Dilloman Debrief

800m Swim: 22min 24s (2.48min/100m)
It was uber-scary, quite frankly, worsened by gastroentestinal problems. Despite trying to calm my nerves during the test swim, the minute the horn sounded off and we started swimming into the lake, my heart was in my mouth! Panic started creeping up, as the water got murkier. During the first 100m, I didn't dare put my head in the water. As my breathing became irregular, I looked around for the kayak in a moment of desperation. It was pretty far from where I was, and I became more unnerved. Then I passed the first buoy and thought, ok, this is silly, I'm here for a race. Stay calm and don't look down! :) With that, I breast-stroked my way through the rest of the swim. I was sorely disappointed with myself for not using freestyle. I tried once or twice but felt my foot cramping up so I gave up on freestyle. As I came out of my swim, my buddy, Santhosh, called out "Good job! 20min!" and I thought to myself, "Ya right! I was sooo slow, I must have done 40min! But ok, he's trying to be encouraging.." (Sorry, Santhosh, you were right!)

Inspite of my disappointment at abandoning freestyle, my pace improved nearly a minute from 3.53min/100m.

20K Bike Ride: 1 hour 7:05 min (11.1 mph)
The bike leg seemed felt pretty tough. I suspect the swim took quite a bit out of me, because I felt tired starting out. It was hard to stay positive, and the ride felt tedious inspite of gorgeous scenery. I dare say boredom creeped up, and I played mind games throughout most of the course. There were rolling hills for the most part, and only one really hard uphill that plateaued (so no downhill to help recovery). I took advantage of downhills (no fear this time!). Only once did my bike wobble because of the speed & wind, but I kept steady. I made all the tight turns. Mentally, I did not engage as well as I did in my first tri. My bike mantras changed frequently, and I didn't draw much strength from them this time.

Sadly, my bike pace dropped from my first tri which was 11.7 mph. On the positive side, I guess it's ok considering it was a much longer swim this time round. Still, I wish I could have done better.

5K run: 42min 31s (13:58min/mile)
When it was time to run, I felt pretty lousy. My tummy had given me a lot of trouble, and then I started getting side stitches. I warmed up after 1.5miles. I "slogged" for the most part, until I realized there was a girl ahead of me (in my age group) who was walking ahead of me. I thought, I haven't trained this hard to be beaten by someone who's walking! Then I pushed harder and started running. I sprinted the last 100m, and had a strong finish.

This is my worst running time yet. :( 13:38min/mile is a far cry from 12:19min/mile in my first tri, considering an increase of only 1mile distance.

Overall, the race was ok. I didn't feel at my best, partly because of a stomachache & fatigue. Another issue was that I kept thinking about what distance I wanted to do in my next race, and whether I should increase the distance in my next tri. Inspite of my efforts to stay focused on the present, I let my mind wander, which did me a great disservice. Lesson learnt, I guess.

Arv couldn't be around for the race, since he was recovering from the bout of pneumonia. My friends, Santhosh & Gau, came all the way out to Pace Bend Park to cheer me on & drive me back. They were SO super! They played Tri-Sherpas for the day, and kept my spirits up. It meant so much to me, particularly since I was nursing an upset tummy on the way to the race and a bad headache on the way back. Thank you, guys!

Steph was also there, cheering her head off for me. :) It felt really good to hear her encouragement through transition (both ways) and near the finish line. You rock, Steph!

Two tris down, and one to go!