Triathlon

I did it!  I completed a triathlon!

My friend Erica and I competed in the Luna Women's Triathlon at Blue Lake this morning.  We signed up for the Tri-It which is a shorter swim, but it was still really hard.

My morning started with a 5am wake up.  Dick and Erica picked me up at 5:30 and we were off to Troutdale for our adventure.  Neither Erica nor I knew what to expect so we were both a little nervous.  Once we parked and got our bikes and gear out we looked around at the other women racing and had an instant sigh of relief.  They were all average women out to do something either for themselves or someone else and everyone was in great spirits!

We got all checked in and got our numbers written on our calfs  (you can still see mine loud and proud!)  Then we got set up in the transition area; the area where your stuff is to change from swim to bike and then bike to run.   

At the point we headed down to the water I was still pretty nervous.  I wore a sports bra and long spandex for the swim and was pretty comfortable.  The water was surprisingly warm, in fact Erica's husband, Dick, said women were testing the water and taking off their wetsuits.  Erica and I were in the first heat of the tri-its because of our age so entered the water and were off!  The entire swim is only 1/4 mile and I finished in less than 10 minutes.  There was a nasty current on the last stretch of the swim that threw me but I got out huffing and puffing and made it to the transition area running.  

On the bike I was golden, you make a loop for the 12 mile section and on the way out I averaged between 18-19 mph and on the way back (with the slight wind at my back) I was averaging between 20-22 mph.  I felt great going into the run, in fact looking back I feel like I could have pushed myself further because of how poorly I knew I would do on the run.  

I made it back to the transition area, dismounted my bike and changed into my running shoes and I was off...S  L  O  W  L  Y.  I was so slow on the run!  I got passed before I even made it out of the transition area!  But, I knew that going into it so I tried to not let it get me down.  Once I made the turn on the run loop (and got some Gatorade) I was a renewed woman!  I finished the run strong and when Erica gets me a copy of the pictures I'll show what my face looked like! 

At the end of this blog is a link to the website where it shows our results.  I was SHOCKED to find out I finished 10th over all and 1st in my age division!

Thanks to everyone who called and wished me good luck and listened to me ramble about how hard the run was afterwards.  I'm not sure if I'll do this again, but looking back it sure was fun!  I've never done anything like this before and to be able to do it with one of my best friends (so cliche) made it really awesome.  Thanks go especially to Erica's husband who drove us there at 5:30am and stood around the whole time and took pictures of us (looking so pretty!) during the race.  I'll post pictures soon, until then here is the link to the our Luna Women's Triathlon. 

http://www.racecenter.com/results/RCNW_results.htm

Once there click on "Tri It Novice Triathlon" and scroll down to find my name!