Thursday, July 21, 2011

I TRI'd it!

The other day Jason and Jess and I were tweeting about doing a #kcirb, which is a reverse brick.  I tweeted about how I was going out to do my first swim/run, and would that be called a #swib??  So the next day a woman in Scotland tweeted that she was intrigued, and asked me what that meant, since for her, it stands for Scottish Women In Business. 

I thought that was kind of funny.




Last night I went up to Oneida Shores with Jeannine and Gina to do my first open water swim, then practice my transition to the bike.  It was still almost 90 degrees at five o'clock, so it was good night to get into the lake.  We got there pretty early, there were about 150 people there, so we were able to talk to some of them about the best way to set up our bikes and ask about the swim.

As we were watching everyone else set up, I noticed that several people were wearing either water shoes, what looked like rubber socks, or duct tape on their feet.  I know that there are Zebra mussels in this lake, and they can really tear up your feet if you step on them.  So I started to get worried about that, the last thing I wanted was bloody shoes.

They set us up in waves of 50 people, and I saw Kristin as I went in.  Everyone was walking until the water was waist high before they dove in. A woman next to me asked me if this was my first time there, and I told her it was, and that I was nervous about the mussels.  She pointed out the spot where they start to show up, and instead of trying to pick my way through them, I decided to just start swimming. 

It went really well, although when I put my face in the water, the murky green color reminded me of the opening credits of True Blood, so that freaked me out.  I kept my head up for a while, and kept my eyes on the first bouey, passed that easily, and went straight to the second.  I was actually coming up on people so when I saw their legs I slowed down and went around.  I need to practice my sighting, I figured if I stayed with the group I'd go straight to the shore, but when I looked up, I realized I was making a circle away from shore.  So I straightened up, and swam until my chest hit sand.  I was really paranoid about those mussels.

The swim went fast, I thought it was 400 meters, but someone told me it was 600, which is even better.

I transitioned really quickly, I had my sunglasses in my helmet, and G-unit was already strapped to my bike.  I just put on my shoes, shorts, and fuel belt, since I still haven't bought a holder for a water bottle.  I'm feeling confident about my training, the only part that has been bugging me is the bike,  I aim to ride between 16 - 18 miles per hour, but because it's a mountain bike, it slows me down.  I lost track of how many people said "On your left" as they zipped on by me with looked like much less effort.

We did nine miles in about 40 minutes, which is slow, but what can you do.  We were dripping with sweat, it
was still very hot, but we went out and ran a mile. 

I don't know why I'm so hung up on how long it's going to take me to do this race.  It's a whole new thing for me, I've got to get grip and just do it.  If it takes me 2 hours, so be it, I just want to have fun. 

Remind me of that on August 7th, okay?

28 comments:

Teamarcia said...

you did so great! I would be beyond freaked by mussels and green gunk and pretty much everything OWS has to offer. WTG!

Love and Puppies, Christy said...

You're gonna be great! So excited for you! I'm doing a race on Aug 7 too! Good luck!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Congrats on the practice tri and your first OWS, I am impressed, most people, including me, have gotten extremely freaked out on thier first OWS and tell tales of survival modes, you actually swam

Your first race is all about the finishline, dont worry about the time, your strength is the run, which, at the end, gives you an advantage. Just go and have fun, soak up the atmosphere and accomplish something that less then 0.2% of the world has ever done

ATTrio said...

Nice job on the workout! I went to a meeting that talked transitions the other day and they fascinate me =) I am going to start practicing mine next week!!! have a great rest of the day!!!

-Jen

Lisa said...

You can get a woot woot from me!!! High 5 girl - that's awesome! Great job!!!

Raquelita said...

I'm so in awe of you tri people. Open water swimming really does scare the crap out of me.

Jill said...

You're going to do fantastic..the first race is always the hardest because of all the unknowns but once you get moving, it will all come togehter! :)

I have no idea what the acronyms mean either...I like the Scottish Woman in Business! :)

Unknown said...

Excellent Molly - it is so important to get a practice OWS in before the big day. Now you will not be one of the many people freaking out at the start of the swim. You have now been there, done that!

Runners Fuel said...

Great practice! You'll do great!

Christi said...

That sounds like a great workout. Don't doubt yourself!

Laura said...

Awesome job...I am still working my way into MAYBE a Duathlon. The swim is wayyyy away.

Liz Mays said...

That was so impressive!

Without a doubt, you'll pull this off. You're in such great shape and I know you're ready!

Michelle said...

Awesome job Molly! Sounds like your first OWS went really well! Congrats!

Lucas R. Tucker said...

sounds like a great training!

H Love said...

great start...I would have turned around at the green muck! You've got this!

misszippy said...

How great that you can get in the water there and give it a go. You'll be so ready come Aug. 7!

RunToTheFinish said...

way to go on the practicing of transistions!! that is one of the things that scares me the most...oh and then the whole race itself

Susan Fobes said...

I think the water would have freaked me out enough not to do it-you are very brave!

Anonymous said...

Way to go! Sounds like you will be ready for the real thing.

ajh said...

Very impressed. I would be way paranoid with the zebra muscles too. They are no joke.

Zoë said...

Awesome!! Congrats!

#KCIRB for the win!

Amy said...

Great job! Is it a no-no to wear water shoes in a triathalon to save you from the mussels?

Unknown said...

Great to see you! It was so hot!!

Lisa said...

Woohoo! Great job!! I continue to be absolutely amazed and in awe of tri-athletes! Congrats on the workout; you'll do great on the 7th!

Black Knight said...

Congrats on the workout despite the hot weather.
Good luck on August 7th. I will race on the same day too.
HAve a good week end.

Katie @ Legally Fit said...

Awesome job, Molly! Too funny that you were tweeted by someone in Scotland- gotta love technology!

Suzy said...

Way to go!! It sounds like you did an awesome job on your first OWS! The mussels would have freaked me out too.

Unknown said...

Things in the water freak me out... mussels would put me over the top! ;)

You'll do fine... remember triathletes like to have fun!