Spring Sprint Triathlon

First triathlon of the season this morning, yipee! Very cold and wet day, but nice warm water. This pic is of me attempting to smile at the kids.

Then I got out of the pool and ran in the 45 degree air to my bike. I love runs to the transition area from the swim, there's something so exciting about them.
That excitement and the fact that I didn't feel cold on the short run deterred me from putting on the fleece I brought. I planned on wearing this suit I train in instead of my triathlon top because the tri top would've given me drag in the pool (typically it is under my wetsuit which doesn't let water in). In this short of a race (400 meter swim, 14 mile bike, 3.1 mile run) time is precious, so I forwent the fleece and had the fastest transition 1 time I've EVER had. It is typically 1:00-1:20, yeah mine was 34 seconds! Wowsas
And it was almost worth it too :) at least until my legs started shaking uncontrollably the last 4 miles of the bike. I really should've taken the time to throw a fleece on. Oh well. The bike went pretty good. The roads were very wet from the night and early morning before so I was extra cautious on the big decent which definately cost me time. Kills me to brake going down hill, but I was just too nervous to go 30+ mph on a wet road. Was passed by 2-3 women, ticked me off, but I hoped I'd catch them later. I really do need to work on being reckless, I mean more fearless on the bike.
The picture below is me happily coming back from the bike (happy because I could warm up running now). My husband doesn't like the look of one piece suits like this in triathlons. I think they look cool, it's what the pro's wear. Yes I am concious of vanity :) I really feel like feeling like you look good helps you perform better though. Sport is 90% mental. Oh and notice the pump in the back of my suit? Stupid pump almost fell off my bike and into and jamming the chainring.

So got back from the bike, another quick transition, and off on the run. I'm the tiny pink spec in the distance. Oh how I love the run. I'm afraid I have such enjoyable runs because I don't push the bike hard enough. I do bike hard and am a good runner, but I should probably leave a little more on the bike.
Had a great run! Very close to a personal best (20:12 I think?). It was a hilly course like the bike (did I mention it was hilly? It was). Tried and tried to catch up with those girls but never found them. This pic of me would've been cool if it focused, hubby was trying to catch up with me :)
And here is me happy to have my babies. I always get these funny looks when people see me and my 3 kids. Is 3 kids a lot of something? I don't get it. I was pretty discouraged about not placing at this race. I was sure I was in 4th or 5th as I only passed 1 woman on the run and I thought at least 2 started in front of me in the swim. Family went home, I hung around. Results were posted and guess what? 3rd place! Funny how 3rd place could make someone so happy. With that 3rd place I earned a 6 week coaching package from the University of Utah.
Very exciting! Now if I could just win a new bike.......
Great race and so glad to be getting into the season. It's so fun to get to see what all this preseason training has done for me. While I love to race, I've almost been a little sad to be done with the real training (now it's about maintenance and performace). There is joy in the journey for sure! Next up is the Ogden Marathon in 3 weeks, then a whole string of fun, mom-gets-every-saturday-for-the-next-4-weeks events. Stay tuned :)