Le Rookie

Yesterday was a Jack and Adams event, The Rookie Triathlon. It was out at New Braunfels, the Texas Ski Ranch, where Jack's Generic was last year. I was not going to race it since last weekend I decided "No racing for awhile!"...but, it was a 300 swim-11 mile bike-2 mile run...all of under 50 minutes of racing. So I figured, what the hey, and I planned to ride my bike back to give myself a good bike-training day out of it.

It kicked off at 8:00, in the little pond out there which was thick with...plants of some sort. I have to say, this was the most congested swim I have EVER done in all my 6 years of racing! Well, actually World Championships in 2002 in Cancun was pretty bad too, felt like a washing machine all the way and I got out scared and intimidated, only to get yelled at on the bike by (who was she? someone famous) to 'Stop taking a drink and pull, Handel!'...oh god that was scary. I then got lapped by the eventual winner, Leanda Cave?, as I went out on the last lap of the run. I should have just raised my arms, finished and confused everyone but...well I am too honest. :)

ANYWAY, I opted to just stop and go AROUND everyone in the swim b/c it freaks me out to be so congested. I was laughing at myself b/c I knew it was so awful, I actually did not come out too poorly in position but it did tell me to work on my swim speed. It will come. :) I exited the swim and headed to the bike, where I whisked away my new Scott Contessa Plasma, and began to hammer away. I had a few women ahead of me but I just tried to keep them in sight. I was able to secure second place by the end of the 30-min bike ride, which was good, and I hammered the shit out of this ride! I figure it's a good way to WHIP this cycling back into shape! Exited the bike and on to the run, only 2 miles, out a mile and back a mile. I was very plesantly surprised that I was able to manage 5:55 pace here, though it was pretty tough. Amy Marsh was a good bit ahead of me, which I was OK with. I know that I need to work my way back into this and I am fine with that. I tried to 'thumbs up' all the women I saw out there, they were all working so hard and I loved knowing them all...very cool. There was a little hill at the end of the run and I was tired, I slightly backed off here, knowing I wanted to finish looking decent. Over the hill, down the gravel path and there was the finish! I crossed as 2nd woman to Amy, soon followed by Andrea Fisher, who also had a great race. A fun little event for sure, Jack and Adams never fails to make it a good time had by all. I also wore my Zoot green race flats which felt great, I continued to wear them until I rode back to Austin.

The next couple of hours were spent bouncing between helping out with food, trash, and other things they needed, as well as 'manning' the Source Endurance tent! We were situated right next to AJ Zelinski and his crew with Advanced Rehabilitation. We were promoting out upcoming Swim Clinics at Pure Austin Quarry, as well as a discount on physiological testing if you bring your The Rookie bib # in. The ride home was LONG but fun! I rode with a nice little group and arrived back around 3:15 with tired legs and a roasted back (forgot sunscreen b/c it was overcast....argh....)

All in all a great day! I am really happy to see that I am so excited about getting back to triathlon, yet I need to be careful of not over-doing it, too. I can tell my legs are still tired at the end of my races, and I think this calls for a cautious approach to the next month of training. The next 'big' race as of now will be Buffalo Springs in June. But tonight is WILCO at Stubbs BBQ! Better get in some training and grocery shopping before...

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, MOM and DONNA...and ROBIN and CORI!! :)