Did someone say that the water is chilly?

Because seriously... didn't notice.

BTers in the water - are we ready? It IS cold you know!

Today myself and 7 other BTers met up in Lansing at Hawk Island to do a dry run of the Hawk Island Triathlon. Again, I am not doing that tri, but I need all the open water practice I can get.

Yeah, we were ready!

Yeah, honestly the water was chilly, but one I dove in, it was in the bag. I was able to jump in and start free style right away. It was a little difficult to breathe at points because the water temps took the air out of your lungs, but today on the swim I did learn a few things.

1. Enter the water before the swim and let the water fill into your wetsuit to help warm you up.

2. Make sure to body glide the hell outta your calves (yeah for muscular calves!)

3. SPOT and SIGHT like it is your job.

All of a sudden mid-swim I popped my head up to see where I was, and low and behold I was in the middle of the swimming area - I had cut a 45* line from where I was supposed to go! I will be practicing sighting a lot in the pool and at the lake.

Swim to bike transition I learned a few things too:

Jaclyn and Joanne transitioning from swim to bike.

1. Have the Garmin all set up.

2. Attack the wetstuit removal process more as folding and peeling versus pulling and struggling.

3. Bring a small towel and water bowl for cleaning off feet - AA is dirrrrty.

The bike ride was pretty normal all around - I am feeling stronger!

Melissa ready for the ride

I spent a lot of time in aero, and my shifting is becoming more stable. Nutrition was spot on as far as I could tell. No issues on the bike - averaged just shy of 15mph as I decided to stay at the rear to make sure that we didn't drop anyone. I know that I could have average 16mph out there as there are no real hills to speak of. My goal for AA is to average 15mph out there. I will be happy with that!

Now on the run, I did learn two things:

1. Body glide the arms where they may run against the tri top.

2. SLOW the heck down. I started out at a... are you ready for this?... a SUB 9 MINUTE MILE PACE.

Yeah. Well then I realized that holy cow, I need to slow down. So I did, just not slow enough. I hung with the speedies for about a half of a mile, then backed off a bit but it was too late. Calf cramps followed immediately by shin splints. I ended up doing the first mile in 10:34. Mile 2 I had to stop to stretch and then find the group. Joanne stayed with me and then we started running again, this time at just under an 11 minute mile pace. I average 11:57 for that mile. That was with walking for a good bit so I am pretty happy.

At the end of the day I had completed an open water swim, rode my bike, and ran nearly 3 miles. Small distances, but I did them all with a smile on my face (with the exception of the whole calf cramping/shin splints fiasco).

The result of this day has been that my confidence about Ann Arbor has increased greatly. I have two more open water swims planned, and may be able to pull off one or two more before the big show in two weekends.

Have a happy and safe Holiday Weekend all!

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