Solana Beach Sprint

Solana Beach Sprint Triathlon.

I told the guys to at least look tough.

I'd say Tim looks a little better collected than me exiting the swim.

He must not have been going hard enough.

Slacker!

What Tim won't do to get out of a recovery run!

I'm smiling.

The look on Tim's face says "what did I get myself into and I'm not sure I signed up for this"

Negative Attention> No Attention.

Tim tries to make a hairy bagel.

Too bad he doesn't have enough dough or hair.

Actually Thank Goodness

Sunday, July 26

Sunday was the TCSD sponsored Solana Beach sprint triathlon. I am not sure how much of a sprinter I am. I had so much fun at Encinitas I figured why not. I convinced Tim to do it too. I really had to twist his arm. We both had something to accomplish. I wanted to improve my transition times. Tim wanted to score a roll down spot for Kona ;0) I think my transitions were pretty quick. I'll never really know because when the results came out they didn't post splits for transitions. The race directors must have heard there were some high calorie bets on transition times.

The waves were a bit large on race day morning but I actually found them fun to play in. I liked ducking underneath them and waiting for the wave to pass before I hopped back up. At the look of my swim split I might have had too much fun. Determined to have a fast transition time for once in my life. I took my wetsuit off just as I exited the water. It comes off quicker with more water in it. I swear transition was a 1/4 mile away and up a hill. Initially the wetsuit was coming off very quickly until it got stuck on the timing chip around my ankle. I struggled for a bit then sat down in the water and pulled it off. I'm sure it demonstrated my grace and coordination to the fullest. The wetsuit did a fantastic job of filling up with water as I floundered getting it off. I got some extra strength training running up the hill with my wet wetsuit.

Once in transition things went very quickly. Too quickly. I think I needed to take 5 and catch my breath. I'd have to wait another 50 minutes to breathe easy. I missed the time to sit down and catch my breath while I put on my shoes. They were already on my bike so I was off.

I tried to go as fast as I could on the bike. My legs felt like they were on fire. I hoped that meant I was going fast. (I don't think it did though). A few miles into the ride I looked over to left as a women began to pass me. We were heading down the slight downhill north of Solana Beach. We went back and forth. After we rounded the corner I pulled ahead on the uphill (legs burning). Me thinking, well that ought to have done the job. The coarse flattened out and she passes me again. I notice she is wearing lipstick. She pulls ahead and I can't go with her not even for 9 miles. Maybe if I had worn my lipstick I could have held on. We finish the bike ride and I see her just a little bit ahead of me. I think maybe I can run her down. The gap gets bigger, in her favor. I think maybe it's the lipstick. I get passed a couple more times before the run is over. Neither of the girls are wearing lipstick so I have lost my excuse. I'm amazed I can't dig a little deeper for a measly 5k of running. I find Tim and we have fun socializing for a few.

I become Cruella Deville and insist Tim and Paul do a cool down run with me. They are both complaining. Tim says he was in pain because of me. Paul is upset because he is afraid the beer garden will be dry when he gets there. I am smug as can be (despite having the slowest time of the 3 of us). I tell them I exerted myself for way longer than they did today. If anybody should complain it should be me. I brag that when I did the Encinitas race with Stacy and Elizabeth, we ran for an hour after and nobody complained. Therefore girls were stronger and tougher than boys. At that Paul tired to pick up the pace and make me puke but there was too much traffic and we kept having to stop at stop sign. I'm surprised Tim didn't make a run for the car and leave me to run my smug self home.