Ready or Not, I Tri-ed!

Lake Stevens Triathlon - September 10, 2011

After 6 weeks of fairly intensive training and two weeks off to nurse inflamed knee joints, I found myself facing one of the greatest challenges of my life. While this triathlon was only a sprint, I still felt quite trepidatious to take it on.

Suzanne, my tri buddy, & I arrived at 6:30am to pick up our bibs and get our things set up in the transition area. I had a dinner party the night previous (I know, major poor planning on my part); combined with the late night getting into bed, my nerves made for a fitful night of sleep. So, as I was prepping that morning, the fatigue was a fairly big obstacle. Still, I was registered and knew I had to do it.

Suzanne & I at the transition area

Pre-race pics with Suzanne and some other participants who also happen to attend our ward

Dragging myself out of the water and doing my 1st transition (took way too long!)

Another post swim shot (I was exhausted) and crossing the Finish Line

Suzanne & I (me w/ a mouth full of food); Julie (her husband also competed and is another participant from our ward)

My awesome support team - tired troopers that cheered me on through all legs of the race

The swim was absolutely my most challenging and terrifying part; swimming 1/4 mile with a large pack of people was not something I was prepared for and I panicked mid-swim. Thankfully, I had a strong back stroke which got me through the rest of that leg. Unfortunately, it wiped me out so I took nearly 4 minutes in the first transition; I fought weak, shaky legs as I dried off, and strapped into my bike shoes and jersey.

As I began the 9.8-mile bike portion, my strongest event, I was feeling lethargic and slow; my rubbery legs just didn't want to do anything else and we had a few big hills to climb. I downed some energy gel which I hoped would perk me up, but although it was a pleasant-sounding berry flavor, it was not tasty and made me gag a bit. However, I did get my second wind halfway through and was able to make up some good time.

The second transition was much better; I believe it was nearly a sub-2 before I started out on the 5k. My legs were definitely tired and my pace was much slower than anytime during my training. With a forecast in the mid/upper 90s, I was kind of worried about heat exhaustion, so I just took a "slow and steady wins the race" mentality. Well, I wasn't focused on winning so much as just crossing the finish line. I caught up with Suzanne and we ran a very slow pace together for a bit, but then I pulled ahead because I caught another "second wind".

Crossing the line with the last bits of energy I had, I was happy to see that I came in with a time of 1:34. Unfortunately, I thought I would take much longer so while Dave and most of the folks from our ward cheered me on at the finish, my parents showed up minutes after I finished.

Yesterday, I looked up the race results. I registered for the Athena category, which is for any female participants over 150 lbs (the secret's out!). Surprisingly, I finished 3rd in that category; if I'd been in my age category, I would have been 13th. So, all in all, I was happy with the performance, especially since I had the knee issue and couldn't train much those last two weeks.

I am so happy it's over and proud of myself for training and finishing a multi-sport race. Absolutely the biggest challenge was the swim, but I'm hoping to take some lessons or get some pointers from my swim coach friend. It's best that I get ready because Suzanne has already said we're signing up for two triathlons next year!