TEL AVIV TRIATHLON
Sorry I haven't updated this for a while...but I've been busy doing absolutely nothing!!!!!!!!! It is sooo nice. Though not exactly true, since my last exam, I've been biking, and swimming, and organizing the house and cooking and doing stuff that is easy to put off during the busy school year.
Anyhow quick update on the Tel Aviv Triathlon. It was Alon's very first triathlon, though he has done lots of running races and a few duathlons. Swimming is not his strong point and he really only swam for 2 weeks prior to the race...as long as he doesn't drown he'll be ok! He banned me from talking about the race for the 2 days before. Anyhow, we were up bright and early at 4.30am on an already hot Saturday morning. We loaded up the car and headed into Tel Aviv which only took about 15 minutes since there was no traffic so early. Unloaded the bikes and headed to the transition area, this time we'd brought our own pen for body marking. In the races in Israel there seem to not be any official number marking people. There are usually a few pens floating around, but you'd better bring your own just in case. If you join the triathlon union, you get a number which is used in all the races. Anyhow, we numbered up, put the numbers on our bikes and our helmets on and then were allowed into the transition area.
It's all about the shirt!! Which you get before hand...still not sure why most of them are black. We met up with some BGU friends and set our things up in the transiton, then walked over to the boardwalk to watch the start of the 40+ race. The water looked great..it was a 2 loop swim, with a quick run on the beach between loops. I really don't like to have to stand up suddenly in the middle of the swim, sprint and then throw myself back in the water. Quite a few people passed me. The water was warm and flat, even saw a few fish. I got out of the water and ran up to the transition area. For the some reason the bike portion of this race was drafting legal..probably because it's a 3 loop course, and it's just easier to allow drafting rather than try to police such a crowded course. It was hard to find a group to draft with at first, when I did find a good group, it seemed like they were going too slow for me, but if I didn't stay with them I would just be out on my own. So I stuck with the group. Alon passed me at the end of the bike course and was already out of the tranistion area when I got there. The run was so hot...Running at 10am in the summer in Tel Aviv is not pleasant!!! It must have been in the 90s and very, very humid. Any time I tried to pick up the pace, I felt like my head was going to explode. I drank water at every aid station and dumped ice on my head but it still didn't make me go faster. So I decided just to enjoy myself and plod along rather than make myself sick for 1 or 2 minutes. I don't know how people can run well in the heat. Is it better hydration? More heat training to get used to it? Having no body fat to insulate you??? I would like to know!
Anyhow the race ended and my time was not the best but I still had a good time.
I talked to Alon afterwards and found out he had been in the last 5 out of the swim..but he passed over 100 people during the race. Better to be the hunter than the hunted! For his very first triathlon and without much swim training, I think he did great! :-)
