Last fall we were at a friend house for dinner and after a few drinks another women at the dinner party started talking about how she does a triathlon every year for juvenile diabetes and she wanted people to join her group. After a little encouragement I agreed (note: after a few drinks)! I tried to swim a couple times over the winter but driving the 15 minutes to the pool to change and swim for 20 minutes hardly seemed worth it. I put off any training until the spring time. I continued to run every week but given it was winter I didn't ride my bike either. I managed to make it to a spin class as the club a few times but the schedule for that often didn't fit with my schedule. As the tri got closer I decided I needed to actually start to do something or I might just drown. The bubble came off the pool and suddenly swimming seemed so much easier. Swimming in the sunshine is very different to swimming indoors. Sofia finished her swim team for the spring and Ali started the swim prep team. I decided to swim twice a week just before Ali's prep team practice. I enlisted Sofia to swim with me becuase 1. she needed to keep up her endurance over the summer, 2. It allowed me to swim while keeping an eye on her, 3. She could set my pace and make it fun for me. I withstood her mocking me with things like, "only 18 legnths mom? that should be for kids!" and "what is wrong with you? why are you breathing like that?". Of course she didn't realize she was mocking me since to her swimming up and down the pool for an hour is normal. She probably swims at least 36 lengths of the pool during practice and probably it is more than that. She doesn't realize what great shape she is in and what a good swimmer she is. I raced her one length of the pool and beat her by one stroke. Had I known she was going to be so fast I would have swam harder the first half of the pool (not that I was going easy but I wasn't sprinting) but as it was a sprinted for the second half of the pool to beat her. At the end she wasn't even breathing hard!! It was great to swim with her though. She made it fun for me to do laps and I'm looking forward to a sport we can do together. Anyway, I started getting some swims in a month before the triathlon. Better late than never I guess! I got my bike tuned up and managed to get two rides in before the race. I made she one of the rides actually had me ride and then get off my bike and immediately go out for a run. I'm glad I did that becuase it gave me a chance to see what my legs would feel like during the race for that transition. It is not a good feeling so it was great that I was prepared for it and knew it would go away after the first mile. The week before the race I signed up for a triathlon clinic at the race site. I wanted the chance to swim in the ocean in my wetsuit before race day. It was awful! The white caps were out there and the waves were rolling in. Instead of giving me confidence for the race it made me very nervous. The night before the race I was a wreck and looked at last years race times. That didn't help my confidence either becuase I felt like I was going to come in near to last! I tried to calm myself down and accept that this is my first triathlon and the goal was to finish. Anyone who knows me though knows I have a competitive streak inside myself that can't accept that. I got everything ready and went to bed.
We woke up at 4:30am to be out of the house by 5am to get down to the race. We arrived with no problems and now that race day was here I was feeling a little better but still really nervous about the swim. I had to ride my bike 1.5 miles to the transition area which was a nice warm up and served to relax me a little bit. I found some friends and as we prepared for the race we all gathered together on the beach. It made me feel better to know that I had friends around me. The race started and into the water I went. I was glad for the tri clinic now b/c the water was calm and seemed so much easier. I swam freestyle out to the first bouy with out any problem and didn't feel to crowded but did have to swim around some people. Once around the bouy I was all about breast stroke, back stroke, and side stroke. I swallowed a few mouthfuls of salt water and went to mainly back stroke as it is probably my faster stroke and it meant I didn't have to worry about getting enough air. Once I reached the next bouy and turned for the beach I pushed hard with my freestyle to bring it home. I ran up the beach and transitioned to my bike.
I was one of the few people there with a mountain bike but I didn't want to spend the money on a road bike for my first race. I knew I would have to push hard to be competitive so off I went and never coasted. I pushed it hard the whole way and made it back to transition, ditched my bike and started running.
Once I started running I was golden. I know that this was the easiest leg of the race for me and I just needed to get past the first mile to work out the stiffness in my legs.
I forgot my hat so had to accept that I probably looked horrible but what the heck...it is a triathlon after all and not a beauty contest! As I rounded the first bend in the running race there was a photographer wo I gave him some goofy smiles to which he responded, "You're the first happy person I've seen all day!". That made me feel good since the only reason to do these races is for fun. If I can't enjoy myself then there is no point to doing them. I know that sounds contradictory to my competitve streak but I do enjoy the competition and I enjoy being outside and essentially playing. Anyway, I continued the race and came in to the finish and was shocked at my finish time. I thought surely I would be over two hours but my clock time was 1 hour 40 minutes! I was so excited!! I crushed my expected time. I went and checked my official time and came in at 1 hour 32 minutes and 12 seconds!! I swam the 1/4 mile in 12 min 32 seconds, I biked 12 miles in 46 min 11 seconds and I ran 3.2 miles in 28 min 35 seconds. I was pretty excited and still am! I'm not hooked on triathlons but would not rule out doing another one at some point.
We woke up at 4:30am to be out of the house by 5am to get down to the race. We arrived with no problems and now that race day was here I was feeling a little better but still really nervous about the swim. I had to ride my bike 1.5 miles to the transition area which was a nice warm up and served to relax me a little bit. I found some friends and as we prepared for the race we all gathered together on the beach. It made me feel better to know that I had friends around me. The race started and into the water I went. I was glad for the tri clinic now b/c the water was calm and seemed so much easier. I swam freestyle out to the first bouy with out any problem and didn't feel to crowded but did have to swim around some people. Once around the bouy I was all about breast stroke, back stroke, and side stroke. I swallowed a few mouthfuls of salt water and went to mainly back stroke as it is probably my faster stroke and it meant I didn't have to worry about getting enough air. Once I reached the next bouy and turned for the beach I pushed hard with my freestyle to bring it home. I ran up the beach and transitioned to my bike. 
I was one of the few people there with a mountain bike but I didn't want to spend the money on a road bike for my first race. I knew I would have to push hard to be competitive so off I went and never coasted. I pushed it hard the whole way and made it back to transition, ditched my bike and started running. 
I forgot my hat so had to accept that I probably looked horrible but what the heck...it is a triathlon after all and not a beauty contest! As I rounded the first bend in the running race there was a photographer wo I gave him some goofy smiles to which he responded, "You're the first happy person I've seen all day!". That made me feel good since the only reason to do these races is for fun. If I can't enjoy myself then there is no point to doing them. I know that sounds contradictory to my competitve streak but I do enjoy the competition and I enjoy being outside and essentially playing. Anyway, I continued the race and came in to the finish and was shocked at my finish time. I thought surely I would be over two hours but my clock time was 1 hour 40 minutes! I was so excited!! I crushed my expected time. I went and checked my official time and came in at 1 hour 32 minutes and 12 seconds!! I swam the 1/4 mile in 12 min 32 seconds, I biked 12 miles in 46 min 11 seconds and I ran 3.2 miles in 28 min 35 seconds. I was pretty excited and still am! I'm not hooked on triathlons but would not rule out doing another one at some point.
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