Monday, September 29, 2008

First Triathlon...


CHECK! DONE! CROSSED OFF LIST!


My first triathlon was this weekend and it was so much fun! This is going to be a long post because I want to remember everything.
I had been training for 4 months for the See Jane Run Triathlon and the day was finally upon me. I was feeling pretty nervous for a couple of days before the race. On edge, not able to concentrate, with a million things to do before Saturday. On Thursday, after picking up Skyler from school, we drove out to Oakland to the See Jane Run store and picked up my race packet. Then I had to stop by the bike shop on the way home to get my brakes adjusted. On Friday night we met up with my friend Carrie for a carbo load dinner. Then home to pack my bag and get everything ready.
On Saturday I woke up at 6am and got dressed in my swim outfit (tri shorts, a sports bra, and a tri top) with warm clothes on over (it was 57 degrees outside). Then I got all my water and electrolyte drinks together, quickly made a bagel with peanut butter, grabbed a banana and hit the road. I was meeting at my friend's house at 6:30. We arrived at the lake (Shadow Cliffs) at about 7:15. Our wave was hitting the beach at 8:20am.


I had been feeling really anxious about the swim so about 9 days before the race I started positive imaging. As I fell asleep at night I would envision getting in the water, slowing down my breathing, taking each stroke, rounding the bouy, crossing the lake and heading toward the other bouy, etc. until I was exiting the water feeling great and strong. Well, I think it totally worked! When we got to the lake I wasn't nervous about the swim AT ALL! I even brought a little anxiety spray that you spray inside your mouth and I didn't even need it.


After setting up our transition area, getting our time chips, and getting body marked we were ready. A friend of ours, who was originally doing the triathlon with us but got injured, showed up to cheer us on and take pictures. Thanks Tracie! We walked down to the beach and got in the water to warm up a little and get used to the temperature. Then they were calling our wave to get into position. This is us just before warming up. I'm in the middle, number 327:



SWIM:
The water level was really low in the lake this year so we had to go into the water a ways before starting. This meant we were standing on ground that isn't usually stood on because the water is usually too deep. Let me just tell you, it was DISGUSTING! It was like standing in pudding up to your knees. Every step you sunk down into...something. Everyone was happy to start swimming so we wouldn't have to stand in it! I did the swim in 12:26 (1/4 mile swim). This is really good for me because each time I had practiced the swim in the lake it had taken me 14 min. That's me on the far left in the pink cap starting my swim:


BIKE:
The bike was pretty easy. Nothing to really report. I had taped some food to my bike so I could eat it during the ride and I think that really helped. It was 11 miles and I did it in 40 minutes. It normally would take me about 50-55 min. to ride 11 miles (I'm not a very strong bike rider) so I was very pleased with this time!

RUN:
This was a lot easier than I had anticipated. I felt great and maybe it was the food I'd eaten on the bike but I had more energy than I thought I would. It wasn't too hot so I was able to push myself a little more. I did walk some of it because there are about 4 hills on the course that I wasn't about to run over. The 3 mile course took me about 38 min which is a little longer than usual but I'm attributing that to the hills.

Here we are afterwards with "Super Jane."



Of course we had to buy some comemorative gear to celebrate our success:


All in all, my goal was to finish in under 2 hours and I finished in 1:36! I'm very happy with my time and I had so much fun. I couldn't have done it without my 2 friends right along side me and my friends on the sidelines cheering me on. And of course it wouldn't be the same without the free celebratory beer afterwards!


It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do something like it again!

12 comments:

Ann said...

That's awesome, Stephanie! Looks like you did great and had fun! I am glad you finally got over your fear of swimming in the lake! Yahoo!

gina said...

Congratulations! This post is so inspiring you make it sound easy and FUN!

Doodle Bugs said...

WAY TO GO!!! Amazing achievement.

Chris said...

FUN??! Are you sure? :) You should be soooo proud of yourself. That is something I think I could never do, but I envy you for doing it!

Anonymous said...

Steph....YOU ROCK!!! I am so pleased that you did your swim, even though you had to walk through the ICKY mud! You are a piece of work and we are all so proud of you. Love you! Auntie xxx

mel @ the larson lingo said...

way to go steph! that is a fun triathlon, i did it a few years ago! (but it had a different name)

Emily said...

AWESOME! I am so proud of you. This is something that I know I could never accomplish. You did awesome!

Kim said...

that is awesome! Congrats!

muralimanohar said...

Mud?? Up to your knees?? :passes out: You know I think you are certifiable, right?? You go from scared of the lake (and rightly so, imo!) to WALKING THROUGH THE HORROR?? :passes out again:

You deserve an olympic gold medal for getting through that. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

I am so glad that you enjoyed your first triathalon and that you didn't give up! Congrats!!

Stephanie said...

Thanks for all of the great messages ladies. It was a lot of fun and not as hard as I thought it was going to be.

erin said...

WOW WOW WOW!!! Congrats girl, that is amazing!!!!!