Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Utah Summer Games Sprint Triathlon

So I know we haven't posted in a while, and I promise I will do a family post in the next few days. I wanted to do a post on the Utah Summer Games Sprint Triathlon I did last weekend (June 13, 2009). The triathlon consists of a half mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and a 5K (3.1 mile) run. I have been training a bit with the Southern Utah Triathlon club and learning so much. I am really enjoying this sport and changing it up from just running.

So to start out the day I woke up at about 5 AM and left the house with my bike stuffed in the trunk of the Jetta. I got to the lake and set up my transition station. Went and got branded with my race number, division and age on my arms and legs, then basically waited until my wave of swimmers left.

We got in the water, and it was chilly (thank goodness for the wetsuit Dana let me borrow). This was a new experience for me swimming around so many other swimmers, getting kicked, kicking others, running into people, dodging other swimmer, etc. I did the swim, and it was a little more difficult than I expected. This was probably the longest open water swim I have done thus far, and it didn't help that the water was a bit on the choppy side due to the overcast weather.

I got out of the lake, and walked/ran on the asphalt, that had tons of little rocks digging in to my bare feet, to my transition station, got dressed, put on my super cool new shoes and started off on the bike.

Now... anybody who has done this bike course know a little something about..."THE HILL!" This is a hill that is pretty steep and is about 3/4 of a mile to a mile long. You hit it about 3-4 miles into the bike ride. Up until this point I had not been successful at completing the hill without having to stop and walk at least once. This was the thing that made me most nervous about the race, because I was afraid if I got off, I wouldn't be able to get back on. Well, I am proud to announce I made it up the hill without stopping! I am super glad I got my road bike fixed up for this. I bought it about 8 years ago, never road it, and it has been hopping from garage to garage all this time, and taking up a permanent residence in David's Grandma's basement for the last 5-6 years. I took it in to the bike shop and asked what the lesser of 2 evils was, the half way decent mountain bike, or the old road bike. HANDS DOWN it was the road bike, and I seriously LOVE my "new" old bike!

During the bike ride it started to rain just a bit. It was nice because it wasn't so hot, BUT being from Vegas... land of the "slipper when wet" roads, this made me a bit nervous. I did take caution and had a safe bike ride.

Then I got off my bike, put it back, and started right on my run (keeping on my cool new shoes...that's why I got them, good for the bike and the run, since I don't have shoes that clip in to my bike pedals). As I exited the state park, what did I see... my ever so supportive hubby cheering me on! That was so great! I had a strong run, and about 2 miles in I started to wear a blister, since I wasn't wearing any socks. This didn't slow me down though! And I finished the race. Now, I am NOT built for speed, so my time wasn't the fastest, but I felt for ME.... I had a strong race. I didn't even stick around for results, I just packed up the bike and headed home.

We didn't have a camera, so here are a few pictures from camera phones

My transition station



David catching a photo on my run



See the Zazoosh (not so flattering) photos:

The Swim
http://www.zazoosh.com/photos/215100807

The run
http://www.zazoosh.com/events/searchPhotos/215?evtId=215&query=262&x=0&y=0

I am bummed I didn't get a picture on my bike, so sad!

I notice that I squint my eyes, so I always look like I am in pain... I promise I'm not :)

Here is my results page as well, again, my times are not very good
http://www.milliseconds.com/participants/detail/805585139

Basically the times went like this:
1/2 mile Swim: 21:57
Transition S2B: 4:40
12 mile Bike: 56:38
Transition B2R: 1:20
5K (3.1 mile) Run: 31:53
TOTAL: 1:56:31

My goal was 2 hours, and I didn't even think I would do that, so mission accomplished!

5 comments:

Dacia said...

That's awesome! Great job!

Laundry said...

congrats!!!! i'm proud of you for completing that! lol.

Craig Fife said...

I am so proud of you! Great job! This is the kind of training you need to keep up with the Twins. You are awesome!

mikeandash said...

Good job! I wish I could've been there!

Brittney said...

Congrats on finishing your triathlon. I am in awe of you and your ability to juggle kids, work and training.