Mock Tri

The Mock Tri on Saturday went VERY well!

The swim was in the form of a short loop, where we had to get out of the water, run back to the entry point, and swim the loop again (twice total) for a total of about 700 yards (a little shy of the actual Malibu Tri amount). The first lap was tough, I didn't warm-up for it. The second lap was much better. I used the wetsuit and while it was much better than before, it still felt constrictive. I'm now thinking that wearing the tri-top under the suit is part of the problem. I have two suits en-route to try out that are sized a bit differently, so we'll see if those help.

My practice on the bike mount and dismount paid-off handsomely as my T1 time went from over 3 minutes to just 27 seconds! It was no problem riding without socks and with sand in my shoes. I did put on socks for the run though. My T2 time was very short as well (I'm guessing under a minute). My Timex Ironman Triathlon watch didn't survive the day though - it got some water in it and died a very slow, painful death (it's now on the way to Timex for warranty repairs).

The run was difficult in the sense that after the first mile my blister, sore calf, and sore right hip started hurting, so I was hobbling along (smiling all the way though). I managed to run the entire 4 miles without stopping. Made a new friend: guy named Brian from the Westside team - we ran together for a couple of miles before one of the women started getting close so he took off - me, well, she passed me, but only because I just couldn't go any faster at that point.

I completed the whole thing in 1 hour 58 minutes - much better than my goal of 2.5 hours! I felt great afterward and the TnT coaches and mentors had medals for each of us and a carb spread that was like a holiday dessert (which I'm starting to figure out is why nobody seems to lose weight in this program).

All in all a great time and a great experience - I am so looking forward to the "big day!"