But it was still a challenge! We started out today in our wetsuits at Riley's Lock in Poolesville MD. Although I was one of the only people who actually thought it would be a cool challenge to swim, the cold water, wind and temperature was something that would not have made it fun. (We're talking in the 40s at 7:30am). What we did instead was practice our transitions. We started out in our wetsuits, then had to jump out of them and run our bikes to the starting line, and bike 10 miles. From the dismount of the bike, we ran two loops from the transition area to the end of Riley's Lock Rd, where it intersects with River Rd. It is supposed that distance is close to or around 3 miles. I will check on that and update after the post.
So that's what was supposed to happen. What actually happened was that I was the last one to start the bike ride. I was quick out of the wetsuit, but as it was cold and windy, I made sure I had enough clothes to keep me warm- running shirt(sleeveless), long-sleeve workout shirt, windbreaker, reflective jersey, tri-shorts, biking pants, socks, road shoes, biking gloves, helmet, and sunglasses. No wonder I was the last one off the line. But health and safety is paramount! Fortunately, down in St. Petersburg it should be quite warmer, so I'll be able to do without all the long sleeves and layers.
We started on a big hill. It wasn't fun, but I'm glad that I went to those two spinning classes. Regardless of the back injury which had me laying on the couch for a week instead of working out, I was better accustomed to the quad-killing strengths it took to keep going.
The wind was strong today too. It blew me off the road once and almost a few other times as well. I was glad I had the windbreaker though.
I regained some ranking on the ride due to those hills, and the fact that going down the hills on the other side proved very easy and would accelerate me to speeds up to 32mph! The downside to that speed was that I almost collided into a big van on the sharp turn back onto Riley's Lock Rd. I was pulling both break pedals and was skidding all over the place! About 5 feet from the van, I was able to gain control again and make the turn. Whew!!! I'm pretty sure I had the team captains at the corner wide-eyed in horror, but all's well that ends well, as they say.
The run wasn't so bad- I did pretty well I'd say. It was a slow go nonetheless, as starting into running after biking my feet were numb, and I felt like I was a a struggling pace the entire time. Nothing quite as fast as I can normally run on the treadmill. But hey, I was going and I wasn't stopping. That's what counts.
Overall, the whole thing took me about two hours or so. Pretty surprising as we didn't swim and definitely didn't do the whole 25 miles or 10K(6.5 miles) of the run. Nonetheless, still a good workout. And after packing up and socializing a little we were out by 11:30am. Not bad.
Well, the deadline for the fundraising is coming up on April 8th. I had thought it was originally April 20th, but apparently they moved it up because of Easter or something. Regardless, if you've checked my page lately, you'll notice that I'm still a long way off. I need your help! If I haven't met the minimum of $4200, they will charge my credit card the balance. The good news is if I can meet that balance within a month after the triathlon, they will credit me back the money from my credit card.
You can donate online at my page up in the right hand corner, or just click this link. Thanks for your support. Your money is going to a good cause- saving the lives of cancer patients.
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