Polar Bear triathlon & the Jingle Bell triathlon race reports

The start of the Polar Bear triathlon was 20 degrees. This was a reverse triathlon so the run was first. Most people at this race were bundled up like Eskimos. I chose to race with the bare minimum to save time in transition. I wore gloves, ear muffs, cycling pants, & a sleeveless triathlon shirt. That's right; I wore a sleeveless light weight triathlon shirt. I was the only one who didn't have on heavy duty long sleeve shirts & jackets:)



As usual my adrenalin takes over at the start & I jumped off the start line like I was shot out of a cannon. I got control of myself by the half mile mark of the run & settle into a more maintainable pace. Usually at that point is when the really fast triathletes pass me. That didn't happen that day. By the 1 mile mark I was still in the top 8 & by the end of the 5K run I was in 11th.



I was still somewhat surprised when I entered T-1 that most of the bikes were still racked. That means they were still on the run course, & most importantly they were still behind me! I had a fast transition time & passed 1 person before we got out onto the run course, which put me in 10th place overall. I felt great about my placing so far because I have been really working on my cycling these last few months. That should be my strength that day. It was a 40 kilometer bike (approximately 25.5 miles) & so cold on the course my Gatorade bottle froze to the point where I couldn't get any fluid out! On the bike course one person named Bobby passed me, but more importantly I passed 5! I got off the bike in 6th place.



Bobby was my closest competitor in front of me; he was over 2 minutes ahead of me going into T-2. I knew since I raced with so few clothes on I'd make up a lot of time in T-2 compared to everyone else who had on a lot of cold weather gear. I jumped into the pool about 25 meters behind Bobby, having made up about a minute & a half in T-2. It was a battle in the pool, but at the 200 meter mark I passed Bobby. I was able to maintain a fast enough of a swim to prevent anyone else from passing me & finishing 5th place overall & 1st place in the 30-34 age group.



The next day was the Jingle Bell triathlon. I'll save you the gory details. Essentially my legs were trashed from the race the day before. I had what felt like a really slow race, but ended up gut checking the 2nd half of the bike to pull myself into 31st place overall. In the water I got really aggressive & used my heavier frame to take control & make up a lot of time. I passed 6 people in the 400 meter swim & placed 25th overall.



Finishing in 5th overall, 1st AG in the Polar Bear & 25th overall & 3rd place AG for the Jingle Bell when my legs were fatigued was even better than I had hoped. That gives me a 10 point & an 8th place finish for the South West Challenge Series. 18 points now has me in first place in the 35-39 Age Group. There are some REALLY fast 35-39's, so we'll see if I can hold onto the top spot in the series. I'll keep you updated :)