The area is gorgeous - much like the Okanagan - and the lake is beautiful, clean, and clear. It's like swimming in a sandy basin filled with tap water. The bike course went out along the lake and was really beautiful. The run covered the first part of the bike course, again along the lake. The weather was nearly perfect, about 70 F with a few clouds. It rained while I was on the bike but I was really only aware of it for a few minutes, probably at a moment when it was raining a little harder. (I started the race with Sister Madonna Bruder right beside me on the beach and she passed me on the bike but when we got to the top of the biggest hill, I saw them leading her off to the side, wrapped in a blanket. Perhaps she fell; I heard afterward that there were a few minor accidents on the bike course because of the rain. She did, however, do the sprint distance the next day!)
I started the swim in a wave with about 100 people. I got right in there and started swimming. Things were going along tickety-boo until about the 100m mark. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I stopped swimming, sort of bobbed and breaststroked along, trying to catch my breath and get myself under control. I don't know what caused it. It wasn't really panic or anxiety. I wasn't overly nervous about the race, I didn't mind the other people in the water, the lake was nice, I was OK with the distance. But, wow, it took a long time to pull myself together! I just told myself to keep moving forward while I waited for it to pass. At about the halfway point, I did get myself under control and could put my face in again and the rest of the swim was super.
Swim time = 49:56, about 10 minutes longer than I expected.
T1 = 4:21. I was very dizzy from the swim and couldn't move very quickly.
The bike was very nice! The scenery was just beautiful. I felt strong and good. At the beginning, I rode past Dan, who had just started out on his race (he did the 10K run). He cheered me on and that was nice to hear. I drank most of a bottle of Gatorade and ate six Clif Blocs on the bike. This was a very enjoyable part of the day.
Bike time = 1:47:49. I expected to be 1:45 for the bike. The course was actually quite a bit hillier than they describe on the race website so I am OK with my time being a couple minutes longer.
T2 = 3:31. I had to pee, darn it.
The run was mostly a walk! When I finished the bike ride, I hardly had legs to stand on. I had trouble even getting off my bike! I tried to jog out of transition, just for the sake of saving face but that was hard. The run starts uphill! I didn't expect much from the run because I have done very little running in the last couple months. Although I walked a great deal of it, I suddenly found a little something in my legs near the end and I ran the last mile.
Run time = 1:33:55. I expected to do the run in 1:20 so I lost some time there but, in retrospect, it's not a shock that it took the time it did.
When I crossed the finish line, a guy also crossed with me. He was finishing up his half iron. (They had started 40 minutes before my wave but he was still pretty darn fast!) He turned to me and shook my hand and said congratulations and I thought that was a pretty nice touch!
Total time was 4:19 (but I was not last!). I would love to have done it in under 4:00 but the swim issues and lack of running and brick training made that unreachable this time. Still, this was my first olympic distance and I felt happy when I finished.
I plan to work on identifying and learning to deal with the swim anxiety issues or whatever that was. Training will take care of the rest!
My brother, Paul, and my niece, Lizzy, who live in Seattle, met us there for the weekend. Paul did the sprint and Lizzy did the kids' splash and dash. It was great fun to watch them. Adam (my son) also came along and he had a great time cheering us on and taking pictures of the weekend. And of course, being in wine country, we had to stop by and visit a winery and do a little tasting after the race!
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