Will Tri For Medals

Not just one medal but two!

My goals for my first Olympic distance triathlon were to not get eaten by a shark (relatively easy in fresh water), to finish the bike portion without any tears or a flat tire and finish the race upright and smiling.

It's amazing to me the range of emotions that you feel before, during, and after a race.

I usually spend most of the time immediately before a race wondering what in the world I was thinking when I signed up, wondering if I could switch to a shorter distance, and convincing myself that I am not going to embarrass myself.

Checking the water temp.  It better be cold enough for a wetsuit!

Twice?  You want us to swim around twice?

During the swim portion of the race I have a ridiculous amount of fun and think about how awesome the sport of triathlon is until of course I need to start thinking about getting out of the water and on the bike. 

I spend every km of the bike thankful that I still don't have a flat (seriously learn how to change a flat!), telling myself that I'll walk up the hills if I have to (hasn't happened yet) and thanking the universe that I'm still alive as I barrel down a hill (still working on peddling instead of braking while going down hills).  I count down the kilometres until the run which I always convince myself is going to be much better than swimming and cycling (lies).

Transition area.

Beautiful bike course on quiet country roads.

We turn around before this hill?  Right?

Beautiful farms.

Not last.

Post race I feel like a superhero and wonder why I worked myself into such a tither.  It is all kind of ridiculous.

I did not finish last!  I was pleased with my swim time and it was so much fun.  It is possible to laugh and swim.  Why can't there be more swimming and less cycling? 

I was happy to have made it through the bike portion of the race without a flat or wanting to lay on the ground kicking and screaming (hills, wind, and everyone passing me makes me a feel a little like doing this) but not so happy that I was passed by EVERY SINGLE PERSON who was competing in the Olympic distance.  On the upside I did run my fastest 10K.

I received a participation medal (yes, I've finally taken it off) as well as a medal for finishing second in my age category.  I will confess that there were only two of us (the other person finished an ENTIRE HOUR before I did) and I'm not entirely convinced that my friend Mariane didn't bribe someone else into giving me their medal but I'll take it!

In the end I had tonnes of fun and I can check another item of my  New Year's to do list .

If you are thinking that you would like give triathlon a try check out St. Joseph Island Triathlon.  It's a great race and very beginner friendly.

Will Run For T-Shirt

race swag

I'll run for a t-shirt.  I'll even swim, bike and then run for a t-shirt.  

I'll swim, bike and run for bagels and oranges

I'll even swim, bike and run for apples

note to self: there is no second chance if you pass up the donuts.

Lots of people will swim, bike, and run for donuts.

St. Joseph Coffee Roasters I love you!

Or even better they'll swim, bike, and run for coffee & donuts

It's interesting how chunks of fruit & pieces of bread become so much more exciting when you've survived lakeweed ( a.k.a seaweed), peddled your bike up hill for 10K and then death gripped your handle bars as you barrelled down hill for another 10K and ran 5K for good measure (and that's the sprint distance).

I recently decided to step WAY outside of my comfort zone and compete in the St. Joseph Triathlon.  It seems that I'm afraid of fish, snakes, weeds, drowning, road rash, flat tires, and the list goes on.  There were many nightmares about showing up for the triathlon without a shirt, not being able to get to the water, being late, etc.  My goal was survival to finish the race smiling (up until the race began I  wasn't entirely convinced that I wasn't going to drown or be run over by my own bike).

It turns out that I had TONNES of fun!  Surprisingly the swim was my favourite part.  I kept thinking as I was swimming "this is so awesome", "Oh, my goodness this is so awesome", "I love this" (I'm sure that's what everyone else was thinking).   I was even able to laugh my way through the seaweed that was plastered to my goggles at one point.

See the person in the lead?  That's not me.

My goal for the bike portion of the event was to just get through it without falling off or getting a flat tire.  It seemed the first 10K of the race was up hill.  At one point I was even convinced that there had to be something wrong with the bike because I was moving so slowly (nope, turns out it was just another hill).  There were a few sketchy corners and a little bit of wobbling but the bike ride wasn't as awful as I had imagined (did I mention that the only person that I biked faster than was approximately 25 years older than me?).

Finally, there was the run.  I have never been so happy to run. 

I look forward to my next finish line.   Ottawa here I come!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for oatmeal cookies, bananas and chocolate soy milk.