I Survived-And Loved It!!!

I did it--and I survived! Saturday was my first attempt at a triathalon sprint. This is a picture of my friend Heather Walker and me just before the swim. (She is a seasoned triathlete and marathon runner). It all started last summer when I decided to get a road bike. I needed to do some cross training to mix up my workouts. I also started swimming laps. For Christmas, Todd gave me a trainer for my bike so I could ride inside during the winter. So, when my nutritionist friend mentioned that the Icebreaker Sprint was coming up I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. I trained harder, got the outfit (very important to look the part!!) and did a strict pre-race diet. The diet is designed to clean you out and then build up your proteins and carbs. Before I got there, I felt really intimidated and I found out that I couldn't use my Ipod on the run! With the run being last, I was afraid that would be problematic, so I convinced Mom to come and do the run part with me. But when I got there, there were people of all ages, sizes, and skill levels. I was number 202 which meant I had to wait a while for my turn to swim. They start with number 1 and another person starts every 10 seconds. Apparently either people don't actually know their swim time when the register, or they lie about it because I kept getting stuck in clogs and couldn't get past people. I couldn't go my hardest in the swim, so I didn't even feel winded when I got out. Next it was off the the 12 something mile bike! The hardest part of the bike was the hill at the first of the 6 mile loop. We had to do that hill twice on the bike and then run up it at the start of the 5K-yikes. It was great to have Mom with me on the run because my legs felt pretty noodley when I got off the bike. It was hard to tell if I was running too slow because everything feels slow compared to the bike. I told Mom just not to let me walk. I wanted to run the whole thing, and surprisingly, I never felt like I wanted to walk. It actually all went faster than I expected and I felt great afterward! Todd was so proud of me! All day he kept saying how proud he was and he told everyone we saw (which was a little embarrassing). He took all of these lovely pictures of me in all my glory and was at the race the whole time. It really helped to have my cheering section there to keep me going. I did feel like I accomplished something that I have been working hard for and it was a good feeling! Heather and I got our free massages afterward, and we also got a free one before the race. The guy said I need to stretch more-oops, I guess I will get working on that! So, my time at the end was 1:22 which was better than I expected. I was 7th in my age group! It is really cool how they time everything and break it all broken down. I did the swim in a disappointing 7:11, the bike in 40 minutes(better than anticipated) and the 5K in 28 something. The rest of the time was in the transitions. Anyway, it was so fun and I will surely do another one-maybe with Mom or Chad and Laura next time!