Been training and looking forward to this day for a few months now. Originally I was really nervous about the swim. So that kept me encouraged to get in the pool more. Which in return helped me feel more comfortable. Friends from work who have done triathlons before were getting me mentally prepared for the swim. So I felt ready for it on the day of.
A few days before the race Top Gear had some free registrations they could provide the team if they wanted. Since I was already registered he went to Timalee (who also is on the Top Gear Team) and signed her up. She was a good sport to do it on such short notice.
This is Timalee and I bright and early in the 6am morning setting up our transition area.
I had a whole check list at home to make sure I wouldn't forget anything.
Top Gear was there to help us (and others) out if we needed a quick fix.
Timalee's husband, Rolynn was there being our cheerleader. He was so nice to take my camera and take pictures of me and Timalee.
So here is the start of the race. Everyone is all lined up along the pool in the times that they can swim the 350m in. I stood in the 7 minute area. When the buzzer went off we all watched as the swimmers jumped in one by one, every 10 seconds. I wasn't feeling nervous, but my adrenaline was sure was going. I was grateful to a guy that I was standing by (who I had met earlier that morning by the Top Gear Tent) who we chatted while we were waiting our turn to go. We both were feeling the same way anxious-adrenalin-shake. As each person was getting in the pool we'd pick up on some techniques.
Then my turn came. With my swim cap and goggles on and ear plugs in (I know this is dorky but it helps me TONS) I was ready to go. Once I jumped in I felt great. Just stayed focused on breathing and staying calm. The 350m is 14 laps. Once I got to one end I had to go under the lane dividers and swim the opposite direction. And repeat that, weaving back and forth through the whole length of the pool.
Near the middle I got stuck with this one guy. We had the same pace. So I just kept right on his heals. Literally I would hit his heals with every stroke I took. I wasn't doing it on purpose. I just was there. Couldn't go any faster to pass him and I didn't want to go any slower. I later talked to Brett (who is the manager of Top Gear and has done several Tri's himself) about getting stuck behind that guy, and he said that actually it was good that I was there because I was kinda drafting off of him. So that worked out to be a accidental strategy.
I get out of the pool and run to the transition area. I was feeling awesome with how well the swim went. I was so worried about people swimming over me. But it worked out. I had a few pass me but it wasn't a big deal.
Here I am getting into my biking stuff. Brett taught me a trick how to put my socks on over my wet sticky feet which helped out the transition much better.
Then I was off. The bike ride was probably my favorite part. It was a really easy 12 mile ride. My bike felt great, Thanks to Top Gear. They tuned it up for me and have been working on getting my bike fit perfectly to me. We have a few more kinks to smooth out, but my ride is feeling so much better than it was before.
It's kind of hard to see, but this picture is of me transitioning into running.
And I head off to the 3.34 mile run. Before the race I wasn't at all worried about the running, but this leg turned out to be the hardest one for me. I don't know if it's because by this point I am just gassed, or if my legs are just not used to the transition for biking motion to running. Because the whole time my legs felt very heavy and were cramping. But I didn't let myself stop. I had to fight through it. Talk about a mind over matter moment I had with myself. It took everything I had to just keep moving and to keep a fast pace. It didn't help that the last 2.0 miles were uphill. A kind of hill that I like to call a false flat. It's deceiving because it looks flat, but really you are pushing against a slight incline.
Right before the end...probably about 0.3 left is when it came to a downhill right into the finish line. Oh man I was a thrilled when I hit that hill. I tried to push it as much as I could. Then I see my dear friend Harmoni with a poster screaming at me "GO GO GO" and that just gave me this push to floor it to the finish line. I gave it everything I had left. My legs were screaming at me but I barrel through.
We all got a finishing medal that they gave me right as I crossed the finish line. The coolest part about the medal is my brother Tyson designed it. He does the graphic designing for the race posters, t-shirts and medals. So I was excited that I got to have one of his medals.
Jesse made it there with the boys ten minutes before I finished. He got off a shift in Ogden that morning and made it just in time. When the boys saw me they came running up to me with such proud smiles. It made me feel really good to know I'll always have my boys as my fan club.
We finished! And it was great!
Jesse and the boys hung around for a bit to find out my time. I finished with a time of 1:16:12 which put me in second place in my age division. I was totally stoked. My goals for this race were to finish, have fun and get a baseline time to improve on. So to place for my first triatholon felt really good.
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