LECHTANSKI.NET

Last Saturday, me and about 150 close friends snuck out to Lake Samish for a sprint triathlon. It could not have been a nicer day. There was a 10 o’clock start, which is kind of late for a race, and by then it was on the way to being the hottest day of the year.

It was the first time I’d done a sprint triathlon and I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. I might have been a little cocky having done Alcatraz in June, because I didn’t really go for a bike ride OR a swim until two weeks before this race. But I thought: This is a sprint. 800-meter swim, 15-mile bike ride and a 5K run. Taking such a long break from cycling and swimming would mean I was just well rested…

Not so much. I did the swim in 20 minutes. That’s pretty slow. I went without the wet suit for this event, well, because the water was so warm and my transition to the bike would be less cumbersome. I killed it cycling 15 miles in 46 minutes. I felt very strong on the bike. But then I was beat coming off the bike. The juice just wasn’t there. I ran nine-minute miles for the 5K. That’s at least a minute off my race pace. End time: 1:36:39.9

The event was a fundraiser for the Lake Samish fire department, and extremely well organized, especially since this was the first year for the event. I’m glad we have good local events in which to participate. Hopefully we’ll have two or three more next year!