Time to Read: ~2 minTraining
This was my third time doing the Cayuga Lake Triathlon (Sprint Distance). I didn’t train well for it because my focus was the Wineglass Marathon. However, I did participate in the training ride and run organized by the Ithaca Triathlon Club and had a great morning ride/run with Brenda Michaud and Michael Boggs shortly before the race. I made time to swim during the summer, both in the pool and in the lake, and worked on building up distance in the pool. My goal was to swim the entire course freestyle and not to have a panic attack about fish and other things in the water.
Race Day
It was a chilly morning. I was down at the lake for the concert in the park the night before and was panicking about the cold weather forecast. Brenda reminded me that we can’t control the weather and I realized I needed to relax. The morning of, Brenda suggested that I take a few minutes to warm-up in the water and swim a short distance. I did, and this calmed my nerves and reminded me that I could do this.
The swim went well. I did accomplish my goal (no panic attack and full freestyle) but I was not fast. In fact, my time was slower than the first year I participated. That year I did a mix of breath stroke and back stroke but was freaked out the entire time.
I ran out of the water and into the transition area. After a pretty quick transition I hopped onto my bike. I was hungry. I struggled to get my honey stingers out of my pocket. The ride was uneventful but disappointing. My times during practice were stronger, and my stomach never did calm down.
The run was great! I was still struggling with being hungry, but figured the faster I run the faster I’ll be eating the boxed lunch from Wegmans! The water stops were energetic and I do love the out and back of this course. Another great part about the tri is that everyone’s age and race is marked on the back of a calf. So, whenever I saw someone in my age group participating in my race I tried just a little bit harder!
After the race we came home, showered quickly and did our laundry before heading off for a 2 week cross country trip to Oregon. We spent the first 5 hours talking about the race and being proud of ourselves. It was A LOT of fun!
Overall 1:51:51
Swim 26:02
T1 2:17
Bike 54:09
T2 2:15
Run 27:08
187/306
Official Results