Sprint Triathlon - My Ironman

Yesterday I finally got the official results for the sprint triathlon I did this weekend. The race was long and hard for me, yet incredibly fun! At the end I was proud, relieved, and in pain. I'm ready to do another one as soon as tri season is back up and running!

The clock read 2:27:ish. I ran to the finish line dead last, but still finishing strong. The last person passed me about a quarter mile into mile 3 (I think), and after that, it was just the medical golf cart and me. My diaphragm was screaming but nothing else really hurt so I ran as much as my lungs would let me and then I would stop and catch my breath. I'm reading a book by Chrissie Wellington - a British professional triathelete, and she said that after you get off the bike in a race, your legs feel like jelly for the first few minute, then feel like lead for the rest of the race. She hit the nail on the head!

Setting up the transition was an experience. I chatted and talked with those setting up around me and realized that most people in the race were first timers like me. That surprised me! I thought most people would be seasoned vets as this race was the last in a series of 8 sprint triathlons. Earlier in the week I made several lists including what AdvoCare supplements I would use on race day, as well as what would be in my gym bag, how to set up the transition, and what I would use in T1 (transition from swim to bike) and T2 (transition from bike to run). The lists helped me calm down and better prepare for race day.

I wasn't really nervous until I was in line for the swim start. It didn't really help that a traffic issue somewhere in the course delayed the race start by almost 40 minutes. Fortunately I started chatting with some of the people around me and made some more new friends! I finished the swim and ran to the transition area to start the bike portion. The cold air hit and it was a foreshadow of the rest of the race!

The bike went really well. It was a very pretty route through Ft. Ben with slight changes in elevation, but nothing extremely steep and long. I was glad I put in some time before the race getting used to shift changes on my bike. Made the race much easier. Same with grabbing my water bottle while riding and taking a drink without stopping or slowing down.

The final discipline - the 5K - really kicked my butt, but was great. I wasn't sure of the route at first, but found it soon enough. I was very surprised at how much of the 5K I was actually able to run! I probably ran about 1/3 of that part, if you call the hobbling I was doing running, that is! As I mentioned earlier, the last 3/4 of a mile or so I was in last place. When I finally approached the finish line the medical golf cart switched out for a police motorcycle that turned his sirens on as I got closer! I have to say, it was really cool to have an entourage following me to the finish line! I crossed the finish line and stopped moving and that's when everything started to hurt! Especially my chest as I had been heaving what felt like ice cold air for the better part of the last 2 hours!

A year ago, finishing dead last would have really bothered me, but not this weekend. I set out to finish, and I finished strong!

My final times were as such: Swimming 350m - 13:33 | Biking 11mi - 49:04 | Running 5K - 48:10.  Total time (including transitions) - 1:56:46.

Those times may not seem all that impressive to some, but I'm pretty proud of it! My goal for the next spring tri is to improve each of those times and finish even stronger. It's also to let people know it's possible! I think a lot more people have the ability to do triathlons than actually do them. They let their fear of the unknown keep them squarely in their comfort zone instead of stepping out, which is where the magic really happens!