oregon adventures

Friday, April 24, 2009

Oregon Masters Swim Meet & Beaver Freezer Triathlon


Last weekend I drove down to Bend and did my first swim meet. What a blast! Got there on Friday and signed in for the 1650 yard swim. I asked the girl if I had time to go and come back and she said "sure they haven't posted the start times yet." I didn't know how meets worked and didn't know that as soon as the sign in ends they post the start times and start no delays. I drove back to the hotel and unloaded my bike and got lost going back to the pool and walked in and saw my name on the scoreboard and Mikita was swimming two lanes from where I was supposed to be! They wouldn't let me swim a later heat, so Friday and my 1650 swim were shot. The next day I did a 50 yard freestyle (34 seconds) and 200 yard free (2:44.61) and a 50 yard backstroke (57.42 my first backstroke swim for time). Did a 4-person relay freestyle and I led off. Dove in and my goggles came off- I have contacts- so I swam with my head up and out of the water for 25, fixed my goggles and finished. Naturally, we finished last in the relay. Sunday I wore my glasses instead of the contacts and met Mikita and got a picture with her. Swam the 500 yard and was in a lane beside Bob C and his wife coach Denise. Bob and I battled the whole way and at the last 25 I sprinted all out and beat Bob by one second for 3rd in my age group with a 7:32.25. Mikita took a picture of me starting the 500 yard swim (lane 3). Swam the hundred and another relay. Just a fun meet. Saturday I was done early and did a 20 mile bike ride up Awbrey Butte and saw a road called Starview Rd, so went down that one and saw my dream house, very nice. Then ran 4.3 miles along the river in the Old Mill District- very pretty.
Early April I did the Beaver Freezer sprint triathlon in Corvallis. Drove down by myself. Natalie dumped me back in Feb, but I had already paid for her to do the Beaver Freezer. She rode in the team van and refused to even talk to me at American Dream Pizza. For the race it was blue sky, but 32 degrees. Luckily it was a pool swim. I was one of the last waves, so by the time I got to the bike it had warmed up a lot. Swam with Julie and Ruth Ann in my lane and we switched at the hundred to draft, but the other person in the lane got in between and messed us up, so I just swam and did a 7:58. Got on the bike with my new aerohelmet and zoomed along with a 20 or so average and then to the run where I was anaerobic the whole time- at one point Sarah said "don't die before you finish" because I was gasping so hard as I passed her. Did a 7:48 pace for the run. Finished at 1:12:29 about a minute slower than last year.
Last year I got third, this year seventh for my age group. Julie got second female overall. Coach Denise won her age group. As I crossed the finish line Natalie was waiting and gave me a big hug, but still wouldn't talk to me. I also paid for her for the 70.3 at Boise in June- oh well. On the drive home I saw a sign for Ankeny Hill Winery and stopped there. I was the only customer, so I talked to the owners for a bit and met the dog Hershey who has a Pinot Noir named for him.