Cache Valley Super Sprint Tri

My first triathlon ever was the CVSST. I think that was in 2005? I can't even remember now. I usually do one or two a year now. A couple of weeks ago my friend Candice was like, let's do it, and I was all like, ok. I start sounding like a valley girl when I get spontaneous.

Friday night we all stayed at my parent's in BC. Didn't really get a whole lot of sleep. Whenever the dog has an interuption in her schedule she has to pee at random times of the day and night. Like 2 AM. Wasn't super pleased. Wasn't super pleased at 5:42 when she started licking my face again to go out because the alarm was set for 5:45. Three minutes that early matter. But then at 5:46 when I realized the alarm didn't go off (it was set but not turned on, brils Amy), I was thinking what a good doggy.
I didn't take the address to the start with me cause I knew how to get there. Except there was road construction which took us on a detour. So after a short "lost" period, we finally found the start, get signed in, and set up our stuff.

My final time was 1:33:11. I can't remember exactly what my sprint record was before, but I know that is a PR. The swim was not so good. It was just over 17 min for 500 meters. I realized I haven't been swimming since I broke my shoulder last August, so I can't really have expected to do well, just saying I would have liked to.

My first transition was about 2 min which is pretty good. I swam in my clothes (compression shorts & tri top) so it went faster. I was able to keep my balance and put my socks and bike shoes on. A trick I learned was to fold the socks over half way. Then you just have to put your toes in and pull them on.

The bike was fun. It was only 12.5 miles. Once I adjusted to the transition to the pedaling motion, I started to pick up a little more speed. I averaged about 16.5 mph, which is ok. It was a flat course. I kind of wanted to push a little more but my plantar fascitiis started flaring up. I have suspected I developed it doing spin for 3-4 hours a week in the winter. I believe my suspicions are confirmed. It actually got quite painful at one point. I focused on activating the msucles that support the arch in the foot and it helped.


Also during the bike ride whenever I was about to pass someone I would pretend they were Alberto Contrador and I was one of my favorite cyclists like Mark Cavendash or Thor whats-his-name. It totally helped me push harder. Then if someone passed me I just pretended it was Andy or Frank Schleck and I was ok with it.

Next transition was 1 minute. It went almost perfectly. I was able to do the trick where you take your feet out of your bike shoes (must be attached to clips on the pedals of course) and then you put your feet on the shoes and finish pedaling in on them. The only hick up was when I started running after changing into my totally awesome favorite Zoot tri shoes. One of the volunteers asked me if I was planning to run with my bike helmet on. My bike was next to the fence so I just tossed it over and got running.

Of the 99 women, I finished 35th for the run portion. Not bad. It was just over 27 mins at a 8:41 min/mile pace. Very nice. I was actually surprised I was running that fast. I had stomach cramps for about the first 3/4 mile. There's always a weird transition in the legs between the bike and run. It went away just before the stomach cramps. I think it was the last shot blok I ate just before the end of the bike. I don't think I drank enough water with it. Regardless, I had a good run. I was defintely faster the 2nd lap.


Did I mention I had run about 12 miles the day before? It was my last 3x in 24 hours before I run the Ragnar Northwest Passage relay. I ran 4.5 mile Fri morning, 7.6 miles Friday evening. I needed to run 3 more miles and I did. And swam and biked. :) Well, at least I know I can run my three legs while tired (thank you Milly) and then some.