Wandering Illustrator: Challenge Roth Training: Week 14

12 weeks to go.

Week 14 totals:
Swim: 3. 4000m, 2hr 3min
Bike: 2. 2hrs 20min, Saturday Ride: 26mi
Run: 3. 11mi, 1hr 58min
Strength: 1. 60min
Total time: 7hr 21min

Challenges:
Drove down to Mexico to do the Rocky Point Tri at the Las Palomas resort in Puerto Peñasco.

The winds and sea were ridiculous on race morning, resulting in huge surf and water conditions so dangerous that they downgraded the planned 1000m swim to a 300m "swim." We basically just thrashed/walked in waist-deep water while getting pummeled every few seconds by giant waves. This is also the only triathlon I've ever done where I've gotten kicked in the face during the swim. (The very next day the ocean was perfectly peaceful, of course. Harumph.)

I was disgruntled after that stupid "swim" and subsequent barefoot trek over tiny, sharp, painful rocks to T1, and so took my sweet-ass time in transition. I applied sunscreen, dutifully missing the same crescent of flesh near my shoulder blades that routinely gets fried during triathlons, and trotted out of transition probably close to last place. I did not care.

The official weather report for race day was wind speeds of 34 mph, gusting to 49 mph. Good God. We rode directly into this wind the entire way out on each of the three loops of the out & back bike course. On the positive side, this meant I spent 95% of my ride in the aero position and I managed to pass many, many people. On the negative side, it was brutal and I absolutely destroyed my hamstrings, which did not bode well for the awaiting run.

I finally made it to T2, and the woman next to me on the bike racks came in just after I did and said something to the effect of "Did you have fun out there?" "Nope." was the only thing I managed to say in reply.

And to complete the trifecta of complaining about this course, the run. was. ridiculous. It was entirely on the Las Palomas golf course. Now, I haven't been on a lot of golf courses in my life, but I never imagined that they would have such steep hills. Like "put your hands on your knees and hike up them" steep. Just continually, one after another. With maybe a minute or two of regular running, maybe a half mile or so on spongy golf turf, but then more steep, steep golf car(t? Which is it, Bea?) path hills. The only upside was that even though my legs were trashed from the bike, when it was possible to run I managed it just fine, usually at a sub-10 pace. Finished the run, collapsed onto the slip-n-slide, and immediately got a free beer.

Final thoughts: Race - awful. After-party - way fun, and obviously the only reason people do this race more than once.

Accomplishments:
Actually managed to finish that race solidly in the middle of the pack, which means I passed a veritable shit-ton of people on the bike (and a few on the run).

Surprises:
I've made a concerted effort to work on the "catch" phase of my swim stroke this past week, and it seems to be paying off. On Tuesday, I swam 400m in approximately 10:15. On Thursday, with some focused effort on my stroke, I swam 800m in about 19:45. Progress!

Bonus: