We Were the People That We Usually Make Fun Of

Last night, Matt and I did the “Tuesday Night Time Trials” for the second time this year. We brought Pharmie along, and she did her FIRST TIME TRIAL EVER!!

Some back story: I was NOT feeling well earlier in the day, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to bike. Around 9 am I tweeted “Tummy upset. Making stuff come out of my butt. At fast speeds.” Later, around 3 pm, I tweeted “Tummy still upset. Good news? Stuff coming out of my butt to a slightly lesser extent.” I think that explains most of it. I knew I could at least tag along for the TT, and just not start if I didn’t think it was a good idea.

But I felt fine as we were heading to the park, so I figured I’d race. This was to be my last good “push” before the Liberty Triathlon this weekend. We got our numbers, and Pharmie and I headed down the TT course for a warm up. We apparently lost track of time just a little, and as we were headed back towards the start, we realized that we were going to be late for our starts. Sure enough, as I was about 0.5 from the start, the number just below mine was riding past us. I was going to miss my start time. And Pharmie (who was supposed to start just behind me) was going to miss her start time too. This happens to a few people at each TT, and everyone makes fun of them. Yesterday, we were the shmucks who were made fun of.

(In case you don’t know anything about time trials, let me explain: 1 person starts every 30 seconds. #1 starts at 7:00:00 pm, #2 starts at 7:00:30, #3 starts at 7:01:00, etc. When I saw #28 go by, I knew I’d miss my start [#29]. Pharmie was #30, and Matt was #31. Once you miss your start time, you can STILL start the race, but your official time will be slow because your clock is already running when you start.)

So I rolled to the starting area just as Matt was starting (who was supposed to be 1 minute BEHIND me). I sprinted through the finisher’s chute, flipped a U-ie in the street, and rolled past the starting line saying “I just missed my start - I’m taking off!” Talk about a stressful start to the ride! As I started, Pharmie was just getting down to the starting area. I shouted over to her “Start anytime and remember to start your watch!” (So we could get our “actual” times.)

Well, I kept up with Matt up the first big hill. Then he slowly pulled away, as I knew he’d do. I didn’t clear my computer, so I couldn’t check my average speed. I had 2 bottles of water on my bike, and I didn’t have time to drop one of them at the start (unnecessary weight for a TT). I had a rock in my left shoe that I noticed on my warm-up that I didn’t have a chance to take out. It was such a stressful start! D’oh. We’re idiots.

There was a slight wind at our backs for the way out. I hit the turn-around 12 seconds faster than my previous best, but that was “wind-aided.” About 2 minutes after turning-back, I saw Pharmie and shouted something like “Way to go Hunnie!!” She shouted back “I love you,” which I could tell ACTUALLY meant “I’m so sorry we got distracted and I’m sorry we started late! I feel so bad!” Talking to her after the race, that’s exactly what she meant! Do I know my wife or what? ;)

I worked hard on the way back, but I didn’t feel 100%. I don’t really think it had anything to do from squirting poo out of my butt earlier in the day. It was just that my legs felt heavy. I made it back to the finish into the slight breeze in 15:09, which is my slowest half ever.

11 mile TT:
29:08 (13:58 out [best ever] / 15:09 back [worst ever])
22.65 mph
35 out of 51 overall

Those are my unofficial results from my watch. Officially (because of my late start), they have me at 30:15, which is 21.82 mph, and 40th overall.

Matt and I chatted at the finish. We both felt a little “heavy” out there. Neither of us did as good as we did 2 weeks ago - we were both around a half mph slower yesterday. Soon, Pharmie came to the line of her first TT:

Hand on her watch, getting ready to get her time


Ready to hit the line

So Matt finished 25th overall, with a 23.55 mph average. And Pharmie finished unofficially with just under a 20 mph average (somewhere around 19.7 mph). She thought 20 mph would be GREAT, so she can’t complain about 19.7!! Nice work Pharmie!

I grabbed a shot of the siblings after their ride:

Rocking her new Evotri jersey for the first time!

Pharmie needed to get in some more miles, so the 3 of us went for a long cool-down ride. In total, I biked about 28 miles last night. We got back to our cars well after everyone had left:

(You can kinda see my recent hairlessness in that photo, and this was the first time I wore my 2 piece Sugoi tri suit - I’ve worn the top and bottom separately before, but never together.)

So I hope to go for a swim today, an easy run tomorrow, and then my “A” race on Saturday!! Here are some final thoughts on my swim / bike / run:

Swim: This year, I’m a better and more confident swimmer.
Bike: Unsure. Haven’t had any GREAT feeling rides this year.
Run: I had 3 PRs this spring, so I’m at a great spot with my running.

I may be unsure about my bike just because my swimming and running have been getter better, and my biking has just "stalled." My biggest goal for the race is to PUSH HARD on the bike, and see what I can do on the run after that. Julia (my swimming buddy) told me this: “Go to Liberty, race your heart out and worst case scenario is you blow up. But really. Have you EVER BLOWN UP?” No, I’ve never blown up, and I’ve never really been too close to doing so in a tri. So time to push that limit, bike my ass off, and see if I can hold on for the run.

This should be interesting!!! Wish us luck on Saturday!! (Pharmie’s racing the Half, and I’m racing the Oly)

Oh, and if you didn’t know what I meant by “my recent hairlessness” mentioned above, check out yesterday’s post. ;)