Bah! Once again, at Columbia Triathlon this year the Athenas (that would be me) are the last wave of swimmers before the relay competitors. I start at 8:15AM. This means a) I have one hour fifteen minutes between when I have to be finished setting up and they close the transition area until I start; b) it's hotter on the course; c) it's lonelier back with the stragglers on course; d) I'll finish just as they're starting the awards ceremony.The good news is that it gives me plenty of time for a nice leisurely warmup swim, if I slide down the muddy bank off to the side and sneak in the water. Hopefully I'll be able to warm up with Holly and work off a few nerves before the starting gun! I practiced with my wetsuit top in the pool last Friday and had my fastest-ever 500-yard swim in 10:26. Woo, if (big if!) I could swim that pace in the race it would give me a 34:14 for 1500 meters. That's blazing fast for this landlubber! (Last year's swim was 37:23 - I'll be very happy with anything faster than that, although I'm not planning on pushing the pace until I get on the bike).
My back is still a bit sore and creaky so I decided to skip my long bike ride today. I'll do a shorter ride mid-week and then clean up the bike and taper hard for race day on Sunday.
Many congratulations to Linae who ROCKED the Gulf Coast half-Ironman-distance Triathlon yesterday! Why they can't post results online within 12-18 hours of the finish in a chip-timed race I'll never understand, though. She is well on her way to IRON this fall at Ironman Florida!
