Marlene's Musings...: Double the Pleasure at Smallwood

Time to end the 2007 triathlon season with a bang. So, why not do the doubleheader at General Smallwood? Saturday was an olympic distance race with plans to "race" it and Sunday was a sprint just for fun.

General Smallwood State Park is where I did my first olympic distance triathlon back in 2003 when it was run by a different race organization (no longer in business) and known as the Spud Triathlon. What's funny is Team in Training was there, led by Coach Ed, and I saw them all over the course. Who would have ever guessed that months later I'd do Team in Training and Ed would become my coach as well from then on.

So, the venue was a little special to me. I was fired up for my end of season "A" race and somehow I was assigned 6 as my bib race number. Hmmm.... I'm not exactly an elitist. I felt like I had to go hard to not let the race number down, as though I had some sort of reputation to uphold.

Swim started off well. The water was shallow with lots of vegetation, but overall I felt great. In fact, fastest race swim pace to date! I guess my swimming is improving after all!

I felt strong on the bike. A couple of the rolling hills early on were a bit of a challenge, but overall I seemed to maintain a decent pace. I came into transition at the 2 hour mark and thought I could break 3 hours... which I've never done in an olympic distance triathlon. I was rather excited at the prospect.

The run started off a little challenging, with hills leaving the park. After the turnaround, a hill I enjoyed decending moments earlier was a bit of a challenge coming up. My dreams of breaking 3 hours seemed to be no longer attainable. I did however, finish very strong, leaving it all on the table the last mile of the run.

Swim: 31:08 (1.5K or 0.93 miles)

Bike: 1:23:46 (24 miles)

Run: 1:02:15 (10K or 6.2 miles)

Finish: 3:04:03

Ok, so I didn't quite break 3 hours. Close though. Maybe a goal for next summer? And I did get a personal record! Now, the PR is in big thanks to the swim. My swimming has greatly improved since my early triathlon days. As for the bike and the run.... slipping. Both my bike and my run were slower than at Spud 3 years ago. Work on my weaknesses (see off season goals) and I'll be good to go.

Post race, time to knock back a couple beers and catch some LSU football. I was camping for the night with a handful of other Team Z'ers. I brought my TV and set up a la tailgating style for LSU-South Carolina. Signs of a true football fan. GEAUX TIGERS. We're now 4-0.

Sunday's race was truly for fun. Carol "Camel" was also doing the doubleheader and we chatted about doing the race together. She started in the wave after me, however, so we agreed to just see how things went. I figured she'd catch up to me.

I was feeling yesterday's race on the bike. Legs were a wee bit sore. And then the run, even more so. Those semi-challenging hills on Saturday were even more challenging on Sunday. Camel caught up to me. It was fabulous to run the last couple miles and finish with her. Whoo-hoo!