So I did my first ever triathlon this weekend… and I enjoyed it! Go figure. 😉
It was a sprint triathlon, the shorter distance which is a 500m swim, 20K bike and 5K run. This one was called Splash, Pedal and Gasp, an annual event in Lethbridge, AB, Canada (where i grew up ;).
My best bud Tara talked me into doing the race back in January. I had to wonder why I said yes a few times over the past few months of training. But I stuck with it, working out 6 days a week faithfully up to race day. So I felt ready, my goal being to not be last.
Highlights of the race:
- Stubbing my toe on the stairs the night before the race, and waking up to a seriously purple, throbbing toe in the morning. Ooops! It was sore and I thought of taping it up, but once I popped on my shoes it was fine and I didn’t even feel it through the race.
- Tara and I decided to run the race together, which was so great! It made the race so much more enjoyable and we crossed the finish line together. Here’s a pic of us before the race:
- Love the 50 metre pool, the swim went by so fast doing only 10 laps (vs. 20 laps in my regular 25 metre pool). And I finished in 12:00 minutes, which was over a minute faster than my best swim to date. Yipee!
- Finding out that the divider at the end of the pool was over one foot above water level, so I literally had to heave myself out of the pool after my swim and roll onto the pool deck. Not the most graceful exit, thank god my husband didnt get a picture of that rear view!
- I SO enjoyed the bike ride! It was an out/back on the highway, super nice day with a bit of wind. Biking is my strength so it was actually a very easy ride for me, depsite being on a mountain bike. Tara was yelling “Flavor Flav” the whole way, her code word to use instead of swearing. She did NOT enjoy the bike ride.
- The run SUCKED! You run down into the coulees (steep hill to the river bottom) turn around and run back up. This last “vertical kilometer” is affectionately called Puke Hill. And for good reason. I didn’t live up to the hills name, but I certainly did say “Flavor Flav” a few times as I walked up. Good thing there were no kids around.I’ve been a runner for a while now, just over 6 years. Which some people mistakenly take to mean that “i’m good at running”… sorry folks, i’m not. Yes, I can run but im a slowpoke. And to be honest I don’t even like it that much.. it’s a love/hate thing and i’m not sure why I keep doing it. LOL
- Tara is a stronger runner than me, so she had lots of energy while I was dragging my ass. At one point she was ahead of me literally skipping and clicking her heels in the air. The guy beside me says “How did you end up with her”? LOL…. I’m like “I’ve known her since kindergarten”.
- Tara was training for this race last year and seriously hurt her knee just weeks before the event. She’s a Phys Ed teacher and twisted her knee playing dodgeball with her students (yes, just before the movie of the same name came out, hehe). So after surgery and one year of recovery she was back in shape to run the triathlon this year instead. YAY TARA!!!
- Having my mom, pop and hubby Dan there at the finish line, they came to cheer me on. It was fun to have my own personal cheering squad. Here’s a pic of me with my parents
My final time was 1:48:43, which I was very happy with considering that I have never done this before and didn’t know what to expect. And I wasn’t last. 🙂
So the big question… will I do another one? Yep, i’m actually looking to do another sprint tri here in Calgary in July. My goal is to simply better my time and keep on training.
We’ll be back…
