"If it doesn't hurt, it isn't worth it."

That is the perfect quote to describe the Suncoast Triathlon this weekend.
swim .33mi, bike 10mi, run 3.1mi

When I arrived at Ft. De Soto at 5:45 in the morning it was pouring down rain. The sunrise was at 7:34 and the first wave was scheduled to started at 7:38. That didn't give us a whole lot of time to check out the swim course. That was probably a good thing. The ocean was supposed to be crystal clear with the current pushing us along. Instead it was angry! Let me put it to you this way, it would of been too rough to go out on our boat. Despite all this I felt more excited than nervous to get swimming! My enthusiasm was short lived. About 200 yards in I totally panicked. The waves were crashing on me, throwing me around and I felt like I drank half the ocean. I was sympathizing with anyone who'd ever been ship wrecked! This swim was even hard for the GOOD swimmers, which I am NOT! A guy on a kayak informed me that we could swim inside the buoys , where I could just barely touch the bottom enough to push off from time to time in between swells. This little piece of information saved me. It wasn't exactly shallow but just being able to push off a couple times really helped. I was swimming the side-breast-free stroke. It's an original, not pretty, but definitely affective. I highly recommend it if you're ever shipwrecked!

I managed to survive the swim, with a little dignity and then run my butt out to transition. Luckily I had a quick T1 to make up for my crappy swim time (12:00 for 660 yards). I was so thankful to be on land that I didn't even care about my time. I was hoping to make up time on my bike, which would of been possible if it weren't for the wind! The first 5 miles I couldn't break 18mph because of the crosswind and when I hit the head wind I slowed to 14mph. Luckily that wasn't for long and as soon as I made the last turn I was up to 23mph. That felt awesome and I was so glad to finally be hauling butt on my bike. The course was really wet with standing water but it was also nice and flat and if it had been better conditions it would of been FAST!

I am apparently terrible at reading course maps and had somehow got it into my head that the majority of the run was path. Wishful thinking I guess. The first mile was beach, second mile was sandy trail and then the last mile was path. According to my Garmin I was actually faster in the sand. By the time I got to the path I became very aware of the fact that I had not put on socks and that my feet were on fire! I kept looking down because I swore they were bleeding. Right at this point I met the nicest girl that said she runs better when she talks. She was telling me all about her upcoming commitment ceremony, asking about my tri outfit and talking about her Halloween costume. Some people might of been annoyed by this but I was relieved to hear her stories as it took my mind off of my throbbing feet. She was a sweet girl and I would of thanked her after the race but I was in a hurry to get home so Matt could get to work.

Even though this race posed a lot of weather related obstacles it was such a blast! As soon as I finished I was already looking forward to next year. The suncoast triathlon people really know what they are doing and even though it was the largest race I've been to with 650 triathletes it was also the most organized and well-run race I've been to so far.

My goal was to come in at 1:30 min and my actual time was 1:30:28. So that's my time to beat next year. This first season of triathlons has definitely been physically and emotionally difficult but I couldn't imagine not doing them. Next season I plan to train for speed and try to beat my times at each race. I was thinking of adding some longer distances but I think I'll shoot for speed instead and save endurance for 2010! Hopefully that new ChicQilo and some master swim classes will help me reach that goal.