Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

Well we had our run-through today. None of my fears came to pass (see previous entry) but there were other... complications.

First the swim. I tried the new long-sleeve shirt and I have to say, it didn't suck. (Thats high praise from me.) Actually, I didn't feel encumbered by it at all. I still feel I look a little silly in it, but as far as I know there aren't any fashion awards being given out, so it may be a keeper. I wasn't very tired, so I was feeling really good about the swim. Until I got home. I had never timed our swims before so I had no sense regarding how long they took. I timed it today, and we pretty much all finished between 16-20 minutes. That seemed very fast to me, and it turns out if those were are real times we all pretty much would have been in the Top Ten finishing times in last year's triathlon. I did some google mapping and it looks like we only did 3/10 - 4/10 of a mile, not the full half. Sorry guys.

Next up was the bike ride. As everyone was getting ready I realized that I was missing the bolt that holds the front tire to the bike. Now for those of you who are not cyclists, you should know that having the wheels stay attached to the bike is an important part of routine bicycle maintainence. The group rode off without me as I tore my car apart looking for the bolt. A few minutes later I discover that the bolt had rolled underneath my car, so I was able to do the ride. I never caught up with the group of course, but at least I got the biking in.

Then there was the run. Ah, the run. How can I put it... I had my ass handed to me. Well, not exactly "handed" - it was more like my ass was flung across the room and smacked me upside the head. It was awful. For starters, we began around 11:30, so it was hot. The first two miles were fair - I wasn't making great time but at least I was running. Then a little after that I got this message from my body:

GAME OVER. PLEASE INSERT 25 CARBS TO CONTINUE.
"I don't have anything to give you."
PLEASE INSERT 25 CARBS TO CONTINUE.
"How about you start a tab for me? You know I'm good for it."
PLEASE INSERT 25 CARBS TO CONTINUE.
"Look, tell you what. Just get me back to the car. Then I'll give you any food you want. No matter how greasy or fatty or sugary, I'll supersize it for you."
I'M SORRY. THIS RUN HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED.

And that was that. Just couldn't run any more. I obviously did make it back to the car with a bit of walking and jogging, but it was just miserable. For a while after the run, I thought I was going to throw up. Even on the drivve home I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I'm beginning to think that a "transition bag" is a tool to help transition the contents of your stomach from inside your body to the outside world.

So the day was more of a reality-check than a confidence booster. I thought I was ready to complete the tri, but I'm not quite there yet. It just really emphasizes the importance of doing the brick workouts.