Sunday, July 11, 2010

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:



6 comments:

Lena Baron said...

Heidi, that is so so so awesome! You are amazing! Congratulations! Great example for your girls!!!

Get Hooked said...

You rock lady!!!! 6th is awesome. Especially with having a baby. Congrats. Miss you guys!

Ryan and Shannan Hoffman said...

Way to go!! You are my inspiration!

Melissa said...

Great job! Wish I had your motivation. And 6th is 1st in my book ;)

Trish-the ad-match Queen said...

Heidi-I'm so proud of you big sis! Seriously, something I don't think I could ever do. You're so freaking buff and in shape! I love you! Way to go!!!

Molly Bice-Jackson said...

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! I hate it when there are too many people. You are a rockstar!!!