….my weekend doing Triple-T!!  15.5 hours of training/racing and 140+ miles completed Friday evening through Sunday late afternoon.  Yeah, I ended up doing the whole darn thing.  I had originally planned to just do the first two races and see how things felt hip-wise, but because they were feeling good, I just kept going, and before I knew it – it was Sunday and I was running (and walking) the half!  I’m not going to lie, I have been waddling all day (thank goodness I took off work today) and it hurts to move my legs…BUT… I did it!! One bummer though was that I didn’t take any pictures and only have a few from the weekend my friend PT took, so be prepared for lots of reading a not as many fun pictures.

Where to start… well, I am starting to get pretty sleepy since I was only able to sleep for four hours last night due to getting up super early the past three days, but wanted to at least post how the event went.  Overall I was super slow, but improved on my swim as the races went by and my hips felt good!  I did a decent amount of walking after the first olympic on Saturday morning, but only because I could feel my hips getting tight, not because they were hurting.  That in itself was a victory!  That lady I went to was in fact a magician 🙂

Friday morning I met up with four other tri club members at 5a and then headed over to a fifth members house to pick them up along the way.  We were finally on the road a little before 6a and were on our way to Portsmouth, Ohio.  We did manage to make a longer stop than needed on our way to get gas (30 minutes, how the heck did that happen?) but other than that we didn’t stop too much.  We arrived at the campsite around 3p and immediately went to check-in to get our wrist bands and race tops for the weekend.  We had to wear the same top for all four events during the weekend, which I was less than thrilled about.  Even better, when I tried it on, it was like they modeled them off of someone who needed lots of armpit room.  Really, I’m not exaggerating.  This was going to be fun weekend of chafing!

Awesome shirt with big armpits.  Not the greatest pic but had to show the pits.

After getting our packets and tops, we went back to the car to get our gear and bikes to set up transition for the first sprint: 250y swim, 4 mile bike (ha) and 1 mi run.

SS and me in transition

It was pretty uneventful getting ready, but it did feel a bit strange since I haven’t raced since last September.  Once we were heading to the beach, my friend PT was asking me if I have done any open water swims (OWS) since my last race last September, which I replied ‘oh no, but I’ll be fine’ and she said ‘Oh…ok…’. I’ve done plenty of OWS during races and have been fine, not sure what the big deal was.

PT, me and SS, all fresh before the first race of the weekend (aka, the calm before the storm).

We finally lined up and got ready to run into the water (they were having athletes go in 3 at a time), and then we were off!  It was cold!  As soon as I started to do freestyle, I realized my breathing was erratic and I could hardly take a breath while doing a stroke.  Then I started swallowing lots of water…and then choking..and then flailing…and then I realized I could stand up.  I tried to take some deep breaths, collect myself and will myself back to doing freestyle.  I finally compromised by breathing every time I lifted my right arm, which was tiring, but at the time, the best I could do.  Before I knew it I was out of the water (it was a super short swim after all), and on my bike, which was also short and uneventful.  The big deal was the run…how would it feel?

I entered transition and hopped out of my bike shoes and slipped on my Zoot racing flats and was out of transition in no time.  As soon as I took a few steps it felt ok, no hip pain… and then I really took off.  I haven’t raced in a long time and it felt good to really run hard.  Not just plod along at a conversation pace, but run where it hurt your lungs because you are really running hard (plus, we had been in the car for 8 hours, I was ready to move!), I finished the run feeling strong and with no hip pain, wow!  This weekend had some potential if my hip actually cooperates!

My kick at the end of the run – I ended up passing her!

After the race the club met for dinner and then we went to the grocery store to get some items for the club the next day and then headed to the hotel.  I was tired.  Despite that, I still had trouble sleeping and before I knew it… it was already 4:15a and time to get ready for the next race…

SS, PT and me at dinner… boy did I get sunburned.  I could also use a shower.