I am a Tri-athlete! Race Report: St Mary's Triathlon August 6, 2014

I have officially completed my first ever triathlon!! This time last year I would have never guessed I would be doing this, confident that I would be doing it without dying, and then actually doing it and feeling absolutely awesome the whole time!!

It's been a long road, even though a short amount of time, and its just the beginning, because this is a lifestyle change, and something I want to promote to my children. I want to be the example, do as I do, you might say.

My husband sent me to bed early, knowing I had a big morning ahead of me. Surprisingly I actually managed to get to sleep around 8:30. We planned to get up at 5 am so that we could eat, get ready and get the kids ready as well.

I had organized and packed everything the night before. It was easy thanks to a list I found on this great blog called TwoTri in the last week before my triathlon.

Tri Gear

A friend gave me a tip about packing everything in a bucket, which has the added benefit of giving you a place to sit when you are putting on shoes and stuff. This was great since transition was a parking lot with all kinds of tiny gravel. I had also brought a spare water bottle which I used to wash off said gravel before drying and putting socks on, cost me time, but upped my comfort. I am NOT the type of person who can stand stuff in her shoes.

I also oiled up before leaving home. I've started using Young Living Oils for various and sundry things and honestly I am having great results. I feel confident that the oils helped me during the triathlon with focus, courage and pain management.

Young Living Oils

We got to the location, Harris Riverfront Park, around 7 am. The weather was perfect, overcast and high 60's low 70's.

I got set up in transition, met up with friends, got marked, received my timing chip, used the facilities, and our babysitter showed up to take over the kids. My husband was doing the relay tri (run portion), and since we have no family in the area, paying one of their daycare teachers to come for a couple hours, was a total win for us and them. We were all happier knowing they were well taken care of.

Husband, Me, and Friend who talked me into this!

There were "two" events going on that day, the Triathlon and a Duathlon. The Tri was a .5 mile swim, a 15 mile bike, and a 5k, there was an individual version and a relay version. The Duo was a 5k, a 15 mile bike, and a 5k. Both started at the same time, although the Tri had three swim waves, men, women, and relay + those with slower than 15 min swim times.

The Swim
I was confident about my swim, I was a former competitive swimmer way back in the day. My coaches on my competitive team were Steve and Ike Lochte...yeah, Ryan Lochte, the Olympians parents, my high school coach DJ was kick ass too. Ryan was about 6-8yo when I "knew" him, so needless to say I had no idea, he was just a loud little kid, lol.

After warm up swim, before start. I double capped it
so my goggles wouldn't get knocked off.

Again I listened to a friend, and positioned my self at the front of the wave, and based on research off to the side, the left side. It was a triangular course and that side put me on the inside edge. The horn went off 3 min after the men and we were off. I choose to just go with my tri-suit and I'm glad, the water was perfect, and I felt good in my stroke. I quickly caught up to the tail end of the mens wave by the first turn buoy even though it was going against current. The next section was quick since it was with the current and I passed even more men staying to the inside, the final turn was swift and again the next section was against the current, but I continued passing people. I reached the boat launch and breast stroked in to make sure I didn't go too far, the edges had a lot of rock and I wanted to hit the center to avoid them.   I was the FIRST FEMALE out of the water!!!!  I annihilated the swim.

Swim. I'm the yellow cap at top

I was in the top 10 swim finishers overall and my time would have been faster, but I totally lollygagged on the way to transition walking, talking and being cheesy and time wasn't recorded till right before the bike racks, lol.

See cheesy lollygagging in the middle :-)

T1 was good, I had practiced so knew what to do. I had also purchased a Tmat Pro to put my stuff on. It kept everything clean and organized, was super easy to spot, totally worthwhile purchase! I'm sure I could have done it quicker, but I'm happy with my overall time since it was my first. Since I don't have clip less pedals I just put on the shoes I planned to run in, sweatband, helmet, glasses, race belt and gloves.

The Bike

The bike portion was obviously the longest part, it was two times around the same course, but went by so quick. I did a good job fueling and hydrating taking in a few Clif shot blocks and one Huma packet during the ride. All I heard the whole time though was...

On your left....On your left....

On your left....On your left....

On your left....On your left....

I did pass a 12 year old on his first circle when I was on my second, woohoo, lol. I expected that I would be passed a lot though. My bike is 30 years old and weighs a ton, I have regular pedals, and have only been riding for 2 months. The people that passed me were all on machines, with aero bars, and the whole deal.  When my husbands relay partner passed me I actually groaned, and he laughed. (I heard about that later :-) I'm still pleased with how I did on this portion too, there was a massive headwind on one portion that dropped my speed by a couple mph, but I still finished under my overall goal time. There are no bike pictures...sorry!

T2

When I came in from the bike I started spinning my legs based on information from another friend to loosen them up. Again because of my Tmat I quickly found my spot. My transition took a little long because I had a friend on the edge I was talking too, telling me how awesome I was doing, lol, and I waffled for a bit over needing to change my headband (I did) and wear my visor ( I didn't) so I know I could have saved a lot of time there. I also picked up a handheld water bottle. This was most likely not really needed, I mean it was only a 5k, but I have exercise induced asthma and having water helps me control it, so I figured it was a worthwhile precaution.

The Run

I felt pretty good on the start of the run, other than the fact that it started out uphill! It was an out and back course, so that was fun, because you got to see everyone and cheer for those you knew. I didn't have any technology with me so I just ran at a sustainable pace. I passed a few people (who had obviously passed me on the bike) and that felt good, got passed by others.  Fairly close to the turn around I saw my husband who was so excited and surprised to see me, he whooped and cheered and hi-fived me and that made me feel like a million dollars!  

I felt really good on the run, very consistent, and not ever like I wished it to just be over, which is not normal for me and running, lol. It's almost like doing the first two events made running BETTER. Before I knew it I reached the park again and was heading in towards the end. I circled around and down and I knew there were a few people behind me. I determined they would not pass me before the finish, smiled, and picked up the pace. I saw my kids and my son joined me for a bit of the run, my daughter cried because I left her and ran by (she's 2.5, that was going to happen, lol), and I crossed the finish line with my hands in the air at a time pretty close to my personal best 5k time.

It was one of the most fun things I have ever done in my life. I got tons of comments after that I didn't even look tired. I wasn't really.....I was so full of adrenaline and excitement and happiness. 

I made sure to smile and thank every single volunteer along that course for being there and I made sure to encourage every person I passed.

I can't wait to do it again!

Swim: 9:32

T1: 1:26

Bike: 52:16

T2: 1:18

Run: 30:06

Total: 1:34:36