Barbara's road to Ironman and other adventures

The diary and photo log of Barbara's Great Adventures on the Road to Ironman Canada 2006.

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Burrrrr....Practice Tri



This morning at 7:15 am I was on Treasure Island setting up my transition area. The transition area is where you layout/set up all the gear required for the event. As you can see triathlons require a lot of gear!!! Wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, body glide, towels (2), one water bottle to rinse off your feet, bike, helmet, biking shoes, 2 water bottles for you bike, sunglasses, socks, nutrition, arm & leg warmers, jacket, running shoes, visor. Some people I know like the guy behind me (and Jim), really know how to condense to just the very basics. Me. I somehow brought everything, except the kitchen sink and since I had the room to spread it all out. I did. What the heck, during a "real" event, this isn't an option. Then we are packed like sardines.




[Right] The information/food booth. Staffed by all our coaches and mentors.








[Left] Coach Wayne giving us our instructions for the day.
'Ok team today we're going to....
Swim in the cove 950 yards, bike 12 miles, and run 3 miles. Now you have 7 minutes before we head over to the cove. Not 10 minutes..." Coach Wayne is very good with keeping us on time. I hope to learn this skill set over the course of training.


The team heading down towards the water's edge.

Burrrrr.....the water was extremely cold!!! When I put my face in the water to start the race. It felt like dunking my face in a bucket of ice. But it didn't slow me down. I came in 4th, out of 65 swimmers today. Woo Hoo!!! Now the bike portion was a completely different story. I was soooo slow, everyone was passing me (later on I learned my back brake was rubbing the entire time! call me Lance, but it's true)

Next the run....my feet were still frozen, but I kept moving one foot in front of the other. Finished the run with an ok time of a 10 minute mile.





Here's a different view of the cove I swam in. The swim course was just left of the boats. Now for the story as to how I got this great shot. The Bay Bridge was shut down for about a half-hour due to police activity. A package was found on the bridge near Treasure Island, and it had to be removed. So I made the most of the situation, and for the first time in my life, I walked on the Bay Bridge and took pictures. This is one of them. As is the picture of my car (white w/bike on top, no driver) and the others cars parked on the bridge.



Wow! What a Sunday morning.

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