Mini Mock Tri

Sunday, 4/26 - Swim 300m, bike 6 miles, run 1 mile

Fellow tri-wannabe, Katie, met me on Sunday morning for our mock tri. The plan was to get a better feel for what it feels like to really transition from one event to the other.

We set up T1 at the neighborhood pool. We swam 300m – this time I was super careful about not pushing off the walls, not resting on the walls, etc. I alternated between freestyle and side stroke when I had to and just kept going. Then we exited the pool, went to our transition area and prepared for the bike. This was my 1st attempt at putting on shoes with wet feet. I forgot to bring the baby powder, but still managed to get my shoes on pretty quickly. My helmet and sunglasses were on my handlebars and they went on easy – wet hair and all. This would also be my 1st attempt at not wearing socks for the bike and run. We rode for 6 miles and headed to my garage where we had T2 waiting.

For me, T2 will be easy – rack the bike, lose the helmet and pull on the race belt. I haven’t gotten brave enough to get clipless pedals and shoes, so no change of shoes for me this time. And, I figure I can put on the racebelt while I am moving out of transition. Once we had on our running gear, we headed out for a 1-mile run. This is my 3rd attempt at a bike/run brick and it is getting better. My mile was slower that the previous 2 weeks, but the legs felt much less jello-y.

Overall, I’m glad we did our mini-tri just to get a feel for how all this works. I know race day will be much more chaotic, so I plan to practice the transitions a few more times at home just to get the feel for what works best for me. I do wish I had biked and run a bit farther, but there may be time for one more brick this weekend.

Things I learned:

1. Don’t forget the baby powder! Although, I may opt to wear socks – wet feet and no socks feels really weird in running shoes.
2. Do NOT forget the sunscreen. I didn’t use any, because I didn’t think we’d be out in the sun very long. Bad idea! My back and shoulders were super-fried!
3. Stay calm amidst the chaos. I know that I can become Spaz-Girl…the goal is to keep Spaz-Girl away during the entire race.