...not to be confused with the big sissy's triathlon report!! So earlier today I called upon my sister to submit a race report from her first triathlon of the season...so here's the report, with some embellishments courtesy of me because it's my blog and all those years of my version of the family Christmas letter getting shot down, I can finally have pride of authorship!! :) ...oh and I get to pick the pictures out too because she didn't send me her favs...JK...I'll wait for those!
It was a dark and rainy morning in March when 318 crazy souls descended upon the Freedom Center in Manassas for the Tune Up Tri. This proved several things to me first all triathlons should end with the swim and start with the run it is way better to get the worst part over with first. (the previous statement is the sole opinion of the person writing this report and is in no way meant to influence your decision about what portion of the actual sport of triathlon is better...she's a swimmer, need I say more?!?!) It also proved that people who do triathlons really are crazy cause who in their right mind gets out of bed on a cold rainy morning to go run and bike in the rain when it is only 40 degrees and then after they are totally soaking wet, takes off their warm clothes and walks/ runs barefoot across a parking lot to go swim...and thinks it fun!?* Well I have to say it was fun and despite the fact that Nicole dragged me kicking and screaming (oh the drama...I didn't even have to pay your entry fee for your first race!) to my first tri I am now hooked. This I know for a fact because I would never have gotten out of bed on such a day several years ago to participate in an athletic event. (SOOOO true...the girl can sleep!) While I haven't mastered the art of transitioning quickly yet I did finish 13th out of 32 in my age group in less than 40 minutes (39:29 to be exact) and finished in the top half of the total field. (A BIG WOO HOO to you!) Given that two short summers ago I finished 16th from last I have greatly improved. (...but you didn't finish last just like I promised you wouldn't...) This maybe in large part due to Nicole's consistent pressure to do better and do more or it might be due to all the training Troy and I have been doing together either way it felt good to actually be good this time. (I love that you used my name and Troy's in the same sentence!) Plus having been bad makes you empathetic to the poor soul who is stopping at the end of every lane, had to walk the run and even had to get off their bike and walk part of that too. (...remembering that that person is still there getting it done...way better than those who didn't even show up!) Some things never change and stupidity should be against the rules just like i-pods and flip turns. I say that because despite being told NUMEROUS times that you were to get in the pool and go the guy in front of me failed to follow this very simple rule and nearly caused an 18 athlete pileup fortunately the guy behind me grabbed me and since I failed to fall in and give the guy a concussion the rest of the people behind me were also saved. Needless to say people are SLOW in the pool and I hate when they get aggravated that you are passing them. One person even swam side to side to prevent being passed another guy pushed off the wall in front of me and then gave me a dirty look when I ran into his slow side stroke swimming self. At the end I touched before three people who got credit from the ham radio guy for finishing ahead of me. I guess no one told him to record numbers in the order you touch not the order he felt like. (...had to remove what you wrote here because God bless Mr. Ham Radio Guy for volunteering..."be nice to the delivery guy, it's not his fault he can't read..."...but I digress on with her report!) Anyway, for the first time I actually felt competitive and I was doing the passing instead of being passed. YIPPEEE!!! As always the sherpas were present (Mom and Dad ROCK!!) and the ever elusive husband sherpa actually showed up too. (Way to Go Lar...when you gonna do a tri?!?!?!) Hunley the four legged sherpa was wet and smelly all the way home but the kids thought he was just awesome and as he was the only four legged sherpa there he got loads of attention. (Damn dogs know they are soooo cute!) Some adult even knew he was named after a submarine but the kids still think he is named after Curious George's friend. This is sweet revenge for me because I wanted to name him after Max from the Grinch. So in the end he got a story character name anyway! But I digress...the race was fun and I am looking forward to seeing how I do in June. Might be time to take Eduardo up on his clipless pedal advice and see if it makes a difference. (it will...and the two of us won't have to keep having the same discussion about whether you finally got clipless pedals or not!!) Hopefully, this completely fills everyone in, provides a good advertisement for the Tune Up Tri (the folks down there actually always run a nice event), and encourages all those struggling tri people to keep at it cause you just might get better! Here's to sunny and warm days for the rest of the season's events (though not as warm as last year's Sandman) so that we can all work on those funky tan lines!! I'll drink to that!!
And there folks you have it...my first guest race report (spell checked because the elementary school principal didn't remember to!!)...I'll post pictures tomorrow to give her a chance to get her makeup and hair done so she looks good!! :)
3 comments:
the embellishments make it way better if you ask the original author...sorry i failed to spell check : )
Nice work Chelle, & beating all of us by completing a tri already this year! BTW, didn't Nic teach you to play nice in the pool & be kind to volunteers?!? ;-)>
Pictures, did I see there'll be pictures?
I was very kind to the volunteers even thanked them for being chipper on such a nasty morning!!!! As for the pool all I am saying is FOLLOW THE DARN DIRECTIONS...Safety first and all : )
Post a Comment