Stroke and Stride

So I headed up to Boulder last night and did the Stroke and Stride. It's a really fantastic event. The folks that put it on do a great job. I didn't go last year at all but the crowd sure has grown since 2008. The last time I did it there were only 2 waves, one for the 1500m and one for the 750. This time they had 4 waves one for men and one for women for both distances. The photo above is actually from after and I'm sure many people were gone. Looks like there were around 400 or so total. I was really nervous about the open water swim as it was my first of the year. The wind was blowing and the water was a little choppy. The outside temperature was right around 80 and water temp I believe right around 68, all in all it was a beautiful Colorado evening.

You can kind of see the chop on the lake and the buoys. It always looks so far to me. I gotta tell you it was kind of rough. I took one big gulp of water not to far into the swim and had to stop and choke for awhile and I never seemed to be able to find a groove. I even felt a bit dizzy and almost "sea" sick or something. I'd not practiced any sighting and that was quite obvious but I didn't do to bad until we turned to come back to shore and were swimming into the sun. I had gotten some new goggles (that didn't fog YEA!) and have a grey lens thinking it would help with the sun issues, well not so much, I could not see where I was heading at all. I was trying to follow the crowd but it felt hard not being able to see what I was swimming to. It was with a happy heart that I left the water. :)

swim time 750m 19:32

Transition....slow very slow, for some reason thought I should sit down and try to get my wetsuit off my feet....not smart, knew that...thanks to a nice lady who pulled it off for me. I also have not put any of the speed laces in my shoes yet...I guess I have some things to work on before my tri next weekend.

Transition 3:09

I started out on my run with the idea of sticking to my 2 minute run 1 minute walk and kept it up almost the whole way. I did end up walking just a little more in the last mile. I could really have used a little Gatorade, a gel or a little something besides just water to drink I think. At the start there was this guy that would pass me and then I would pass him we did this three or 4 times at one point he said "are we going to do this the whole time?" "Could be" I said...nope I kept to my schedule and soon left him behind. Hope he didn't mind being "chicked" especially by a slow one. I got passed...a lot... by all those people that swam 2 laps and run way better then I do, but I didn't mind one bit, I knew no matter what I wouldn't be last across the finish. My best times from 2008 were all over 1 hour so I was hoping to get under and I made it but just barely.

Run 36:30 11:47 pace (which is awesome for me!)

Total time 59:10

Surprisingly this gave me 3rd in my age group...now granted there were only 8 in my age group, one I'm convinced actually did 2 laps on the swim as her time was 54:10, and one was DNF but still I may never, ever be able to say I was 3rd in my AG again...so what the heck I'm going to say it! LOL!

After there was tons of pizza and other goodies...can you say brownie bites...YUMM which I ate as I sat looking out at a lake that now looks like glass...why does it always smooth out after the race? I didn't stick around to long as I was on my own but it was sure a beautiful night all that for $20. Who could ask for a better deal.

Not the best picture but you can see how smooth the lake was after.

I'm really glad to have been able to get out there and get a little practice in and I for sure will try to hit up a couple more this summer including trying out the 1500m, I still keep thinking I want to do an Olympic but last night I was just not convinced that I could have done the distance.

Back to it!

After doing absolutely nothing for nearly 2 weeks after the 1/2 marathon, I finally had a good weekend of training.

Saturday we did a duathlon rehearsal with the team. It was fun. I've never done one before at all. We did a sprint. 1 mile run, 11ish mile ride and 3.1 mile run. I was anything but fast but didn't matter. I had not been on my bike but once this year and as I said I hadn't run since the 1/2. It is not officially timed so all totals are from my Garmin. Total time was 1:45 First run, I had just short of a mile at .96 time 11:26, ride was 10.65 miles 46:23 (13.78 mph pretty good all things considered) and last run... slow 3.1 miles 45:22. Wow do I need to work on the bike run bricks too. Getting off the bike my legs were really wobbly. It was fun though.

Today I did the first open water "swim" of the year, in a wet suit for the very first time ever. Challenging I must say. I didn't do a whole lot of swimming as I just wasn't sure I was comfortable in it. I think next time I will try a sleeveless one. This was a full suit and I tell you it was kind of rough, and my shoulder are really stiff, this could also be from the bike too though. However I must say I was totally amazed at how much it helped with the water temps which were in the mid 60's. It made the water quite bearable, enjoyable even. It was a beautiful day the sun was shining and the outside temps were around 70 when we started the swim and by the time we finished the ride around 80 and the water would have felt pretty darn good then. The ride, although I was a little unsure after the duathlon yesterday was also good. Did 17 miles. The first 5 or so were kind of a false flat. Looks flat but you are headed up hill the whole time and I think we climbed about 500' or so, then there were just a few small hills, but some great downhills... I love going downhill! Only average 13.3 mph but I feel pretty good about it. I was in about the middle of the pack and considering I think everyone else had road bikes and I was on my Sissy (hybrid) I was pleased. Oh yea and saw some llamas...I love those things they are just so cute!

I'm looking forward to hitting things a little harder in June. I'm also possibly rethinking trying to do an Olympic distance this year. I'm just not sure. Although I have 2 1/2 months to train, I feel it may be more then I can do. I do plan to try an Olympic rehearsal and well who knows, if that goes well and there are still spots I just may go for it.