Pink Cheeks Triathlon Race Report

Friday night I left work and ran home to get all of my stuff together so that my husband and I could head out of town that evening and stay the night in Moose Pass, Alaska so that Saturday morning it was just a short ride to the start of our triathlon in Seward, Alaska.  We had a beautiful drive down and since the race didn't start until 11am we were able to wake to the beautiful scene below and then just laze around in the sun for a while.  Awesome start to the weekend.

Good Morning!

Saturday we arrived in Seward, said hi to some friends and got our transitions set up for the race.  This race is a backwards triathlon due to the weather at this time of year.  Normally it is still pretty chilly with possibilities of snow in April/May (it snowed the day before my first triathlon on May 18th several years ago).  But this year it could have been a normal race as the weather was amazing and hot - well for AK standards.  Regardless we set up for the backwards race then went to warm up with a jog around the parking lot.

The race started with a 5k run run.  I committed the crime of running in brand new shoes but thankfully I didn't have to do the time, my feet felt great.  My legs however were a bit heavy feeling, the run was pretty hilly or at least had a grade each direction.  I felt a bit bummed about the run part but the next day when I got my time - 35minutes, I felt a bit better when I realized that was 11 something minute miles.  While my PR time is 32 so it felt far off, for where my legs have been lately it actually was better than I thought.  I do however need to do something about my running - I'll get to that later.

After powering up the last hill with steamed up sunglasses and sweat flying off me I ran into transition and got my bike shoes on for my favorite part of the race.  I had been warned ahead of time that the bike section had lots of turns and gravel.  Gravel is the enemy of a road bike but off I went.  True to the advice the course had LOTS of turns and 3 rough sections of big chunky gravel that you had to go through several times.  Regardless the bike is my strength so I enjoyed picking off people who passed me on the run.  As I powered up the last hill the race folks yelled that I had to dismount and then run over the timing mat which was a bit of a pain, but I made it through the 10k course in 28 minutes. 

Alaska Love

After finishing the bike the time stopped and I went to get changed for the swim.  The swim was interesting to say the least.  I waited in the pool area for probably a half hour or more and then finally got my turn to run over the timing mat and jump into the pool.  The swim was a double snake swim, if that makes any sense at all.  That means we swam two laps in the first lane and then swam under the lane marker and continued this pattern through each of the 6 lanes in the pool.  There were many things that made this swim funky, the timing - last event in the race - the snake swim, the fact that it was a 25 yard length pool, and the fact it was my first real swim race since I learned to swim! 

Anyways I jumped in the water when my turn came and I was off.  The first thing I noticed is that there was something funky with the pool and my new goggles that made everything wavy - like a house of mirrors.  I had almost no depth perception and kept rubbing against the wall on my first laps.  Also the pool being yards had me come in hard on a couple turns.  But the thing I noticed most was the fact that my legs were stinking tired.  My arms ended up doing most if not all of the work, it was a bit rough and honestly my thoughts at the start were  F*** this sucks.  I  paid for this.  I signed up for more of these.  I signed up for an Olympic distance of this! F***  But I got into a slight groove as time went on and I could hear my husband cheering for me on the side so it got slightly better as I progressed.  I did however have some issues with a fellow swimmer.  There was a guy who was faster than me in the water but liked to take breaks on the ends of the pool.  So according to the rules I would let him pass me if he touched my toes during the swim but then after he passed me about a length later he decided to stand at the end of the pool to rest.  I was coming in for my turn under the lane and saw him standing there and decided to go for it.  Turns are a strength of mine and I was tired of stopping for him, so I did an underwater turn under the lane and passed him.  If your going to stand and rest, I'm not going to wait for you!  My husband said the guy threw up his arms in anger when I did this, but I stand by it.  This guy also tried to pass someone mid -lane and ran into me and again was upset when I accidentally smacked him in the face.  Again your issue dude, dont pass unless you have the power to do it without swimming into oncoming traffic.  So if you got the theme, it was a bit of a shit show, but it worked.  I powered through the end and got out and crossed the timing mat and fell right into the arms of my husband.  It felt good to be done, my arms hurt so bad!  Darn you legs - where were you???

Overall I would have loved some speedier times, the swim was 600yards and my swim time was 14:30.  I was really surprised, I felt like it should have been so much shorter, my current 500m is 11. But due to the circumstances I suppose all in all it was pretty great.  My overall time was an hour and 20 minutes which put me at 78th out of 116, but 8th in my age group.  My husband had a great race and I think finished top 20.  He could have been top 10 if he didn't take a wrong turn on the bike course! 

The race was a really nice community event and you couldn't beat the amazing weather so I think it is one we will do again.  I will remember its the first race of the season and just a fun one to get the race season started and enjoy. 

My next triathlon is in 2 weeks!!!