i tri-ed

Megan and I completed our first triathlon today. It was the Huntersville Sprint Triathlon: 500yd swim, 20K bike, 5K run. Although there were some moments along the way in which I questioned why I was doing this race, looking back I am glad I did it. I have plenty of thoughts about the race, so I'm going to switch to bullet points with pros (+) and cons (--) to keep myself from being too wordy.

-- I found out during warm-ups that my tri suit is too big
+ my tri suit is too big... it didn't use to be that big

+ I only got passed by 2 people on the swim (Confession: I fibbed my swim time a bit... Kirsten told me to. It turned out OK, though.)
-- the second guy tried to drown me even though he had plenty of passing room, which contributed to my anger/nerves/slight hyperventilation in the pool

-- I dropped my cap after exiting the pool and had to go back for it
+ I laughed at myself about it instead of getting mad at myself for "looking dumb"

+ the weather held out and didn't rain
-- it was very windy and I thought I was going to blow over a few times on the bike
+ I didn't blow over

+ I only got passed by 3 people on the bike
-- one of the guys who passed me wiped out badly shortly thereafter. after collecting himself, he passed me again.

-- I spaced out a little on the bike. I could have done better on the first 6 miles.
+ my second half of the ride was strong

-- the start of the run SUCKED
-- my english muffin tried to revisit my esophagus around mile 2
+ the aussie official at mile 2 made me feel good and want to keep going :)

-- I walked more than I wanted to on the run
+ I finished the run within my goal

+ Although I questioned my desire to ever do this again (I'm much better at cheering) I felt really good within 10 minutes of finishing the race and have a new perspective on how I want to prepare for the next one.

+ 1 year ago, I was on bedrest (week 13 of 15). Today, I finished my first triathlon. Not too bad.

+ Based on my overall time, I finished pretty much in the middle for my age group and overall females.


**I would like to thank Tina Turner, Black Eyed Peas, and Tony's attempt at imitating Black Eyed Peas for motivating me throughout the race!

** I heart Megan!


Next Events:
May 8 - White Lake Half-Ironman Relay, featuring Megan, myself, and Tony
June 27 - Kure Beach Double Sprint Tri (lord help me on swimming in the ocean!!)