Tri a Relay!

My first triathlon finish ('09)

The Tri for Sight in 2009 was my very first triathlon.  I became a triathlete thanks to the awesome coaches & support from Team in Training.  Although the first one was hard I knew the moment that I crossed the finish line I was hooked. 

In 2010 I did several sprints including my first open water triathlon.  This year I stepped it up the distance and I completed my first International Triathlon on August 6th.  Since this was my main focus I wanted Tri for Sight to be a fun race not to mention I was a little tired of the pool swim.  I still can't believe in just over 2 years I went from not being able to swim 3 strokes to preferring open water swims!  If I can do it, anyone can!

Nina's first triathlon finish ('10)

So enter the Relay.  After the Markey Tri I mentioned to my friend Nina that I was considering doing the Du this year.  She promptly suggested that we do the relay which I thought was a fabulous idea!  Nina was a competitive swimmer back in the day & completed her first triathlon, the TFS with TNT, in 2010.  I was all set to do the bike leg now we just needed to find a runner.   I immediately thought of Tonya.  She joined TNT in 2010 and completed the Rock n Roll Arizona marathon with Nina who did the half.  Tonya has mentioned several times to me that she wanted to give triathlon a shot but like me she isn't a swimmer.  I thought that this would be the perfect way to introduce her to triathlon without the pressure of actually doing the triathlon.   She immediately agreed to be our runner.  So now we were all set, everyone was going to do their favorite/strongest leg of the 2011 Tri for Sight.

Nina came up with the fabulous team name, Tres Chic.  Get it?  Kinda like Tri Chick!  That is exactly how she said it to me too since I am pretty dense sometimes.

Tres Chic at Packet Pick up

Tres Chic carbo loading, aka Pizza & Beer!

Tres Chic in transition

Since we didn't have much to setup in transition, we decided to meet at the Team in Training tent at 6AM.  We quickly got things setup.   The relay teams were racked right by the Bike In/Bike Out which was great.   We listened to the pre-race talk & then made our way to the pool.  We were number 142 which meant Nina would be the 142nd person into the pool and meant I would be out on the bike really early.  The first year I did this race I was 4th to last in the pool.  Last year was better but I was still pretty far back. 

A happy Nina out of the pool

I watched Nina start her swim & then made the 1/4 mile jog up to transition to get ready for the bike.  Nina completed the 800m swim in 16:57. Pretty darn good considering she hadn't swam in about a month partly due to her 2 week European vacation! We quickly swapped out the timing chip & I was off on the bike. 

I hadn't been on the bike since Lake Logan which was 4 weeks ago due to an groin issue.  I was also a little nervous about how it would ride since I had the cables replaced about 2 weeks ago but hadn't ridden it since getting it back.  I did put it on the trainer briefly Saturday morning to make sure it was shifting OK which it seemed to be doing.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to check out my computer on Saturday.  It was dead for the race so no cadence info for me.  I did remember to start my Garmin so I could at least see my average speed. 

I can't tell you how nice it was to start the bike leg early.  Usually, by the time I get on the bike the entire transition area is empty.  I was able to see all the leaders go by on the bike which was pretty cool.   Since I was out pretty early on the bike there were only a few people I could pass & I was passed by a few people.  There were 2 guys that I exited out of transition with & we passed each other several times on the course.  I could climb better than them but they would pass me back on the flats/down hills.  I think we passed each other at least 5 times.  They came up to me after the race & I found out they were a father/son team which I thought was really cool.

Me coming back in

I started my garmin after I mounted the bike so it is a little short of the actual time.  My official time was 1h4m12s for 18.9 miles although my Garmin said 19.0.  I did it 1.2 mph faster than last year. 

Tonya putting on the chip

I racked my bike & handed off the timing chip to Tonya who was ready to run. 



 

I wish I could be that happy when I run

In less than a minute Tonya was out on the run course.  We hung out in transition for awhile watching people come & go.  After awhile I decided to go wait for Tonya along the run course. 

Tonya's first Triathlon relay finish '11

After I saw her I headed back to the finish line.  Tonya ran the 4 miles in  41m53s. 

Tres Chic at the finish!

We hung out to watch the remaining athletes cross the finish line as well as hang out with our fellow Team in Training crew.  Somewhere around 10:30 they posted the results.  Our total time was 2h08m39s which was good enough for 3rd place Female Team!!  We were edged out of 2nd place by a fellow TNT female team by a mere 29 seconds but we were still stoked about placing 3rd!

Tres Chic with our 3rd place awards!

Triathlon relays are great way to introduce non-triathlete friends into the world of triathlon so consider signing up your friends to do a relay today!