Sunday, May 22, 2011

Women of Steel Triathalon

I did it!  I ran in my first Triathalon. My sisters Natalie and Nicole both ran it with me....and by with me, I mean 30 minutes (at least) ahead of me.  Since having little Elise I didn't have near as much time to train as I thought I would!  So, I was quite the slacker when it came to practicing for the Tri, but I was determined to still compete.  So after training probably 8 times prior, there I was with a cap on my head ready to go!  It ended up being a ton of fun and I'm really glad that I did it. Here are some photos from the event!
Here we are!   Bright and early with our bodies marked!
Natalie, Nicole and me
It started at the American Fork Rec Center pool.  We were lucky to get such a beautiful day for the Tri considering all the rain we have had this past week!  There were over 1,000 women registered!
You lined up according to how fast you can swim 300 meters.  I lined up at the very back since I hadn't swam since January thanks to my abscess.  But after I swam it, I realized I should have lined up at a much faster time.  Turns out I'm a pretty good swimmer!  They let each racer in every 12 seconds into the pool.  Sometimes it got a bit congested but that's all part of the fun I guess!
Next part was a 12.4 mile bike!  This part was tough and certainly took the longest, but I really enjoy biking now!  I'd like to be able to get out and ride more now that I know I can do it.  I just used my good old mountain bike but put road tires on it and it worked great!  
The last leg of the race was a 5K run.  Switching from the bike to running was pretty hard for me.  My legs felt like jello and it was hard to go from spinning wheels to picking my feet up and putting one in front of the other- but I still did it!  My sisters were kind enough to run in the last 1/2 mile with me! 
Here is my support team and the reason I ran the Tri!  I hope Elise will be so proud of her Mama one day when she realizes what I did!  People saw me carrying her around after and would say, "Wow!  How old is she?  Good for you!"  It made me feel pretty tough, proud, and certainly like a Woman of Steel!!

Final race times:
Swim- 7 min. 47 sec. 
Bike- 1 hr. 3 min. 12 sec.
Run- 35 min. 33 sec.
 
That makes for an overall time of: 1 hr. 52 min. and 38 seconds!
Either way, I can still say I'm a Triathlete!!!

11 comments:

emily said...

good for you emily! you totally sound optimistic about your whole experience and i think that's the most important thing - having a good and fun time! i would totally love to do something like that - but i can't swim. but awesome for you - i'm super impressed!

erinmalia said...

totally cool. congrats on finishing. and just think, when you do another one in july, you'll have much more time for training and should easily beat your time.

Jewls said...

Way to go Em! I totally want to do one so I can cross it off of my bucket list...I still just need to learn how to swim! :)

Melissa said...

All I can say is I am impressed! =0)

Brooke said...

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who can't swim. But Congrats!! That is so awesome!! One more thing for me to look up to you for.

Niederfam said...

YAY. You are a woman of steel!!! It would have been so easy to bail and you had more than enough GREAT excuses.....abscess, Elise, moving, etc. etc. but you DID IT. You are AWESOME. ;)

Thanks for convincing us all to do the WHOLE thing. It was FUN when we were done. ;)

Ashley King said...

Nice job, that is awesome! I can attest to the fact that training for one with a baby is seriously HARD so I am super impressed! Glad you enjoyed it :)

Talbots said...

You are so tough! We are super proud of you.

Chad said...

You are awesome Emily! I'm impressed! ;)

Mary Pugh said...

That is so cool! I am super impressed!

Kristi and Kory Jones said...

good job. Triathlons are so much fun huh. I totally know what you mean about the "jello" legs after the bike. It is miserable for a few minutes. ha ha but you totally feel like this amazing person after the race huh! I am so impressed you did one so quickly after your baby! good job girl!!!