It Is Officially Tri Season

On Sunday, Alina and I completed our first tri of the season at Lake Anna. It was a bit of a rough start, for me at least, as I didn't pay attention to packet pickup times, course information, or anything really. I ended up having to rearrange my Saturday schedule, which was a shame because I had some really great activities planned for the afternoon: cake tasting with JC, and cooking club with my buddies!!!


We got to packet pickup about 2 minutes before it closed, got our stuff and headed over to the cabin we rented to get our gear ready. Here we are packing Sat night, don't we look pumped! :)















We got up on Sunday morning and headed over to the race. I was a nervous wreck-- as per usual. Alina was calm and confident--as per usual. Body marking was hysterical, the Spotsylvania Jr Softball team was in charge of it. A herd of 12 year old girls armed with sharpies! Typically, the number is written on one arm, and then the athlete's age (to identify the wave) is written on the back of the calf. Well, after the 12 year olds were done with us my number had been written on both arms, and both legs, and my age on the back of my calves!!! No confusing my age or number!

Water temperature was 61 F, which is a tad chilly, but we had wetsuits on so what is the big deal, right? I opted not to do a warm up swim, for fear that I would be cold and dripping wet while I waited for my wave to start. BIG MISTAKE!!! As soon as the water hit my arms (my wetsuit is sleeveles) I started shivering uncontrollably! During the swim portion I just wanted to die. It was soooo #&(*@#&@*( cold! SO COLD! It was so hard to breathe. I couldn't feel my feet at all. It took me forever to swim, I finally started to warm up just as the swim portion was over. Lesson learned.

The bike portion went well, and I was able to make up some time, even though the course was hilly, really hilly. By the run (also uber hilly) I was feeling pretty good. I started the run and thought 'hmm--it's really warm'. The sun had come out by this time and air temp was in the high 70's. By the end of the run I realized that I'd forgotten to put on sunscreen. At the end of the tri I felt like one of those microwavable burritos, burnt on the outside and still frozen on the inside. My lungs still feel freezer burned from that water!

I'll leave you with a speed limit sign posted on a road headed into the marina. I'm proud to say Alina and I adhered to it throughout the entire triathlon :)