I Tried a Tri!!!

I "competed" (that is in quotes because my goal was to just finish the race) in my first ever triathlon. To be clear, it was actually a sprint triathlon. (1/2 distance of a full triathlon.) This entailed a 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike, and 5K run. My friend Crystal & I have been going to a local gym for about six months now, three mornings a week, but I still lacked the real motivation to work hard enough to do a whole lot of good.

My friend Mary had a baby about four months ago, and she really wanted to work on getting back into shape. Somehow triathlons came up in one of our conversations, and we decided we should try it. So, we registered for one on August 1st in Hayden, ID. We had a goal, which kind of caused us to kick our "training" up a notch. :)

We started working on our running/walking, biking, and swimming. We joined a gym in Coeur D 'Alene that had a pool. I helped Mary with her stroke, and she helped me with the motivation I needed to work hard during my workouts. I actually discovered that I still enjoyed swimming. I've hated swimming since the one year I swam in college. I wasn't happy with how swimming ended for me, and I've kind of avoided it since then. I'm finally over the bad feelings I have toward swimming. I'm to the point now that I really want to keep doing it. I wish there were a local Masters team I could join.

Anyway, when the triathlon was getting closer, I emailed my friend Kelly (my roommate from college) and told her about my triathlon. I jokingly told her she should fly out and do it with me. (She is still in amazing shape. She still swims, bikes, and even plays ice-hockey! Pretty cool, huh.) Kelly, being the amazing friend that she is, decided that she would come out and do the triathlon with me! She hates to run, and informed me that she would NOT run, but she'd walk that part. After she made her plans, I was actually getting excited to do this!

Here are the pictures from our wonderful, fun, and torturous day!

Us before the race. We are such studs!!!
Left to right: Kelly, me, Mary

Kelly & I coming in after the biking. (Kelly stayed with me during the swim and the bike. She was such an amazing support!)

Me coming in at the end of the tri. That last .5 mi run was the longest and hardest 1/2 mile I've EVER done! Kelly and I walked most of the first part of the run. I decided that I would run the last 1 1/2 miles of the race. I was able to do that, and still be able to walk after it was over. Kelly managed to even run some of it (even though she swore she wasn't going to!)

All of us after the race. Look, we're actually smiling. It was a surprisingly fun day. Thanks for the motivation Mary, and thanks for the amazing support Kelly! Oh yeah...Crystal, thanks for the bike donation. It was wonderful!

If you'd like to see the pathetic results go to The Hayden View Triathlon. I did pretty well at the swim. When I was exiting the water from the swim (keep in mind I am still about 20 lbs overweight) I actually heard someone say, "SHE swam that fast?" I'm not kidding. Those were the exact words. Wouldn't it have been funny if I stopped, walked over to him and said, "Yeah, and I'll kick your butt if you'd like to race right now!" I may be fat, but I can still swim!! :)

The only thing I'm really disappointed with is the run. I'd made it up to running 2 miles (without stopping) a few weeks before the race. This is something that I've never before done. After the day I did my 2 miles, (which actually felt great!) my calves started to hurt. They weren't hurting in the front, so I knew it wasn't shin splints. I thought maybe it was just sore muscles. This continued even though I was stretching, taking IBUprofren, and doing an ice/heat regimen. The pain began radiating from my calves to my ankles. It got to the point (even though I was no longer running) that I could barely even walk on them. The right is much worse than my left, but some days my left hurts, also. After doing some research, I'm pretty sure I either pulled a tendon, or developed tendinitis in my ankles. The injury is common in "middle-aged, overweight men who begin to exercise". Well, I fit all of that, except I'm a woman instead of a man. I have yet to go to the Dr. for it, but since it's not improving that much, even with rest, I guess I'm still going to have to go.

Anyway, I was happy that I was able to run the last 1.5 miles of the race and still be able to walk afterwards. That was a good thing...but my original goal was to be able to run the entire thing. Oh well. I guess life happens.

My timing goal was met. My goal was to finish in under 2 1/2 hours. I actually finished in under 2, so that was also good.

Now that you've read an entire short novel detailing my triathlon adventure, I'd better sign off. Thanks for everyone who supported me in this life changing event. :)