My First Triathlon!

My first triathlon is complete! It was awesome. While my legs don't feel the same way today as my mind I can't wait for 3 weeks from today to do it all over again. :) I think getting to do the WIN for KC as my first tri was part of what made it so exciting. 850 women, all there to do one thing, be a triathlete. There were women from the age of 12 to mid/late 60's, all shapes and sizes there. It is a very empowering environment. The whole race everyone is just encouraging each other and letting you know how awesome you are doing. Of the 850 women over half of them were like me, first timers. Which is very comforting to know you aren't the only one who has no idea what is about to happen to you.

The swim start. One women started every 5 seconds. You lined up by what you thought your total swim time would be, starting with 5 minutes! You should see what it looks like for someone to swim 500 meters in 5 minutes, it is crazy. The 5 minute group started at 7:30, I entered the water sometime around 8:15. My goal for swimming was to do it under 20 mins, which was giving myself a lot of room to accomplish this goal, since I figured I could actually swim 500 meters in open water in 15 mins. Well I not only kicked 20 mins in the ass, I kicked 15 mins in the ass too. :) My official swim time was 13:36. Then you have to run(uphill) to the transition area, change into your bike gear(for me was put on socks, shoes, sunglasses and helmet) then run your bike(again uphill) to the bike start.

After swimming the beginning of my bike was kinda rough. After about 2 miles I caught my breath and picked it up. My goal was to bike the 10 miles in under an hour. My official bike time was 50:43. At the end of the bike you dismount and jog back to your rack to mount your bike and get your running gear. I had a mishap that cost me a little time in transition 2 and that was no one left me room for my bike! I was trying to get my bike in and knocked over someones bike. A volunteer ran over and helped me out, but I have no doubt that it cost me quite a few seconds. I got my hat and race belt and took off...well I tried to. Running or even walking after biking 10 miles is close to impossible.

First you feel like maybe you can't walk, but they you feel ok. So you take off running and then your calves feel like they weight a ton and they are in balls. I slowed down a bit and powered through it. After a few minuets they stretch out and you are good to go, other than just being tired. My run goal was a little crazy. I wanted to run the 5k portion in under 40 mins. Which is crazy because I can barely run a 5k on a normal day in under 40 mins and yesterday I was swimming and biking before it. I missed my goal by 50 seconds! I am counting it complete though. :) My run time was 40:50.

My number one goal was to just finish the whole thing, which I did!

Katie and I with our finishing medals. Katie is super awesome. She has done a ton of tris before and is overall just a really fit person. I got the idea of training for a tri from her, found out about the tri 101 class from her and have used her as a source for everything tri. She's been an awesome mentor. Its been great having someone to talk to about all the things that I was so nervous about and someone to train with. Plus it is always great to get to hang out with friends.

I also couldn't have done the tri without Steve. He has been very supportive of my training and in the days leading up to the WIN some times it seemed like he was more excited than I was. He got up yesterday at 4am to go with me to the tri so he could be there to watch me accomplish becoming a triathlete and cheer me along the whole way. It was really great to have him there.

We went out celebrating last night with Brandi and Drake. We took in some roller derby then headed to the Flying Saucer for beers...big beers. :) Overall it was a great day.