New day (and race report)

Acceptance

It is a new day and the shock of yesterday has settled. I knew it wasn't good when I got the call which began "Hey Catharine, did your bike have wheels on it?"

Thanks to my wonderful Team Z teammates, it looks like this is all going to work out okay and cost me a lot less than it could have.

Special thanks to J.R., whom I had never met before yesterday. He drove over to my building last night with perfect wheels for me to borrow until I get a new wheelset. He even helped me put them on.

Unfortunately we didn’t have all of the necessary parts, and somehow managed to blow the tube when inflating it. Surprisingly it didn't seem to startle the cats (Earl and Pepper). I’m hoping that after a trip to the bike shop tonight I'll be all set. It is a shame that this happens to be the week that my gym is closed for renovations. I have a good excuse not to bike or spin today :)

I really appreciate all of the sympathy and empathy. I am definitely keeping this all in perspective. Even though it could be a lot worse, I think I was entitled to a little pity party. I’m done with that now.

Race report

This will be a short one. Sunday I raced the Montclair Triathlon. Strange distances. A 1k (.6 mile) swim, 30k (18.6 mile) bike, and 8k (4.8 mile) run. For whatever reason I was super laid back going into this race. No plan, no expectations. I was really thinking of it as a training day.

It was a nice race with odd logistics. Because it took place in a neighborhood, the only official parking was at a school 2 miles away. Fortunately I have the cool USAT backpack I got for my efforts back at the Richmond Duathlon. I threw all of my gear in there and biked from the lot to the transition area. It was quite strange riding like that when it was just barely sunrise.

Before the race

My transition setup

Ms. Piggy before she was pillaged

The swim was in the 80-degree lake, so wetsuits were not legal. I actually enjoyed the water. My form for the swim stunk, but I did okay. I wasn't fast, but I wasn't last.

Thanks to Ben for this great shot of me coming out of the water

Although I hadn’t really set goals for myself, I did write down my expectations beforehand (and then promptly forgot what I wrote). When I got to work Monday I saw that I had gotten within 30 seconds of what I predicted. Ha!

The bike course was three moderately hilly loops. I got passed quite a bit, but towards the end I actually passed a few people myself. I was very unfocused on the ride. I am not sure what the issue was. Part of the problem is that my HR monitor wasn’t registering for the first half. I think I could have gone faster. Oh well.

The last ever picture of Miss Piggy with her wheels

The run is usually my strength and it is nice to always have that part last. I know how to run. It is so much simpler than swimming or biking. Yes, there is some technique involved and I am working on my form. I usually enjoy the run because I do a lot more passing than being passed. Sunday was no exception. The course was a bit on the hilly side. It was a two loop course, with a strange jaunt through the woods as the second loop began. Weird. Anyhow, it went well and I left it all out on the course.

Happy Runner Cat

Results:
I don’t feel like sharing them so I’m not gonna.

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