This year was my second year doing the YWCA Women's Triathlon. It is a sprint triathlon with distances of: 1/4 mile (500 meter) swim, 15.5 mile bike ride followed by a 5K(3.2 mile)run. I had a goal of 2 hours last year which I beat by 20 minutes. This year, since I had a much better bike to ride, my goal was 1 1/2 hours. I beat this by two minutes. I had the time of my life training and racing this year and I cannot wait for my next race.
Since I had experience from last year, I knew mostly what to expect on race day. I remember last year that I had wished that I had asked my family to be present for the entire race because coming out of the water and running up the gauntlet full of unfamiliar faces left me feeling a little bummed out. So, this year I had told my family to be on the beach at 9am because I would most likely be coming out of the water at that time since I was getting in it at 8:51. I was able to find my neighbors Dan and Brandee on the beach before actually getting into the water and I was elated! To have people there to support you is priceless and it means more to me than I could ever say. I did not see my own family before lining up with wave 18 on the beach to begin the countdown to hop into the water. But, they were there and Chadd was able to snap this picture of all of us women getting into the water.
I have never had 10 seconds last so long in my life. The anticipation before entering the water is almost unbearable. The horn sounded and our group of 63 women began trudging into the water. There comes a point where you question whether or not you should keep trudging or fall down and start swimming. Unfortunately, this is actually determined by those racers who are in front of you.
Last year, my swim went perfectly. I had heard about people getting kicked in the face, running into other people as you swim, swimming off course or anything else imaginable that makes most people hearing the word Triathlon cringe and say, "No way, the swim part is just not for me." I was stunned when none of those things happened to me. Talking to others about the swim this year, I kept repeating that my swim went so well last year and I was praying it went as flawlessly this year as well. Much to my surprise it did not go as well. Immediately I was getting kicked, pushed, hit by arms and legs from all directions and swimming into other people's legs, arms and bodies as well. It was frustrating to say the least. I had to stop free styling and breast stroke around a bunch of women because I was so angry at the girl right next to me who swam into me at least 5 times that I thought I was going to punch her underwater. Not my finest moment I know, but when you are racing and someone is preventing you from going on your merry way things like this go through your head. I was able to bob and weave around everyone and then it was free sailing to the end of the swim. Last year I finished the swim portion in 11:57 with no interference. This year, I finished in 10:33 with a bunch of interference. I was impressed with this time all things considered.
The swim to the bike transition was the hardest for me last year. I felt like I had expended so much energy in the swim that I was dead coming out of the water. This year, it was tough but I felt much better coming out than I did last year. As I was running up the gauntlet I saw my family and heard the cheers of them and my neighbors and it gave me a huge boost. I loved seeing them all there and their support really meant the world to me. My kids had made signs that said, "Go Mommy and Kristi!" It was amazing. I washed my feet off in one of three kiddie pools and ran into the transition zone to gear up for the ride. I was definitely wobbly getting everything on and I popped a few Gu Chomps for added energy during the ride. I was out of there in 2 minutes and hopping onto my bike at the mount zone. My borrowed bike has aerobars and I was immediately down on them spinning away headed towards 50th street. I saw my neighbor Dan on the ride out and he cheered me on. It was going to be a great ride. Before I was even to 50th Street (where we get off of Nokomis Pkwy and head to Minnehaha Pkwy) I heard this click click click click sound coming up behind me. It sounded like someones bike was having an issue. As the woman on the noisy bike rode past me I said, "Uh oh, it sounds like you might be having an issue." She laughed and said, "I rode over a sticker and I am not about to stop to take it off!" I ended up riding the whole 15.5 mile bike course with this gal whose name I learned was Kim and she was 45 years old doing her first triathlon ever. I told her I would stay close behind because then I knew people would always stay to the right since they heard us coming. One thing that I noticed again this year was that I got a terrible headache during the ride. It happened last year and I thought that it was because I did not take any energy supplements and I was just dragging because of the swim. I kept trying to stretch out my neck, drink a lot of water and re-position myself on the bike in an attempt to alleviate the pain in my neck. Nothing worked and I just pushed on through it.
In what seemed like no time flat, I was riding back towards the transition zone and again I heard and saw my family and friends cheering for me. Last years bike time was: 57 minutes and 55 seconds. This year, I finished in 48:53!!! What an improvement a nice bike and good training can make. I thought the bike to run last year was a breeze. Oh how things turned out differently this year! As soon as I got off of my bike I was unstable. I almost fell over because my whole body was buzzing. I had to run around my bike to push it from the other side because I almost dropped it the first time. I made my way slowly to my rack in order to throw my bike on it and run out of there. I hung my bike, took off my helmet and threw on my race belt and visor and made a dash for the "run out" sign. Much to my dismay, both of my calves started cramping up on me. I was starting to panic in my head that it was going to seriously impede my progress on this portion of the race and I feared that I would have to stop to stretch out my calves. Then, I saw my best friend Sara and her dog Pete standing on the sidelines. My spirits immediately picked up and somehow I managed to run through the initial cramping and get my legs back underneath me. Shortly after that, I managed to run next to Kim "a.k.a sticker girl from the bike." We were talking and running and it really makes a difference when you are able to communicate with people. Last year, I ended the race feeling so great that I questioned whether I pushed myself hard enough. That thought was in the back of my mind for the entire run portion which is perhaps why I felt like I wanted to quit this run and never do a triathlon again after this. I was running at a pace faster than I have ever run and I managed to keep it up the whole 3 miles. I kept my eye on the beach the entire time and had to coach myself to keep going because I was almost there. When I was coming around the last bend before the finish I almost started crying when I heard one of the volunteers say the end is right around the corner...2 minutes and you will be done!!! I started to pick up my pace and as soon as I saw the finish gauntlet I started to sprint. Normally, I do not do this but I so badly wanted to be done that I felt like I was literally flying over the ground. I didn't see a single face running towards the finish but I did manage to hear plenty of people calling out my name and I knew where my family and friends were by the loudest screams bunched together towards the end of the gauntlet. I almost ran someone over crossing the finish line and then just about passed out or threw up or both while a volunteer grabbed me and said, "I can take your chip off here." Phew! I had finished!
My finishing time was 1:28:36!!! I had beat my goal of 1:30:00 and improved my time from last year's finish time of 1:40:55. 12 minutes and 19 seconds faster this year and in a sprint triathlon...every second counts.
My neighbor Kristi and I after she finished the race. This was her first year doing a triathlon and she did so well. When she crossed the finish line, I was there to hug her and she said, "Thank you so much for doing this with me Amber!" We both had a great time.
Showing off our race numbers while trying to look tough.
An old friend of mine from my hometown who decided to do this race after reading about my race from last year. She did wonderfully and I cannot wait for her to continue racing so I can read about her success!
Kristi and I are still training. We have a 5K this weekend in St. Paul and we will be doing the Monster Dash Half Marathon in October. We are excited about our racing abilities and this will be a first for me. The longest distance I have ever run has been a 7K. Upgrading from 4.34 miles to 13.1 sure seems like a lot to me and I am hoping I can do it. I have my eye set on the Lifetime Fitness Olympic Triathlon next July but perhaps skipping to a 1/2 Ironman is actually in my future. Time will tell :)
Thank you to my husband and my kids, The Reinertson's, The Happe's and my best friend Sara for coming to support me and cheer me on for this event. You are all so special and mean the world to me. Your love and support has helped me make it through a lot in the last few months and without it I don't think I could have accomplished all that I have. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
