I went to a triathlon clinic last evening, primarily to do a long swim in open water. I am soooo glad I went. I would have been completely clueless the day of the race had I not gone to this. We started with some nutrition information (all of which I already know thanks to FT!) Then we did a mass start (about 25 of us) and swam out about 150m and back 2X..so about 600m. It was a lot harder than I thought, certainly harder than swimming lengths of the pool, but I managed to come in 3rd! We then ran from the water to our bikes for a 4km ride. It took me way to long to pull my shorts, shirt and shoes on. I was one of the last to leave the transition zone. Next time I'll wear my running shorts swimming, not bother with a shirt and make sure I have easy socks to pull on. I was able to pass many of the riders once I got going, so I made up some time--nice to have a fast bike!! Next was the transition from cycling to running. This was fairly easy, with no clothing changes needed, and my legs weren't too rubbery to start--thanks to circuit training at gym. We only ran about 1km, but we biked again, ran again and then biked one more time---phew...but the transition practice was very benificial, i learned alot!

This was a real eye opener and was the motivation i needed to up my training. My running is my weakest point, for sure. So i need to do more HIIT, hill training and some BRIC workouts (Bike/run/intervals). I also drove the bike course and it is pretty hilly-alot of long low grade climbs-, so I'll have to practice that too.

The good news is that I survived and was pretty much in the lead of the pack (except for the running /; ) They are predicting about 150 competitors and i hope to finish in the top 10 for my age group....so I better get training!!

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