Triathlete? Ok!

I had SO much fun at my triathlon yesterday! I was so stinkin nervous, only to have an amazing time!!

I suppose I should start at the beginning.

But I can't do that without telling you that I have the most amazing, supportive, and wonderful husband in the whole world. That's right, sorry girls, MINE is the BEST!

We stayed overnight at my brother Austin's house in Denver because it's fairly close to the reservoir where my tri took place. I had to pick up my stuff the day before. I got fairly impatient with the information session, and consequently probably missed some information, but I survived nonetheless. So, we went out to eat with my friend Leslie and saw her new house in Broomfield. That took my mind off things for a good while, and as always, it was great to see my friend (Happy Birthday Leslie!!)

We got to bed a little later than I hoped, but I don't think it would have mattered if I was able to get into bed earlier, because my heart was racing. I finally fell asleep around 11.

We woke up at 5 the next morning in order to try to be at the reservoir by 6. We made it by 6:10, after having to stop to put air in my bike tires. We were greeted by about 1600 of our closest friends, all with the same hopes of being early. We found a spot and were surprised to find that we would have to walk a little over a mile to the transition area. Of course, this would be the trip that we forget the stroller. I want to stop here, and again reference that I have the most amazing, supportive, and wonderful husband in the whole world. He carried our 25 pound child and her bag full of the morning's needs to the transition area. Yes, she's walking, but not well enough to get there on her own. (Obviously.) So I rode ahead on my bike and found a place to be my "home base". Jim found me, and asked a volunteer for my wave's start time and some safety pins since I didn't get any in my packet. He also helped me get re-marked with my race number. Did I mention he's great? :) (He also took all the great pictures you're about to see-thanks honey!)

At this point, we got separated. I pulled on my wet suit and headed down to the beach to wait for my wave and take a dip in the icy water. Not nearly as bad as it had been 2 weeks prior, in fact it was tolerable, at worst! And, I knew my friend Jeff from college was one of the rangers on duty watching for people who might drown. That settled me a little, but I was still pretty anxious.

Upon entering the water with my wave, we were greeted, as all waves were, by Sally Edwards (former Ironman Masters record holder and Danskin Triathlon spokeswoman). Her lighthearted pep talk through the megaphone to me and the other 99 girls in my wave put me at ease immediately. The swim had been shortened from a 1/2 mile to a 1/4 mile because of the water being too cold (lame), and the course that they set up had blown in a good bit. I think the total swim ended up being about a 300m. Oh well. I swam. I got kicked. I kicked others. Apologized. Kept swimming. See, in such a short distance it's impossible for the group to spread out at all. I stayed in the middle of the pack the entire time. No problem! I still couldn't find Jim upon exiting the water, but knew he had to be somewhere. My home base was easily accessible, and he got to me in no time.

Swim Time: 5:37

I wasn't in much of a hurry to put my bike shoes on, but I did. Got onto my bike and headed out. The website wasn't kidding when they called that course "rolling". It certainly had it's share of tough up-hills, but luckily the downhills were just as good. But I've never felt more encouraged in a race before. As I was huffing up hills, the girls coming down in the other direction were cheering for all of us. It was like that the entire time, and of course, the coach in me felt I should pass on the encouragement.

Transition time: 7 minutes
Bike time: 47 minutes

Now, on to the run. I didn't save any legs for it, that was for sure. I definitely wasn't prepared for how hilly it was!! But, of course, I survived, and my time was acceptable, considering I had just swam and biked--hard. Jim tried to catch a picture of me finishing, but that was the time Reagan picked to try out her walking on the race course. I'm so glad she's walking!

Transition time: 6 minutes
Run time: 42 minutes

Total Tri Time: 1 hour, 48 minutes, 3 seconds.

I'm already looking for another one. I love it!

I think Reagan missed me. She fell asleep on my shoulder on the walk back to the car--something she hasn't done in several months.