Last Saturday was my first Triathlon; to say I was nervous was an understatement! I didn’t feel ready mentally or physically but was also super excited to give it a go. We started off with a carb loading session Friday night at Spaghetti Works.
Yummy – I hadn’t eaten there in ages. (my parents were also present but somehow dodged the photog). Then Justin and I woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday. At 6 am it was around 57 degrees out and dark. Perfect weather for a swim! Or maybe not.
After setting up our transition spot we lined up for body marking.
And a few cheesy poses with the race sign.
Then checked out the swim course. The water was cold, dark, murky, and looked intimidating. The rescue boats didn’t help.
The transition area was filling up quick and it would be time to race shortly.
I loved this sign – I still don’t consider myself an athlete by any means. But fun to pretend.
At 7 we all lined up for the pre race brief and were given the go head to jump in the water and swim. It was a mass start which was nuts as meant around 200 people all splashing about at once. It was cold – real cold. And you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face. Not ideal. Things were touch and go for a bit. It took me a few minutes to calm down and realize all would be fine (note to self – next time practice a few open water swims first!) but Justin never hit that point. It was full on panic mode the entire swim, he was also having allergy/asthma problems. So we stuck it out together and finished. I am very proud of him.
To our surprise my mom, dad, and Cole were there cheering us on when we exited the water. I’ll spare you all the scary tri shorts/small swim top photos as they aren’t pretty. With the worse behind us we geared up for the bike.
After looking at this photo I realize I must have the most awkward looking bike mount ever! How did this even work?
Our bike was decent; looking at other times we should have pushed it a bit harder to speed up but averaged about 18-19 miles per hour. We did catch a few on the bike. It was an easy three lap course.
The final leg was the part I was dreading the most – the 6.2 mile run. This was the part Justin was most excited about as his chance to excel. When we first started my legs felt like jello and I didn’t think I would make it, but after about a half mile things felt normal and we were able to pick up speed and pass a few more people.
After 3 miles Justin couldn’t take any more of my slow pace so I gave him the ok to speed away (although I did stick with him for the swim/bike). He had a great finish.
And came back to get me for the final half mile. I ended up with a pretty good run time. I think around 56 minutes, so a 9ish min average which is speedy for me.
Overall it was a great accomplishment and I am excited that we participated. A very well organized event with lots of supporters and the other athletes were encouraging and supportive. I didn’t even feel that bad afterwards which means I probably should have pushed harder. Definitely looking forward to giving another Tri a shot in the near future.
After a much needed shower – there may have been some green algae involved – we hit up the farmer’s market and had an amazing lunch at La Bouvette. Perfect way to celebrate my new status as a Triathlete, even if I still don’t feel like an athlete.
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