Last night was the second Honolulu Triathlon Training class, although it was my first. I showed at AlaMoana at 5:30 and was delighted to see a bunch of people I know. They seemed pleased to see me too. I haven't seen one of them since the 2005 Honolulu Marathon! There are a lot of new faces too, overall, it seems like a good group.
We started with the swim. The goal was to do a 750 meter time trial to guage where we are. The trial would start from the last life guard tower and swim back to the first one. People had the option to swim out to the last tower, or walk out to the first pole (500m) and then swim the rest of the way to the tower as a warm up. We all grouped together there, and then did the time trial. I opted for the walk/swim option for a total of 1000m. I know I'm faster than I used to be, but I'm not so sure about my endurance level.
I think it went really well for me. The water was choppy and we were swimming against the current (as usual in that direction). I was sighting and following someone, but somehow at one point I looked up and saw the rocks to my left. That's not right! I shouldn't be out so far. I can't believe I got so far out. I was sighting the tower the whole way, but I guess my brain tricked me as to what angle I was going for. I actually thought I was on target!
In spite of this, I was pleased with my swim. My final time was 18'43", and I wasn't last. Given last year's swimming performance, I'm delighted with that. I think the coach was very surprised to see me so soon. They probably expected me last. Unless I'm mistaken, I think I came in somewhere towards the front of the pack. I came in at the same time as a few guys who look pretty fit, which was nice. I also beat M, who crushed everyone in the swim last year. The only reason that happened was because she went out past the rocks too, and didn't catch herself until after I did.
On a side note, I saw T. He's the guy who I started matching strokes with towards the end of last year and who I used as a rabbit for running. He swam up to our group as we congregated at the 750 mark. He headed back a few minutes before the rest of us, yet, after I had finished my swim and been waiting a little bit, he came out of the water. I realize he could have been doing drills, or stopped to talk to someone, so I shouldn't get cocky about it.
After this, we did a one mile warm up, run drills (leaning start, high-knees, side-steps, skipping, & backwards running), and then a 30' total out and back run, turn around at 15'. The run was ok, I was rather hungry and had cotton-mouth, but I didn't bonk and I was able to pick it up at the end when urged by coach S.
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