Dress Rehearsal

Yesterday was indeed a dress rehearsal of sorts. KC and I and our fabulous swim coach Jess went down to Cedar Lake for a mini-miniathlon. It started off as a very strange experience--the environment at the beach where we started was almost too hipster to breathe. Also, there is a lifeguard on duty Thursday through Sunday, so we had to sneak off to the side and swim out through a bunch of weeds so we wouldn't get busted for leaving the tiny roped-in swim area.

We swam maybe a third of a mile or something--definitely less than half a mile, but out a bit and back. The actual triathlon (which is tomorrow, by the way!) is a straight shot across the lake. That will be nice, at least for me. KC's natural swim stroke would have him swimming in large clockwise circles. In the lakes, at least, I follow so close behind Jess that I can always see her feet, and that keeps me going straight (and not panicking that I am left alone to die in the middle of some gross lake). Hopefully in a group I'll be able to keep a relatively direct route across the lake.

So after our little swim, we ran up the beach to our waiting clothes and threw them on. Do you know how hard it is to get shoes and socks on while drying off wet sandy feet? There was definitely a lot of sand inside of my socks. I hate sand inside my socks. Oh well, at least I know what I'm getting myself into. I was able to pull on my tanktop pretty easily, so I may just throw it on over my suit then, rather than waiting until after the bike ride. Who knows. Anyhow, we biked off along the Greenway for a few miles, just to get a feel of the transition from swim to bike. I think tomorrow that transition will be a bit more harried--running up from the lake to the transition area with the bikes. The bike ride itself felt really good though. My friend Jordan helped me tune up my bike a bit on Wednesday--he removed the rack on the back and tightened my rear brake, and took the whole thing out for a spin to make sure everything felt right.

For our final leg, we dropped off our bikes in the van we drove, then ran off to Lake Calhoun. We ran a little bit around Lake Calhoun but mostly around Lake of the Isles. The run is now the part that I'm most worried about. I think the big issue yesterday was that it was pretty hot and muggy and I got really dehydrated. I forgot to drink right after the swim, and I don't have enough coordination to reach down and grab my water bottle while actually biking. I'm going to take my bike out this afternoon and practice that, because it'd be really good to be able to drink during that bike ride. Otherwise I'll be hurting a lot. Also, KC just took off at the beginning of the run, so I felt like I was dragging behind. I need to remember that it takes me a little while to get into the feel of things with running. The triathlon tomorrow has an out-and-back run, so we'll probably have fans at the beginning and end of the run--plus I'll know to pace myself for the first half, grab a drink at the water station on the far end, and then kick things up a notch for the last mile and a half.

So that's it, as far as my preparations go! (Aside from, hopefully, figuring out how to multitask with the bike and the water this afternoon!) KC and I will be heading out bright and early tomorrow morning--he's picking me up at 5.45am! Ugh. Early to bed tonight, that's for sure! There are 11 heats, so maybe 30 people or so per heat, with about 3 minutes between heats. KC is in heat #3 and I am in heat #8. The Main Event begins at 8.00am, so I will be starting around 8.24am; so I can hope to be done around 10.00am! I wonder if that guess is close at all. I guess rain or shine this thing's going to happen; they'll delay for lightning if necessary but otherwise we're triathloning no matter what! I am pretty excited--check back Monday for the full report!