I'm tired.

I initially signed up for Lavaman over in Kona, a great olympic distance race that was also the Best of the US qualifier for our state.. but I had too much going on here to get away, so Oahu it was for the weekend. Saturday morning I tested out my very bright pink cycling/run vest.. stuffed the pockets with the camera, larabar, cap, goggles and sunglasses and it zipped right up. And it didn't even make my ass look big (my ass, however, may have made my ass look big, but that is not one of my big concerns in life). It seems like the wind has been howling here forever.. look at the windward side below me, all white and choppy:

We rode 30 mi and planned to throw a swim in the middle, but that mission was aborted due to cold ocean.  I think the paddleboarding in the whipping wind was every bit as cold in the end. This is what it looks like when I get dropped off of Waikiki, with Katherine disappearing into the distance:

Sunday morning, the ride to the sprint tri was nearly as long as the race itself and I was tempted to sleep through it, but Derek was driving and it's hard to back out on someone when they're in the driveway ready to roll. So off we went to the Waterfront at Puuloa for the first sprint of the season. It was a 750 swim, 20k bike, 3.6 mile run. The swim may have been a wee bit short (or a lot, whatever) and I tried to hang onto Michelle and Stefan, but they pulled away. I was out third and first out onto the bike, after slipping and eating it on a corner in transition. Michelle flew by while I fiddled with my shoes.  Michelle, 5 months post-baby, was just behind the whole way, holding the same pace and pushing me to go go go. We worked through the men and Ewa Beach and came back into transition in 29 minutes. And then it was on to the good part. The run was long - 3.8 miles, if one were really really anal and, um, mapped it or something, and flat and quick. I ran 24:06 and finally broke out of the 6:30 rut with 6:17/mi. And that includes the time spent running back for my chip when it jumped off my leg. I finished in 1:03, first girl, sixth human. 

Michelle and I, post-race. Excuse the fashion tragedy, but with bangs, it's blow dry em or hide em.

It's funny the things we care about after. I couldn't tell you what my swim or bike pace was, but I know my run pace, and I know my transitions were 23 and 25 seconds.. I am all about keeping it simple in transition.. transition is free time!

My friend Derek did his first tri in 1:15, an awesome 15 minutes faster than he had planned on. And he puked on the run, which I think is the sign of a well-raced sprint triathlon. Some photos:

excited to swim, as always:

An unusual finish.. timing chip in hand, making sure it beeps!

The podium!

Off to San Diego on Thursday.. if I can get all my work done first. Half-ironmans don't hurt as much as sprints, do they?