season opener

Did my first triathlon of the season yesterday -- the March Triathlon Series Sprint.

Perhaps the most challenging part of the event was the horribly awkward moment in the transition area, when my friend was setting up his gear and I happened to glance over and realize his brand-new tri suit -- which he was very excited to wear -- was pretty much completely see-through in the back. 

He may as well have been wearing chaps.

Of course I said something. (Wouldn't you want to know if your ass was on display?) And I tried to shield him as best as I could until he put his wetsuit on. But alas, I couldn't do the same on the bike leg. Though perhaps the peepshow worked to his advantage -- he was happy with his race results.

Meanwhile, I most definitely had the best tri kit out there. SOAS Racing: You rock. And you should sponsor me. Becomes I'm so slow that everyone will get to see me in your outfit and think it's cute and want to buy it. Case in point: Yesterday. Nothing like getting complimented on your looks while being passed on the course. Ha.

Too bad the race didn't go exactly as I hoped. Yes, it wasn't the comedy show from last year (thank god), but I didn't do as well as I could have.

Swim: The water was 58 degrees. Normally, I am a freak of nature and this doesn't bother me. But this time, I was so cold that I couldn't take full breaths -- I felt like I was hyperventilating, and I kept having to roll over into the backstroke to catch my breath. I finished in 29:16 -- I had been hoping for closer to 25, if not faster. Horrible, horrible. (But still better than last year's absolutely humiliating, they-should-strip-me-of-my-USAT-card 40:44.)

T1: As usual, my wetsuit got stuck around my ankles -- 2:56. (Again, better than last year's 3:58.)

Bike: My goal was to maintain a 15 mph average pace (I know that is really slow, but one turtle-paced step at a time here). I failed -- hit about a 14.3 mph average. Granted, I had some obstacles (there was a horrible-looking three-person crash, complete with ambulance, on the first downhill, and the volunteers were slowing bikes) and then on the way to T2, I got stuck behind a car that for some reason was trying to drive into the transition area (WTF). Finished in 52:39 (compared to last year's 54:36).

T2: No issues -- out of there in 1:22 (compared to 1:41).

Run: As soon as I started running, I knew this was not my day. Usually running is my favorite event because I'm just so relieved to get off the bike, which usually feels like a tedious grind. Strangely, the bike was my favorite this time around, and running felt like a chore. I was hot. I was parched. And I just barely kept it going -- finished in a stupid 32:19 (I even did better last year -- 27:34).

Overall time was 1:58:35, knocking off 10 minutes from last year's 2:08:37. Not awful, but I feel like I have a lot of work to do. Thankfully, the season has only just begun.

And at least I had a cute outfit.