Sunday, July 10, 2011

A day at the races and my first OWS

Today hubs and I were up dark & early to head to Peterborough and cheer on some friends at the Triathlon & Duathlon. We arrived in plenty of time to scope out the courses/transition and wish everyone good luck. I love the pre-race energy, especially at a tri! There was some pretty good bike porn going on too...


Watching the mass start swim was insane! It was a two-loop swim for the half distance, where they had to run up on the beach between laps.



It was a whole different experience watching the swim when I can actually see myself doing this. Only slightly terrifying...

From there we made our way over to transition to see everyone off on their 56 mile bike ride. W-o-w.  It was an incredibly hot day - we were sweating like crazy just standing around and hoped everyone would be okay in their races.



We had a ton of time while they were all out on their bikes, so hubs and I headed out for a steamy 5K run. It was already scorching at 9am and it was crazy to think that some of our friends had a half marathon to run 3 hours later!

We were able to dip in the lake to cool off after the run, and I completed my first "official" open water swim! (i.e. not bobbing around on a noodle).


Erin was kind enough to lend me one of her wetsuits to try out even though we are not *quite* the same size... it didn't go so well!

am I really posting this on the Internet??
We swam out on the race route so the buoys could give us a rough idea of distance. We went about half way out, zig-zagged a little and headed back in - estimated at about 500m total with a few breaks.

I am extremely squeamish in lakes, so I was really proud of myself for enduring the mushy bottom and weeds almost all the way to the surface. *shudder* I floated on my back occasionally when I got really freaked out, but I think I handled it pretty well and felt good when I was swimming. I think I may actually be able to do this.

But enough about me!

Pretty soon it was time to dry off and head to the run exit, where we watched for our friends cruising in on their bikes. Everyone was looking strong and making us proud!




Erin was finished her Aqua Bike and did awesome! Unfortunately there was no finish line or medal for that event (although there was for the duathlon), so we just had to ring our cowbells to make her feel special. At least we're good some something. ;) Congrats Erin!!!! Syracuse better look out.

We all went for another dip in the lake to cool off before watching for the runners to come in. It was seriously hot and I was having flashbacks to our run on Saturday - I knew everyone would be suffering out on the run course.

They all did a great job regardless - big congrats to Paul on his first 70.3 Triathlon and Patricia & Ueli for their first Half Duathlon!

It was awesome seeing all the finishers coming in and very inspiring given my new ambition. One day...


14 comments:

Richelle said...

Congrats on your first OWS! The murky lake bottom wasn't so bad after all! Congrats to your friends, too! Glad they were able to finish and do well despite the heat.

Triathlons, duathlons... heck, any race is so inspiring to watch. I volunteered at a tri back in 2005 and that gave me motivation to keep up with running.

Char said...

Looks like your friends were really happy that you were there to cheer them on.

I don't blame you for being squeamish about swimming in a lake - they find all sorts of unpleasant things in lakes so I'd be squeamish too.

Unknown said...

Good job on the OWS, I'm squeamish in lakes too.

Sounds like fun times for all!

Cynthia said...

Great job on the open water swim! I cannot wait for the day you do your own triathlon :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats on getting that 1st OWS done! Very big step indeed!

Sara said...

Nice job on the OWS!! I grew up in lakes and am so excited when I get to swim in a lake vs a pool!! (Another reason I hate winter!)

I love that you're heading towards a triathlon! Wasn't it about a month ago that you said you'd never do one? And slowly (actually rather quickly) you've been pulled into it! It's fun. I mean, I assume it's fun. I can say training for my first one in Sept. has been fun. If I get tired of one, I can do the others. It breaks up the monotony of exercising for me!

dawn @ running the dawn said...

wait, wait, wait. you're telling me that noodles negate the open water swim?!?!?!?! i can't believe no one told me that! i feel robbed. all this time....

Laura said...

....weeds, gunky stuff. Oof...Gross you are wicked. The TO race is a good (but boring) scenery race...you just have to plan properly around getting there on the ferry. A friend almost missed it a couple of yrs ago as they bumped her off one ferry because of late comers and the next one dropped her off a few minutes before her wave.

Runners Fuel said...

I want to watch a tri live! Good lessons to be learned. I eventually want to do a sprint tri sometime.

Lindsay said...

You look like a placenta.

I seem to recall not so long ago when you said you were getting into biking but "sooo not doing a tri". What a sellout...

Just kidding. Anyone with a pair big enough to swim in a gunky lake is cool by me.

Anonymous said...

Good job on your open water swim! I am so proud of you for getting out there and doing it. Woo hoo!

Joanna said...

I absolutely love that you celebrated the finish with cowbells. Next time I spectate I may have to steal that trick! Oh, and yeah, lake bottoms are kinda gross. Way to power through!

Jason said...

Comments about bike porn and then OWS as well....yup you are officially on the dark side....so welcome.

BTW don't rip your buddies off on that bike ride as it is 56 miles for the half-IM distance. I know they felt every mile so we should credit them with that mile.

Nicole said...

WAHOooooooo!!!!! :) YAY for Tri's!!!