1 for 3.

Biking.

An interesting and relatively foreign past time for me.

I am three days into my 100 mile biking journey and I am 1 for 3 days with biking. On Sunday, I competed in the Danskin Webster Sprint Triathlon .  I rode my bike on Sunday during the race. It was an absolutely spectacular race consisting of a half mile swim in LAKE CHARGOGGAGOGGMANCHAUGGAUGGAGOGGCHAUBUNAGUNGAMAUGG, a 12 mile bike route around the lake, and a 5K run. Admittedly, I had some apprehension about the race. Could I handle the distance and could I stay on my bike? I took a spill from my bike a couple weeks ago therefore these fears are realistic!

To my delight, the rest last month and casual training paid off for this race. Since my training was very relaxed, I was also very relaxed for the entire race. As the official gave instructions during the one minute countdown, I proceeded to dance and make funny faces at my parents and Paul. Michael Jackson's Thriller was playing over the loud speaker, what else is a girl to do? The real challenge will be when I enter a charity event for swimming. I am not a fast swimmer by a long shot! I improved by several minutes from last year - thanks to the additions of pull-ups to my workout schedule. I floated through the swim and enjoyed the very warm water and clear blue sky. The best parts of the swim were dancing at the start and running dramatically out of the water. From my brief analysis of triathlons (2 completed, 1 cheerleader), it appears that participants use the transitions as "rest" time. I use the swim and bike period as rest time and run for every other part. I take advantage of opportunities! It was fun to splash and run through the crowds at the transition areas.

Anyway, the bike route was a perfect triathlon route. It was a loop so no tricky choices on turns - it was very obivious to turn right. The hills were large and plentiful, which played well into the enjoyment of the course. What goes up must come down! I barely noticed the 12 miles - I was constantly changing gears to react to the changing up and down hill of the course. I am happy to report only one woman passed me on the bike route - she zoomed past me in the last 300 yards. She earned it. I was pushing hard, but she was pushing harder!

Then the run, I racked my bike, dropped my helmet and ripped off my super unnecessary Lance Armstrong - Johnny Mellow bike shop bike gloves, took a half second breath and ran off! As I loosened up my legs, I ran past my parents and Paul. I smiled and Paul yelled out, "There are only 5 900s in front of you." My wave was the 900s. I had basically forgot it was a race. Triathlons are tricky with the waves. We're all chasing down the race Elite starters, but it feels like trying to beat the Kenyans when starting in Wave 3 of the Boston Marathon. The Elites in both cases start nearly 30 minutes ahead of me. Shockingly, I must have passed a lot of people during my biking and I am confident in my running abilities so this was very motivating piece of information. To me, 3 miles of running is over by mile 1. As soon as my legs were completely loose, it was almost finishing time! Both goals were achieved on Sunday - 1. Stay on Bike. 2. Win! I placed 2nd in my age group, which honestly was much more than I planned.

Yesterday, I did strength training at the gym. Today, Meg Bannon and I visited the gym. For me, I completed another circuit strength training with jump roping. I arrived home just in time for Somerville's Tuesday night track. Track workouts are always helpful, right? I'm not sure! Will this help for a 100 mile bike ride? It seems unlikely! But it was so close and easy to attend so I completed the 1600 repeats and ...aggressively imagined myself biking to make up for the lack of biking!