Tri, Tri Again

Yesterday, I was able to participate in my 5th triathlon - the Echo Triathlon in Coalville. We got up early - just before 5am, grabbed Kezia & headed out the door (mom & dad brought the girls up a little later :). We got there & they had the athletes ride their bikes about 3 miles to the registration/transition area just outside of Echo Reservoir. I have to say it wasn't fun or easy to carry all your gear for 3 miles not to mention extra energy used & the possibility of a tire blowout. I did the Echo tri 6 years ago & I really enjoyed it, so I thought I'd "tri" it again. I was somewhat disappointed, though, when I realized it wasn't the "quaint" 300-400 athlete size that I competed in before. Yesterday consisted of 700+ athletes & it was a bit crazy. So many things had changed since I last competed there. Not necessarily bad - just a lot more hectic.

My Sprint wave didn't actually start until almost an hour after the first wave. The swim was good - the only hardships were getting past the pack (which, with that many people, involved many kicks to the face), and a point in the middle of the swim when I swallowed a big gulp of water & had to cough it out. I felt good & fast on the swim, though & was quickly on to the bike.

The bike is admittedly my biggest weakness & to my chargrin 2 girls in my age group had sped past me within the first couple miles. I pushed hard, though & played "do-se-do" with a few of those girls. The bike was a bit longer than the 12 miles it was supposed to be, but I finally saw the transition area again & pushed it.

Finally, the run! Thankfully, it was a beautiful morning - not too hot. Still, I wish they had ONE more water station. My calves were screamin' at me for the first mile or so, but I mostly stayed behind this 27-year-old since her pace seemed pretty close to mine. I passed her once toward the end & then she came back & stayed by me & said "hey - why don't we just do this together?" So - it was nice to have some company on that last mile. I pushed it at the end & whew! I was done!

Don't laugh at me, but I hoped to be able to place in the top 5 for my age group - I always have, but this year with the craziness of the move & still waking up with Kezia at night, I was pleased to get 6th in my age group. The other factor is that I've now entered the 30-35 age group & these ladies are seriously hard core!! My main goal, though, was to have fun & do my best, which I did. Not sure I'll do this race again. It's getting harder to find open water swim tri's that do not have so many competitors, although I have my eye on a couple for next year. Now... on to the TOU Half!

Thanks SO MUCH to my support team - my mom & Jason (who watched the girls while I trained & mom swam with me), my dad (who ran with me on Saturday), and of course my girls (who are my inspiration & reason I tri!)

Here's some pics from the big day: