Black Diamond Race Report

 How is training going? Today was my first Olympic distance tri.

Black Diamond Triathlon, Enumclaw, Washington.

.5 mile swim, 24 mile bike ride, 6 mile run.

I felt good at the end of it!!

Before the race even began...

Last night I thought I'd leave Sunshower and The Pie out in the arena overnight so they could run around and get some exercise. So at 4am the wind and rain kick in and shes out there screaming and whinnying and running around. Lan and I had to go out there to put them away in the barn. Then back to bed for another 2 hours of sleep (I wished anyway).

Got up at 6am, took an anti-diarrhea pill and ate my usual pre-race breakfast of oatmeal. And water. We had packed the car last night so we only had to put a few more things in the car before we left. Linda came with us and she got here just in time. Left the house at 6:30am.

Arrived at Nolte State Park at 8am, they said the parking in the park was full but we could go in, drop our stuff and take the car down the road to a fire station & ride the shuttle back. Thats what we started to do but someone pulled out of a parking space right in front of us to we took it. We also needed to have a Discover Pass for the state park and luckily, we did.

Here I am right after getting body markings; they wanted me to get my age on my right calf so competitors could know I was in their age group but I declined so I could have an edge. I was #80 today in the 'ladies who are 48 years old' category.

I have a really nice tri bag but when its full its really heavy so I gave it to Lan. It holds stuff I don't need and I always feel the need to fill all the pockets. I'll use it next year for ironman.

Putting on my wetsuit. Last year it was really cold and pouring rain but today it was a pleasant 55*-ish and the water wasn't too cold. I really hate transition photos and so many people don't know how to take good shots. I have a million of these and I never look at them. I want to see me OUT ON THE COURSE in action.

There's me, swimming. I knew I'd be slow but I was faster than I thought I would be. It took me about 45 minutes to complete about 1 mile, 2 laps around the bouys. There was 1 other person who was slower.

It took me about 1/4 mile to get over the freak-out mode I always start in and then I got it. By then I had already been passed by the fastest Olympic distance swimmer. It took about 200 yards before another person passed me. The water wasn't too cold or murkey but there were a lot of leaves and pine needles floating in it.

Back in transition...

Getting the slimey wetsuit off. At least I remembered to use Body Glide so it wasn't too bad but it kept slipping out from under my feet. I took the time to dry off my feet well and put on a jacket so my T1 time will be longer than normal. I was surprised to see 3 other ladies in my area still in T1 and there were a lot still in the entire area.

Ready to go out for the bike ride. Which direction do I go? I had already asked that question, we had to go out behind me and go all the way around, couldn't take the short cut.

I was nice and relaxed here, not breathing hard or anything. But starting the bike I did get breathing hard, thats not unusual either.

Look how much shit is all spread out here!

I was almost finished with the bike here, only had about 3-4 miles left to go when I hear a truck and think 'That sounds like Terrys truck' and low and behold, it was. My father in law was driving by with Lan in the passenger seat, taking my photos. How cool is that?? I <3 Lan. He takes action shots.

I felt good on the bike and was going well but after the turn around there was a head and side winds. I had to get out of the aerobars for some of it but I stayed in them as much as I could. There are a lot of nice wide shoulders on the roads and I took advantage of them. I passed a few people but not a lot. The course had some rolling hills, nothing big and scarey but there are a lot of false flats that feel uphill both ways.

The run was on county roads through farms, out and back then one loop around the lake. I felt good throughout the whole run, but made myself walk up the 3 small hills to protect my hip flexors. Linda was there for the end and Lan got my photos as I was coming across the finish line. This photo looks like a good candidate for Special Olympics.

Finally, finished. I felt really good here, didn't start crying, still felt like I could have gone farther. Not that I wanted to go farther. My training is paying off.  On the left of this photo are a group of Kitsap Tribabes, they came out to cheer for all of us that raced.