Skeese Greets Triathlon

The Tri Zones team at the Skeese Greets Triathon. Photo by Tom Marek

Saturday after Ingrid got into town, we went over to Lane 4 to get her packet for the Cap 2 K swim (she had an awesome swim on Sunday morning!), and I got a new swimsuit and goggles. Then Jeff, Ingrid and I went to dinner at Chez Zee for dinner. I went to bed early since I was planning to leave home at 5am. When I got up Sunday morning, it was raining. I looked at the radar and it looked like it would probably stop. It rained all the way to the Texas Ski Ranch, but it stopped just after I got there.

Coach Tracy trying to make me look tall. Photo by Tom Marek

As soon as I got there there I saw Sarah G. and Tom and Carolyn were body marking. I racked my bike right next to Julie M. We had a Tri Zones team rack, which was a lot of fun. It was so much fun to see so many of my Tri Zones teammates before the race and to wish the beginners good luck, this was the very first triathlon for many of them!Some of the first time triathletes! Photo by Tom Marek

Me in transition
Coach Jen in transition
Sandra in transition
Julie M and I doing a swim warm up. Photo by Tim McDonald
Julie M and i at the swim start. Photo by Tim McDonald

Julie M. and I did a swim warm up, the water was a little dirty and mucky at the bottom, but the temperature was perfect. Desiree Ficker sang the National Anthem, who knew she could sing too! and then the first wave took off, I was in the second wave and lined up right at the front, I look over and right beside me was Desiree Ficker! I told her she did a great job singing and she said "oh thank you so much! That was WAY harder than racing" How often do you get to start a race right next to a world class professional triathlete!

I had a good swim, I really tried to focus on my technique and swimming strong vs. swimmng fast (with bad technique) and I feel like it worked well. Even though there were a lot of people in my wave, I felt like it was easy to find my own space in the water and I didn't really run into anyone and didn't really have anyone run into me either. My swim time was 8:02.

The pavement from the swim to transition was really wet from the rain, and it was super slick, so I walked from the swim to transition, my transition was pretty long at 3:43. I got out on the bike course and quickly realized that even though a few people had told me the bike course was "mostly flat" it was pretty hilly by my standards. The hills were all doable, nothing as steep as at Decker, but there were definitely some fairly long tough hills. It was a fun bike ride, I had fun seeing so many Tri Zoners out there. Going up a hill, someone passed me and said "nice job", I replied breathlessly "thanks, you too" then I realized it was Coach Tracy! All of a sudden I wasn't so out of breath! "hey! I didn't realize that was you!" She said something about not recognizing me at first and that I was doing great as she powered by me up the hill. It's amazing how seeing someone you know can give you a boost of energy! I finished the bike in 47:31, a little slower than I'd wanted, but I was also expecting a "mostly flat" course. As I came in to transition, I heard Tom yell my name, as usual Tom and Carolyn were all over the place taking pictures! Thanks so much guys!

Photo by Tom Marek
finishing the bike, it looks like I'm smiling pretty for the camera, but I didn't see Tom at all, just heard him yell my name, he's just that good a photographer and caught me at the right moment!
Photo by Tom Marek
A few of the awesome Tri Zones volunteers Coach Gina, Coach Cindy, Little Pam and Vickie

In T2, I saw Sandra and we left transition at the same time and she said, "great! now we can run together". T2 was 1:33. Sandra and I ran together a lot during half marathon training. We ran the first mile together and saw lots of Tri Zoners heading back for the finish, we high fived Coach Tracy, Coach Jen, Julie and a few others. At the turnaround, I tried to get a cup of water, but ended up with Powerade, I never drink powerade, I thought about turning around and getting water, but I just drank a little of the powerade, I slowed down enough during this that Sandra got a little ahead of me, I thought about really trying to catch her, but I knew we still had a hill to run up at the end and I was already working pretty hard, plus Sandra is usually a little faster than me. I saw lots of the Tri Zones beginners going out on the run as I was coming in, I high fived a few, and cheered them on! As I came back toward the finish, I saw Sarah G. and high fived Kendra. My run was 20:03.

Almost finished. Photo by Tom Marek

I had a great race and a lot of fun! I ended up finishing in 1:20:53. Photo by Tom Marek
After I finished a few of us walked out a little way to cheer for the rest of the Tri Zoners. Coach Jen won her age group, Jody won her age group, and I think a couple of other Tri Zoners placed in their age groups.
Jody with her first place award. Photo by Tom Marek
Coach Jen accepting her first place award