On Saturday Aimee did her first triathlon! Woohoo!
She competed in the Giant Acorn Sprint Tri down at Lake Anna and did a great job. Her training for the race was pretty spotty at best so she was getting pretty nervous about it beforehand but I knew she'd be fine. My biggest fears for her were what her comfort level (or lack there of) would be on the bike around all the other riders and any cars she might encounter on the course.
We got to the race around 8:30 am and got her all set up in transition. Transition area rules were super lax so I was able to go in and help her get set up. After she set up and pulled on the wetsuit she basically said she had no desire to do the race anymore. The pre-race jitters were really setting in on her. She started in the second swim wave and with her pink accented wetsuit and massive goggles I was able to spot her for almost the entire course. Pretty cool! She came out of the water looking great and finished in excellent time.
As she came out of transition she also looked strong running with the bike. The bike course hit a sharp though short little rise right away and she struggled up it as she tried to get her feet into the straps and then was gone. I went back to my truck and grabbed Cass who was patiently waiting for my return and headed back to play for a bit before Aimee got back on the back. I was assuming she'd be about an hour for the 12 mile ride but since I didn't have a watch or clock of any kind I had no idea how much time had passed. I probably started looking for her after about a half an hour so by the time she'd come in I created plenty of horrible scenarios in my head, all of which ended up in her hating me for the rest of her life.
Turns out she did the ride with no problems and I was spared the life long hatred for another day. Looking strong she rode by and headed into transition. Coming out on foot she hit the pavement looking great with a big smile and a wave. Cassie and I moved over towards the finish to watch her come in and cheered her on as she passed. Aside from low blood sugar she said she felt good at the finish and was pretty pleased with her result. Someone had grabbed her Hammer Gel from transition so she struggled a bit because of that and she said she got bored out on the bike course but otherwise enjoyed it.
We obviously have a very different outlook on racing since I'd never get bored during a race so I struggled to understand that a bit. But I think she's going to find some friends to train and race with and she says she plans to do more next year. Actually I believe an Olympic (specifically Nation's) is in her eye for next year.
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