It's funny that all that time training on the couch didn't prepare me for this.

Yesterday I did my first triathlon (non-relay) of 2009. How did it go?
Slow. Painful. Fun.Ish.

I will preface this by saying my training for this race was less than minimal. I spent a good deal of my summer recovering from my knee injury, watching Bravo on the couch (yea Real Houswives and Top Chef), and occasionally jumping in the pool or running around the track. I was on my bike 4 times this summer. Four. With no hill training.

I still signed up for Mermaid Santa Cruz because, well, just because. It was quite nice to not be super neurotic and antsy for once. I decided to pick up my bib on race day. I showed up to the race an hour before my wave was going. Usually when I race, I make an effort to pick up my race number the day before and get all my gear in check. And I try to get to the transition super early for a good spot. This race, overall I was all about the, "Meh."

Hubby was with me, which was nice. Luckily this time when I got back from the bike he didn't ask me, "Where were you? That took a long time." Yeah, that happened at Cal Poly Tri 2008. He was on the otherside of the transition area and when I go off my bike and said that to me. It didn't go over too well. Remember that Far Side Cartoon, of what dogs hear and all dogs here is "blah blah b;ah Rusty blah blah"? Well, this is the Jill version.
What Hubby Says: "Where were you? That took a long time."
What Hubby means: "I was worred about you. I thought you injured yourself."
What Jill hears: "Blah Blah Blah you sure are slow blah blah."

Maybe I should write a Men are for Mars the Triathlete Edition.

Anyways, it was nice to have him there at the finsih. We stayed in Santa Cruz Sunday night and enjoyed the Boardwalk craziness (I love how that place never changes. It still looks how it did in the Lost Boys. And so do the people.) and happy hour at Aquarius. We ordered room service and were planning on getting The Hangover on Pay per view, but it was $15. Yikes,

So, here is a short summary of the race.

Swim: hard. long. crowded. There were women in that water that I don't think ever went in the ocean. I used to think people doing breastrstroke were annoying, but people were doing backstroke. I am sorry, but how can you SEE when you are on your back? It was aquatic bumper cars in there.

transition: after the swim, you have to climb 154 stairs to the transition area. Needless to say, I took my time. No more injuries, please.

Bike: First time ever during a race that I walked my bike up a hill. I had a feeling I wasn't going to make it up the monster hill in the beginning. I was in the wrong gear going up and panic starting hitting me. I had riders on my left and riders on my right and everyone was riding crooked up this beast. I had a feeling if I fell, it would be cyclist dominoes. I dug my heels toward the ground with each pedal stroke.but.it.was.not.happening. I was only half way up the hill and I knew what was going to happen. So, I shouted to the fellow riders:

"I'M GOING DOWN!"

I braced myself for the feeling of road meeting flesh, but miracle of miracles, I managed to unclip and get my foot on the ground and stop mermaid carnage from happening. Whoo hoo. From that moment on, I vowed to walk the hills. And that is totally ok. For this race.

Run: Slow. Difficult. Uphill.

So, there we have it. I am not calling what I did yesterday a race, it was more of a weekend away with Dennis with an early morning workout.

And that is totally ok. For this race.