Port Elizabeth
Felt like it must feel in Olympics for athletes who qualified, but know they will not be in contention for the podium. Just enjoying being there. Meeting athletes from all around globe. Instant commonality.
Swam on wed morning. They had some at beach to check our street clothes while we swam (also bikes if you wanted). Water was COLD! Much less than 66 degrees I expected. More like 56 degrees. I had left my thermal hat at home, so bought one there, although didn’t really end up needing it.
Guided ride Thu morning. Lots of bikes! Ron and I rode out a little over 30 min, then back. I had trouble w derailleur on way back.
Got my checklist…need it when I’m so nervous…
The hotel was just a 7 min walk to T1. I just put on my wetsuit in my hotel room. Plus sweat shirt, beanie and flip flops. Left at 6:05 am. More than enough time for final prep at T1. Transition closed at 7:30. I had an 8:15 start.
36th place. Not so bad considering I competed against best in world. I’m very happy with my times. 6:35 overall. Under 11min miles on the run. Went from 41st on swim, to 34th after bike! We were biking in a light rain. I figured out how to downshift derailleur when it acted up—had to be in small ring on crank. Slowed me down a little but not too much. At least I could adjust.
Water temp was about 66 degrees (19C. Was 59 (15C) for women yesterday! What a change!) So no booties allowed anyway. But didn’t need them.
Thnx. Kinda cool I can compete at that level. Well, kinda—winner finished over an hour ahead of me. But I am still ecstatic. Not sure why I freaked out last night. Once I got to venue this morning it was just another tri. It’s not like I haven’t done races in other countries before. Oh well. A learning moment.
We got lucky with rain, in that it wasn’t as bad as predicted just a day previously. It didn’t rain during swim or T1, but pretty quickly once on bike, but not too heavy. Heavy rain (and wind) just started the last two miles of my run. Then afterwards it poured. Miserable retrieving my bike from transition. Thunderstorms right now–but they were originally predicted for earlier in the day–so the timing was good, considering…
Left wax in ear
Trications and Tri50+ 