THIS year, however... I still didn't exactly have the competition quaking in their boots, but I had trained and had all the right equipment, which made a huge difference. I even had the padded bike shorts, which I HIGHLY recommend. A friend who knows his stuff found me a road bike on Ebay--a red Specialized that I named the Firebolt. (When it arrived Ella and I were in the middle of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban".) Having been swimming 3-4 times a week for several months I knew exactly how long it would take me to do the swim, and I would have been dead accurate had there not been a pileup of slow people in front of me the last 50 meters. I passed one guy and accidentally elbowed him in the face. I am so hard core! I didn't crash spectacularly on the bike (I had only ridden it a few times by race day and was still a little nervous on it), and I ran most, but not all, of the 2 mile foot race. When I got off the bike, I had serious spaghetti legs and was amazed that I managed not to fall on my face. I had it better than some, though--as I started running, I could hear the guy behind me throwing up. I had the presence of mind to be grateful that he was behind me and not in front of me. (I am pretty sure he passed me soon after that.) I ended up coming in 4th in my age group in both the bike and the swim, but nearly last in the run. My first tri inspired me to swim, my second has got me running. I'm doing my next tri in a month--wish me luck! I'll be happy if I can run the 3 miles on my spaghetti legs and not throw up.
You can read all about my triathlete transformation at http://www.trainermomma.com/2011/05/katie-is-a-goal-getter/
2 comments:
YAY YAY YAY FOR KATIE!!!!!!
You go girl. Love this post. Gary and I so proud of you.
Post a Comment