Saturday June 4th I did the Milkman Triathlon in Dexter, NM. This is the 3rd time I've done this race and I improved my overall time by 17 minutes over last year and 46 minutes better than the first time I did the race. Of course the first time I did the race I fell of the bike (don't know how or why--can't remember), knocked myself unconscious, cracked my helmet, and finished the race with a whale of a headache. I didn't have sense enough to know that a concussion might be a good reason to DNF. I'm not even sure I knew what DNF stood for since that was my second triathlon.
Saturday proved to be a windy time on the bike with gusts in the 20s, but that was nice on the run since the temps were already HOT by the time we hit the trail. The run is pretty because it is in the desert through the fish hatchery, but the salt cedars were in full bloom, so my asthma was aggressive, so the run was slower than usual, but still good enough. I had my inhaler with me, so I was okay, but the old asthma elephant crushing my chest gets old pretty fast on the run.
One of my favorite parts of the Milkman is that they give out HoneyMilk, and that is the #1 protein drink of all time. I love the Strawberry/Banana Light, Coffee Light, and the Chocolate Light. There is no way to go wrong with a 150 calorie protein drink that has 20 grams of yummy protein. My least favorite part is swimming in what GeekGirl affectionately calls the "Duck Toilet". Lake Van is disgusting, however if you are intimidated by an open water swim, this is your race. You can own this race. If you get scared, you just stand up and you are fine. Of course you are standing in duck doo and grass, but you are standing. I try not to think about the duck doo getting into my nose, my eyes, my mouth, etc. Yeah. It is like swimming in a stock tank and I just remind myself that is how I learned to swim, so it can't be worse than that, so get over it.
My goal for this race had been to cut 20 minutes off the time, so I was okay with a 17 minute improvement. Twelve minutes of the improvement came on the bike, five on the run, and one came on the swim. I need to improve on my transition time because I evidently wasted a ton of time there that I can get rid of by just making some changes. I need to give up on wearing gloves, for example. I came in ahead of three females and five males this year; much better than in 2009 when I was announced as, "And here comes our LAST triathlete of 2009, Patricia Miller of Fort Sumner." Yeah, thanks for the announcement of my shame and ignominy.
I will be racing for the next two weekends: the Billy the Kid Tombstone Triathlon at Fort Sumner, NM this weekend and the Chick-fil-a Triathlon in Amarillo, TX on the 18th. The Tombstone Tri will have a 400 meter swim, a 15 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. The bike and run will have some hill; the swim will be flat :-)
I do have to say the new bike the one I love the best gave me as a 32nd anniversary present is a real treat. I decided to name my bike Grace because she covers a multitude of biking sins and I look much better with her than without her. I am loving that bike. I only hoped that a tri specific bike would make this much difference in the way I felt on the ride; it is such a sweet difference.
Patricia
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