For my birthday, I decided to race in the Pasadena Triathlon. This race required a little more preparation than a typical running race, mostly because it required the use of a bike. I looked into shipping my road bike (at least $100), renting a bike (also at least $100), or event renting out a shared bike (strictly prohibited). When I moved away from California, I left behind a cheapie mountain bike, so my dad unearthed it and cleaned it up for me. We picked up another cheap mountain bike off of Facebook Marketplace so that Erik could also race with me.
My last in-person triathlon was in 2014…so long ago! I trained as much as I could, but my time was pretty limited since I had been in Doha for three weeks. I was also coming off of a hip injury, so I had to take it pretty slow. For me, slow is barely a trot above a walk!
The reverse tri consisted of a 3.1 mile run, 10 mile bike ride, and a 0.5 mile swim. It was a pretty chilly day, practically perfect racing conditions. I’ve always found reverse triathlons to be more difficult than standard ones, where the order is in swim, bike, run. In the standard order, you are sufficiently warmed up for the next leg.
My bike wasn’t adjusted particularly well, so it seemed like a fairly rough ride for me! There was a tiny tiny tiny incline. My posture wasn’t great, so I think I was pretty much shrugging the entire time. The best part of the race was the pool…it was warmed up and such a refreshing and fun way to finish the race.
Amara in Training 