Soggy Sock: A Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon Recap

New rule: Any triathlon in the rain does not count. It is to merely be looked at as a long and annoying workout. However, said rule can be revoked if, by a miracle, one manages to PR during a rainy triathlon.

I, however, did not PR at Sunday's Morgan Hill Tri.

This was a tough tough race for me. Which is strange, because this is my 4th year in a row doing it. I was very cocky before the swim, thinking that all my open water swimming in Maui a couple weeks ago would give me an advantage. But alas, no. I have not gotten the hang of swimming in a wetsuit and regulating my breathing. Plus my goggles are a piece of *&#@ and were fogged the entire time. At one point in the swim I thought it was strange that I was swimming alone. So I stopped, took my goggles off and saw I was swimming pretty much right next to the island and everyone was wayyyyy far away. I got out of the water and it was pouring! Once I got to transition I saw everything was soaked. I put one soggy sock on and just started laughing at the absurdity of it and said aloud: "Are you kidding me?" The people in my transition were not as amused.

The bike was hard for a couple of reasons. I haven't biked outside all that much. Also, biking in the rain is nerve racking. I was super cold as well. Fortunately I was wearing my Seattle to Portland Ride biking jacket to keep my top part dry. I wore it the rest of the triathlon and would look down at the logo on the arm sleeve and think to myself, "Ok, so this race may not be going so well, but I was able to ride 200 miles in one day. Don't give up Jill."

The run was hard, but I ran the first 2 1/2 miles with my friend Diane. We chatted abd ate stale Jelly Bellies. That was nice.

I had forgotten how HARD triathlons are. Isn't that strange? When I was driving home I was thinking about why it was so hard. Then it dawned on me--the last full triathlon I did was the first weekend of June of LAST year. All the other events I did were either relays or Splash and Dashes. Last summer I was in full on Seattle to Portland mind frame, so it was kind of all about the bike.

It was great coming into the finish and having all my workout buddies cheering me on. That felt nice. And the burritos at the finish were AMAZING.

So all in all, a pretty good workout (NOT RACE) yesterday. But, um, Weather--- you need to get your act together ASAP. No more of these soggy sock races again, k?

Lessons Learned

So...for the first time in almost 3 years I actually had...drumroll please...a GREAT race!

Three years ago was when I had a fire lit under me and was hooked on races. I did the mermaid half marathon and had a PR, had a blast at the Uvas and Silicon Valley Triathlons. That was probably the peak of my self discipline in training.

Though I have done some pretty rock and roll things (Alcatraz swim, Big Kahuna Half Iron, Seattle to Portland bike ride), those events all felt pretty difficult. Deep down I had a feeling if I had dedicated more time to training, I could have performed better.

All the other races I did were fun, but I didn't necessarily train, or partake in ideal pre-race behavior (hello Vegas half marathon!).

So, I did the Mermaid 10k last Saturday and though it was far from a PR, it was still a great race. and I actually learned a lot about myself in training, preparation, and mental focus.

I was supposed to do the 5k, but changed to the 10k as my afternoon plans fell through. Because I wasn't mentally prepped for a 10k, I didn't put pressure on myself on a specific time. But, I also knew I wanted to be ready on race day so i got plenty of sleep, hydrated, and ate well.

When the race started I still wasn't sure what I was doing pace-wise, but I just ran. And I ran fairly fast (for me) at the beginning of the race. I usually am conservative in the beginning with speed, but something clicked. And honestly, the first 3 miles felt FANTASTIC. I was running fast enough that I couldn't carry a conversation, but also at a pace that felt like I could run forever at. It was way weird.

I wasn't wearing a watch, but all the track workouts with me workput groups were for training our inner clock and being more aware of what certain paces feel like. I had a secret time in my head that I would be thrilled with, but I think I need to put more time in to break an hour for a 10k.

I think what helped me with this race was the spontaneity of the distance, and not putting pressure on myself to PR. And, learning lessons from other races that all the stuff you do the days leading before the race matter as well.

This Sunday is Uvas tri. At this point, I really do not have an idea of how I will do. I have only done a brick workout once in my training, BUT I did a ton of open water swimming when I was in Hawaii a couple weeks ago. This will be one interesting race.

If Goldilocks were a triathlete....

The Mermaid East Bay run is this Saturday in Fremont. I originally signed up for the half marathon. But then I switched to the 5k because I was hosting a bridal shower in the afternoon. But then I found out this week we need to postpone the shower so I switched to 10k.

So, I am officially goldilocks. Let's hope this one is juuuuuust right.

I don't have a huge plan for it, and am not going to even think the phrase PR. I have the Uvas tri next week and that is more of an "A" race.