Sunday, April 17, 2011

Lanikai Triathlon!

Well my first Triathlon of 2011 is out of the way! Forgot how much those things hurt. But what is more fun racing with all your friends in a beautiful location on the Windward side of Oahu??

 (I totally stole all these pictures off FB. Love it that people post these so I don't even have to bring a camera to events anymore! :)


The top men charging into the water at the start as the sun was coming up... awesome, huh?
Winds are down this week for like the first time this year... normally the ocean over here is a choppy mess (and I train in it all the time) but this weekend it was more like a lake. Again, these are the men. Women started 3 minutes back so I guess we did have a bit of chop as we caught the slower male swimmers...
Maybe you have witnessed a bit of fun bantering going on on Facebook this week... Rachel and I were ready to duke it out this morning... I love this picture. Ha!
Unfortunately a 500M swim (if it was that) doesn't give me much time to get a gap on anyone... don't be fooled by Rachel saying she is a crappy swimmer either. I got her by a little bit on the swim but not enough to offset her crazy fast transitions. As I started riding I saw a gal up ahead and thought, She looks like a fast rider... wonder who that is? And ahem, it was Rachel. I was like, WHAT? How is she ahead of me already? I'm screwed. Lol.

So the bike basically went like this: Pass Rachel. Get passed by Rachel. Pass Rachel. Get passed by Rachel. Pass Rachel. Get passed by Rachel. Pass Rachel... It was awesome. We totally kept each other from getting complacent out there on the bike.

Bike finish photo... don't worry, I did not stand up the whole ride- I was just about to dismount after a speed bump that you don't see in this picture. Notice the smile. I was having fun out there on the bike. Too bad it wasn't 112 miles.

Also, notice the disc wheel! Ok, it's not really a disc- it's just a wheel cover. I got it on Friday. Rode it around for almost a minute yesterday afternoon. That whole don't try anything new in races? Whatever. I rode ~1 min faster this year than I did last year on that wheel. Yeee haw!

OK so running into T2 next to Rachel I figured my only hope at this point was if she were to tie her feet together. My goal just became to run as fast as I could, which turned out to be not very fast.
I tried though. I really did! I just didn't have any other gear other than comfortably hard, which wasn't exactly comfortable anyway. I knew I wasn't running that fast and I kept goading myself on to dig deeper and run faster but I just couldn't dig at all. I did find myself wishing I could just slow down a bit and run 20 miles though. Go figure.

Anyway, a gal I didn't know passed me with ~1/2 mile to go, and then just when I thought I had 3rd place all wrapped up, my good friend and training partner went charging by me just as we were running up a little hill in the deep sand (finish on the beach) and beat me by 1 second! Ha! It was funny too- as she ran by I was so surprised and impressed by her gutting it out like that that I just watched her go by and thought WOW! Way to go, Sandy! It never occurred to me to dig in and try to match her. I don't know that I could have anyway....

In the end, it was really fun this morning. Of course I wish I could have run faster, but interestingly, I'm not all that concerned about it. Maybe because I know that I have not done any type of training to prepare me for a fast 5K...

15 comments:

Running and living said...

4th overall is pretty impressive for an ironman athlete on ironman training. Congrats! You look like you had so much fun on that bike pic:)

Molly said...

Sounds like a great time! And if Rachel is towering over you, she really is a giant!

mmmonyka said...

Fun!
Geez, you wish you could run 20miles instead of a 5k...I am already dreading a 10k in an Oly tri, that's way too faaaaar for me.

Regina said...

Fourth is pretty damn good! Congrats! It looks, and sounds, like you had a really good time doing this race. Great pics from the race too!

Mon Amour said...

I am training for my first sprint triathlon this summer & I can't wait. I wish I was training in Hawaii though!

Teresa said...

Way to go Michelle!! and if anyone is going to beat you it might as well be your great friends!! Love you attitude and way to kick off 2011!

tn

Aimee said...

That actually sounds like a great race! It sounds like you had fun out there, which is what's it's really all about!

kerrie said...

i love all of the pictures!! but maybe you just need to take a break, like a 3 month one ;)

mtanner said...

I'm BACK! And you are awesome!!

N.D. said...

I saw people at my tri yesterday with helmets like yours and immediately thought of you and felt intimidated by them. Do you have shoes on for the bike picture there? nice job!

Angela and David said...

Awesome and great job! I am so jealous. Your report made me want to race so badly.

cherelli said...

Nice work - looks like a beautiful day - great to see the smiling!!

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Congrats!!! Your freaking a rockstar

Charisa said...

YEAH - you rocked it! Nice work :)

Alicia Parr said...

No worries. It's early yet. If I'm feeling sparky on the run this early in the season, I'm probably going to need a rest soon or risk burnout.

Enjoy your track workouts!