Monday, July 19, 2010

We did it!

Back in April I ran a 10k with my running partner, Travis. I think it was in the first mile when we were feeling great that she got this brilliant idea... to do a triathlon. Feeling great in the first mile, I agreed.

So we began training and searching for the perfect triathlon to do. We began riding our bikes, swimming and learning what a brick is. We settled on the Englewood Triathlon because it was not too far away. However, we realized it had a time limit and we weren't sure we would make it. Travis is much more competitive than me and she wanted to see her name on the results page. I wanted the medal (more on that later...)

We kicked butt on the workouts and were feeling pretty confident. But we were riding "fat tire" bikes and decided that if we could have skinny tire bikes, we would definitely finish in time.

The day before the race, we rented bikes and felt confidently nervous. While at the packet pick up, I was feeling really intimidated by the rock hard bodies that we were also signed up. To say I don't have a rock hard athletic body is a gross understatement. I specifically remember wondering where the other big people were!

Anyway, we had no idea what set up would look like in the morning, so we get to the race an hour and a half before it starts. Mistake number one. We had more than enough time to rack our bikes and set up our transition area. Being so early gave us even more time to freak out!

About an hour before the race, Travis drinks a smoothie for breakfast because she read somewhere it would help. So I drank one too. Mistake number two. We never drank these before a workout so we had no idea if our bodies would be happy about it. I don't think they were...

During this time, we also picked up our timing chips and got "marked". Our number was on our arm and our age was put on our calf. Your age is actually how old you will be by December. I was confused and thought it was LAST December so I had them write 36. Later, when I went back with Travis, I realized it is December 2010. So they scribbled out the six and added a 7. It looked like I was 317!

Finally we are ready to get started and we head to the beach. This is where we really noticed the swim distance and the buoys. Swimming is my strongest leg and Travis' weakest. But imagine our surprise when we realized that we only had to swim half as far as we practiced! Travis swam like a champ and even endured my screaming at her. Some of my favorite motivational lines were, "Doing great! Come on! Breathing is for wusses!" and "Good job! You can breathe on the bike!" It's amazing she still talks to me...

We were out of the water in record time (for us) and as we were running up the sand, I remember saying... "I copyrighted those lines so you can't use them on me during the run." I think her response was, "Nice try."

One of the highlights of the race was nearing our first mile on the bike and realizing it was only 20 minutes from the start (Travis says it better in her blog http://pracharfamily.blogspot.com/)
The bike was long, hard, but kinda fun! We passed a bunch of people and we got a sick pleasure out of passing people younger than us. But at the same time, we hated being passed by the 74 year old! The last mile was perhaps the most brutal because of the wind coming off the gulf. While on the bike, we drank Powerade. Mistake number three.

By the time we started the run, we were feeling pretty "wonky" and thought we were going to leave a little "gift" on the side of the road. We made it through the three miles, but it was tough. Seeing Travis' family and an old friend of mine cheer us on made it a little better.

So we finished in 1 hour and 38 minutes. It was tough but that makes it an accomplishment. I'm glad we I didn't chicken out. Although coming in 13th place isn't impressive, I still gave it my best. That medal I thought we would get... well, it's only for the top five finishers in each division. Bummer... If I had gone in the "Athena" division for the non-rock-hard-athletes like me, I might have gotten that medal. Next time...

Next up? Venice Triathlon on September 4th and then a half marathon this fall and maybe a marathon this spring. Anyone want to join me? Oh and for a different perspective and some pictures, go to Travis' blog at http://pracharfamily.blogspot.com/ I think she did a better job...

1 comment:

Prachar family said...

I had more pictures, but you are so much more funny! Its always great to see your perspective! You are the BEST swim coach EVER!