Laboring Labor Day

This morning I competed in the Blackland Triathlon in Plano. This was the longest distance sprint tri I have done so far. I didn't train for it but decided to do it on general fitness since it was in Plano. There was a youth tri before the adult one so we didn't start until 8:45. It was very nice to have a late start because Adam was able to bring Maison, though the 8:45 start made it in the mid-90s when I got to the run portion which wasn't exactly fun for me.

The morning was hectic trying to get all my gear in the car and pack up everything Maison would need for the outing. We left 15 min later than I had planned. There was VERY LIMITED parking at the Plano Center because the youth tri was still in progress. We parked in the second to last row and I had to haul my bike, all my stuff, and Maison to Oak Point. When I got to transition there was little space to set up so that unnerved me a bit. I usually go early, stake my claim ideally on the end of my rack, and then just hang out until the race starts. Today I was very rushed; once I got my transition space set up it was time for the mandatory race meeting, then straight in to line up for the swim.

I was talking to the guy that was lined up in front of me. This was his 4th tri and he had done the same 2 others that I had done. While we were talking a guy behind us decided to tell us about 2 women who had collided in the pool last year. Apparently, one got disoriented and went under two lanes instead of one at the corner. She ended up swimming head on into another participant. She hit her so hard she knocked her unconscious. Of course they stopped the race, the medics came, etc. Ok, who on earth tells this to people standing in line about to jump into a pool with 600 people?

The swim was fine except I missed the stupid exit again! This is the second tri I've done that when the exit is a few feet before the end of the pool. I look down when I swim so I missed the ladder. They had the end roped off so you couldn't climb out on your own and I had to swim back. I got to the ladder at the same time as the guy behind me so I had to fight him for the ladder. I 'won' but banged up my knee in the process. To tell you the truth I didn't even notice until Adam asked me at the end why I was bleeding.

The bike and the run were both uneventful. Just wished I would have hurried a second here or a second there because I ended up placing 13th in my age group but missed getting in the top 10 by 1 hundredth of a second. Yep, that's right 1 hundredth of a second separated me and 4 people. So when I stopped to pick up a girl's race chip on the transition from swim to bike and a girl's race number at the beginning of the run I could have been number 9. See nice people do finish last. Ok, maybe not last but unlucky 13!

It's almost over:

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