1:48:31

So I sucked it up and did the run during the Inaugural Ocean City NJ Tri yesterday, and suprisingly, I felt ok during it. In fact, I only walked for a minute or so, but despite that the run still took 40 minutes! That is 3 minutes slower than I did at Steelman, and I walked a significant portion of that one...I swear that the run was longer than 3.1 (yes, Im trying to make myself feel better), and it was on sand. I did almost make my goal of running the whole thing, however, despite injury, and that I feel really good about.

I also was impressed that I did the swim, an OCEAN swim, no less, in 11:23. It was .35 miles, approx 600 meters ...actually exactly 563.27 meters, I just checked (22.5 laps in my local Y pool), but considering I was afraid of the ocean before yesterday, that makes me extremely happy. I did not freak out. YAY me!

And Ken would be proud, when I found myself only turning to the right, I made a point of looking to the invisible paddle in the water on the left and got my body to start being more streamlined in the water. Again, YAY! I was actually relaxed enough in the water to start bringing my drills into play.

It was a fun day, despite my concerns, and the long drive. The bike course had views of the bay, the water was beautiful and there were only a few big waves, and it was really nice to see the ocean during the run. Everytime I thought about how much the run sucked, I would look at the ocean and take in my surroundings, and I was better. And the comraderie of my fellow slower tri buddies was great, we were very supportive during the run.

My friend Todd did great despite his downplaying it. He beat me in all three events, and I told him he would...overall he finished 00:07:21 faster that me.

Here are my results:

KELLY SCOTTI NEW BRITAIN PA 37 F 461
SwPl Swim Pace T1Pl T1 BkPL Bike MPH T2PL T2 RnPl Run Pace Finish
147 11:23 1:55 103 2:45 148 51:03 15.9 156 2:36 158 40:46 13:09 1:48:31

It all becomes clear

So I was swimming at Fanny Chapman tonight, remembering my swim coach Ken's instruction to me during our first lesson last week: you want to make yourself as streamlined and balanced as possible, so much so that you are flat on the water, and your strokes will become more efficient with less effort. And they were...in fact, the more I relaxed, let my head drop in the water, had my hands enter in about 5 inches down, and tried to grab the invisible stick in front of me (he had me practice with a real one), the better I swam and the less effort I had to exert. The same workout I normally do was easier tonight than it has been in a while. I still haven't mastered the breathing part of this new technique, but I did learn a lesson: I don't always need to work my hardest to get a good result. If I have the right technique, the right fuel, the right attitude, everything I do will get easier. Despite what I constantly tell myself, everything doesn't have to be a struggle.

Funny too, I finally decided to go forward and do an aquathon for the Ocean City tri...heeding the advice of my chiropractor...and then my friend Todd said he might as well do the sprint now too, and I ran/walked today for the first time in a week or so, and I did not feel pain...it felt good. Guess I was so stressed about the run next month that it was painful just thinking about it and that translated into more pain in my training. Letting go and deciding I could go easy on myself allowed me to release that stress, and perhaps made for a better workout today...Ill let you know what happens on Wed when I try to run again.

Zen and the art of triathlon. I love when all becomes clear.