.

• Making the second loop on my bike, in front of LOADS of spectators and my husband, I did not shift appropriately for the hill out of the parking lot and managed to make a few horrible sounds with my bike, a lot of grunting and a cadence that would barely register as actual movement. A guy even yelled at me "PEDDLE FASTER!" (Thanks for the motivation sir.)

• I am kind of a pathetic biker overall. Danny will tell you that while I can rally on the hills ... it's the straightaways, and the slight declines that I struggle with. (OK so not so much downhill...I mean, everyone rallies at that right? But I mean just enough of a decent to not qualify as straight.) Hubs says I look like I'm out for Sunday ride on a cruiser--my body moves all around, I smile a lot, my elbows are out and my form's totally ski-wampus... so there's room for improvement obviously. Again, I don't use clips. Which reminds me...

• The nice thing about Vibrams is that you don't really need to have dry feet to wear them so your transitions go faster... especially if you're wearing them FOR THE BIKE AND YOUR RUN

• There's just too many wobbly bits with all my lovely-lady-lumps to run in a swimsuit; so I opted for a running skirt for the last transition. But I'm sure some of the spectators had wished I'd covered up a bit before the run, because I think the one thing missing from my bike transitions was pineapple (you know, to go with all my cottage cheese?)

• When I got off the bike and actually started my run, my ear were plugged and I couldn't get a deep breath. I felt like I was plodding along at a 12 - 15 minute mile pace. And it was at that point I thought to myself "WHAT THEY HELL WAS I THINKING WHEN I SIGNED UP FOR THIS?!?!"

• I am happy to report, I think Yoga translates well for triathlons since I didn't really train for the SHAC either and did ok. As I mentioned on facebook and a few of you, I can only hope the same proves true with Pole Dancing classes and the IronGirl. It's a different kind of cross-training, but a transferable skill nonetheless.