I'm quitting IM training in favor of the sprint distance!

Race season began this weekend. And it began with a bang!

Rumpass in the Bumpass is the best named triathlon in the country and is a weekend affair, with an Olympic distance race on Saturday and a sprint distance on Sunday. The weather for the weekend was stunning, so I piled the bike, sneakers, wetsuit, tent and dog in the car and headed down Saturday afternoon for my race in the morning.

What a great location for a race. I pitched the tent next to the Team Z headquarters and settled down for great grub and tried to persuade Tina to swim in the lake. By 'persuade' I mean I pushed her in. She wasn't happy, but the next morning, when I was in my wetsuit and warming up in the lake, she jumped right in and swam out to me, climbed on my shoulders (while I fended her off, afraid that her long claws would pierce my expensive wetsuit!), turned around and swam back to shore. Then did it all again several times. She truly proved herself a true GSD - never leaving my vicinity and coming when called every time. She was great off leash - the perfect camping companion.

On Saturday evening, we just hung out in the dark chatting while another dog Zoe decided that my tent was hers and settled down. Tina refused to go to bed until I did, even though she was dead tired after all the stimulation of people, food and dogs.

On Sunday morning, I was privileged enough to have a fair dinkum Strongman (Barry) help me on with my wetsuit. Unfortunately, Barry is stronger than he thinks and completely lifted me off my feet. Still, it was a great time saver and provided me with a great giggle.

Since the race was a sprint, I figured I'd go all out for the entire distance. The swim was uneventful except for a few kicks in the face. My real race didn't start until the bike though. I absolutely hammered the entire distance (12 miles - coincidentally the same distance as my first ever training ride) and nobody passed me that I didn't catch again and stay ahead of, including people on tri bikes and several men. The roads were smooth with hardly any hills. I had the greatest time. The run (5k) hurt like hell, but it's supposed to. Each mile was subsequently slower than the other, but I pushed through in Zone 4 and powered through to the end, bent over and gasping for breath - I don't think I left much out there on the course!

It was such an amazing experience to race my first triathlon as a Team Zer. Not only was every third racer a fellow member, but each and every one of them could be counted on for a word of encouragement. Hanging out with everyone was wonderful - they're all such interesting and fun people. Highlights include watching one of the sight impaired team members cross the finish line, learning to blow a horn (pucker, don't huff!), swimming with Tina, getting a neoprene wedgie from Barry the Strongman and having a few team members wandering over and telling me that I'd won second place in my age group. You could have blown me over with a feather, but they weren't lying (I thought perhaps it was some kind of weird Team Z hazing ritual). I won a beer stein, which I immediately filled with alcohol more to my liking and floated around giggling to myself.

As I said, it was a good race. It hurt like hell, but I sat in Zone 4 for over an hour and pushed through. I had the exact same reaction on the run that I have in every race "I can't do an Ironman!" but I survived, just as I always do. I just have to relearn that lesson over and over and over again.

After the race, I hung out for a while at the headquarters, packed up the car and headed home blaring George Thorogood and Meat Loaf. Tina was out like a light and probably still is.

Details for those who care:
Swim: 17:27 (54th/150 women)
T1: 2:25 (58th)
Bike: 36:36, 20.1mph (15th of all women, 1st in my age group and faster than all but about 70 of 288 men - I LOVE CYCLING FAST!!!!!!)
T2: 1:47 (97th - I miscounted the racks and got cramp in my foot getting my shoes on)
Run: 28:09 (59th)
Final time: 1:26:23 (4th in my age group, but two ahead of me placed in the masters division, so that bumped me up to a podium position. 34th overall women).

Photos on Flickr.