Shelbyville Tri Series - Race #1 Recap

The first race of this series was supposed to be last Sunday.  It was rescheduled to today since it still looked like this around town.....

UK Arboretum

This week wasn't any better since it started raining/sleeting around 6AM.  It was 33F when I left Lexington at 6:30AM & raining but by the time I got to Frankfort 30 minutes later it was 28F and sleeting.  

Just passed the Kentucky river on I-64 I passed through what would eventually be an 8-9 car accident scene due to black ice.  When I went through there were 3 cars on the side of the road.  They closed I-64 shortly after.  Below is a photo of my friend Audrey's car & on the right side of the road is her bike. :-(  She went through the area a few minutes after I did and slid off the road.  Another car later came through & hit the back of her car which had her bike on it.   Fortunately she is OK but her bike and car are not.

From WKYT Facebook Page

When I got to Clear Creek Park in Shelbyville the parking lot was covered in ice.   The temperature was still around 30F & sleeting.  It wasn't boding well for a triathlon.   I found Kimberly when I went inside to check things out.  She went through Frankfort before me and said her truck was sliding all over.  I didn't notice any slip on my drive but I also took my foot off the gas when I saw the car lights facing me & coasted through this area.  So far, I am really happy with my Subaru in this crappy weather.

Back to the Triathlon.  The first race of the series is a reverse triathlon, eg. Run, Bike, Swim.  The distances increase for each race in the series.  This first one was a 3K Run, 6 mile Bike & a 400 yard Swim.  Shortly before 8AM the race director called off the bike so now we were left with a Dash & Splash.

The race started shortly after 8:30AM.   The temperature warmed up enough for it to be a steady rain instead of sleet but the path was slushy.  Once they cancelled the bike I changed into my swim tights.  I got these at Athleta thinking they would be good in events like this as well as kayaking.  I wore my tri top underneath a couple of thin tops along with gloves & an ear muff.  It was only a 3K and a lot of folks were only in their tri kits.  Hard core I say!

Run Time: 18m08s

No bike meant the transition was inside by the pool.  For some reason I didn't get a T1 time only a Run & Swim time.

Since I was 4th to last in the pool I had clear water the entire way.  Thankfully I didn't have any issues with my googles today.  The swim tights were OK.   I had them pulled up when I got in the pool.  When I pushed off they slid down a little.  Thankfully they settled there but there were a few moments that I thought I would be baring my bum to all.  About halfway through the swim I got hot with them on.  They were perfect on the run though.

T1 & Swim Time: 11m03s

From Shelbyville Triathlon Facebook Page

Total Time: 29m12s

The location is really nice because of the shower facilities post race.   Immediately after the swim I jumped in the shower.  When I was getting ready I heard the announcers start the awards.  I couldn't tell where they were when I walked out but then heard them say Women's 45-49 & thought 'oh well, I missed my age group'.  I then heard my name called out and remembered I aged up this year.  Doh!  Even though my birthday isn't until December USAT uses your age on 12/31 as the age group for the entire year.  I ended up winning my age group. Never mind I was the only one in my age group!  Considering 46 folks showed up today & only 8 of them were women pretty much everyone won an award for showing up.  The awards were a multi tool for your bike which was very cool.

Apparently I was a little excited to win...

From Headfirst website

Kimberly & Me Post Awards

Shirt & Award

Every year I say I am going to do this series but I usually bail because of the weather.  This year I finally bit the bullet & signed up for the series.  Had I known the roads were so icy I wouldn't have risked the hour drive.  I am glad they cancelled the bike but it really did seem crazy to spend 2 hours in the car for a 29 minute race and a garbage bag full of wet gear.  Oh well, this will be chalked up to one of those races you never, ever forget!

The next race in the series is in 3 weeks.  Hopefully the weather gods will be kinder to us.

How many days until Spring???