Chain of Lakes Race Report!

Last Saturday was my first triathlon of the season. First triathlon since Ironman in fact! The timing of this race couldn't have been worse for me and all I had going on last week, but as much as I wanted to skip it, I made the drive to Alexandria, MN and gave it a go.

It was a perfect morning for a race. A bit damp out, but no rain during the race, just some sprinkles before to get the streets wet. The swim is in the Discovery Middle School pool which is nice since good weather is never a guarantee in central MN in early May for an open water swim. In order to get your lane assignment you give them your predicted swim time for 600 yards. I have been swimming semi-decent lately, so I thought an 8:10-8:20 sounded good. Once we took off, half way down the pool I knew I was in trouble. My arms were SO sore!

The days prior to this race I had to MOVE all of my furniture out of the downstairs of my house as I was getting new carpet installed. This included some of the heaviest pieces I've ever owned, like my dining room table, and entertainment center. I had asked a friend to come and help, but I just hate bothering people so I managed to get everything moved one way or another (and was pretty proud of myself after the fact!)

Friday was all around busy with the carpet installers, a handyman that was replacing the wood trim on the garage and the soffits on my house, then making an IKEA trip to buy some new (also super heavy!!) furniture. Once the installers were done I had to move everything back. I didn't get in a pre-race workout on Friday (which would have warned me about the arm soreness) because I had too much going on with the workers being here and the moving that I ran out of time.

Nonetheless, I was disheartened from the get go, once I realized how sore my arms were. I had done really well at this race last year, so was pretty upset I wasn't going to improve on last year's time. I ended up doing the swim in 9:16. Whoops and UGH. Once I got on the bike I just felt drained, but I still tried to push it. The bike went decent, it was similar to last year's time. Then came the run. I felt fine on the run, but I was moving in slow motion. I tried to speed up, but just couldn't. It felt like one of those dreams where you are running but not getting anywhere. Or maybe I'm the only one to ever have that dream?? :)

Overall, I came in 7th in the 30-39 age group and was 13th female. My time was over a minute slower than last year's time. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself, but it was just a bummer of a day. I am happy I showed up and did the race though! There are lots of other races to look ahead to.

In other race news, the TC 1 Mile was a race FAIL this week. I had signed up, but after Saturday's race I got sick. It came on full force Sunday; with horrible congestion, sinus and ear issues, and has hung on all week. That race always makes me cough for days after so I didn't think it'd be worth it in my current condition.

I did start my new job this week! With bad always comes good, so regardless of my sniffles and feeling icky this week, I really enjoyed my first week at General Mills! :)