Run. Bike. Swim.

Saturday morning started bright and early (really early) in Anthem, Arizona for the annual reverse triathlon. This is my first triathlon ever, and I'm not going to lie, I was 40% excited and 60% nervous! The morning started out stressful as we left late, made more stops on the way there then I had planned... had to go home to GET the number that I apparently had left at the house (race numbers are important?!? What's that all about?) Yet, somehow we made it, and even got there a little early, giving me time to calm.

Here is a before picture of me.

They write your race number on your right arm and your age on your right leg. To say this brings out the competitive beast in me would be an understatement. I found myself looking at every one's leg as I was passing them (or when they were passing me). If their age was in the same bracket as mine, I got extra competitive. It definitely made the game more fun.

The first event was running, a 5K. I came in 9th overall for females, 3rd for my age bracket, with a time of 26:47. It wasn't my fastest 5K, but then again, I have never ran a 5K and followed it up with another sport. We ran a beautiful course and ended up in the parking lot in the transition area. I have decided that the transitions between sports is a sport all on it's own. You have to remember where you put you stuff, get to it, change out, and get out of the transition area as fast as possible. I believe that this is where I lost most of my time. I got my bike, put on my gloves, took off my visor, put on my helmet and went to the "red line". This is when the worker at the line lectured me for not taking off my ipod (even though I didn't even have head phones IN my ears). Eventually he decided I was good, but didn't tell me I could go whenever... so I waited. I probably lost a minute in just that. Eventually I was off, so no big harm done.

The bike course had some slope to it. There were parts that were hard, and parts that made up for the major climbs. It was a 20K, which amounted to roughly 3-4.5mile loops and the to and from. I felt good about my biking, but definitely learned the difference between a mountain bike (which I have) and a street bike in that race. Those people on street bikes were flying past me like there was no tomorrow. I suppose if this were a sport I got real serious about, I could definitely see the benefit of a street bike. But in the meanwhile, my mountain bike is just fine.
I got a lot of compliments during my bike ride. The biggest two were my outfit (which I picked found specifically for this race because I had to be able to do all 3 events in the same outfit) and my smile. I do smile a lot while I'm running and apparently while I'm biking too. I have had this compliment in every event I have participate in, but for some reason it meant more to me this time.

I finished the bike portion (including the transitions) in 55:42. I timed my loops at about 15.5 minutes a piece, so I really think my transition time is to blame for a lot of time loss. O-well. Live and Learn.

The final event was swimming. I don't have any pictures of the swim or the finish because Brandon had Oliver and it was too crowded to get him in the pool area. At the transition from bike to swim, I took off my glasses. This was helpful during the swim, but made it really hard to find where I was suppose to go. Some really helpful worker saw me running around aimlessly and pointed me to the pool. I am embarrassed to admit that I didn't realize I was that blind. The swim was only 400m. This required us to swim 8 laps (in 8 different lanes) a total of 2 times. The pool was crazy crowded, and I could feel people hitting my legs and I know I was bumping into other swimmers. It was fun though. It took me 11:30 to complete the swim and run through the finish line (this is including my blind "I'm lost and can't find the pool entrance nor can I find the first lane of the swim" time. Once again, live and learn). When I do this event again (and I will) I will know what to expect!

I had so much fun with this tri. I know I will be doing more in my future. I think I found my newest addiction (up there with marathons).

My favorite posters during the race where:

"I'm Proud of You, Mom"

"Suck it up, Buttercup, everyone is watching"

and

"Keep on Tri-ing"

(all these posters were made by and for someone other than myself; however, they were sincerely appreciated)
Oh, I forgot, I finished 33/83 overall for the females, and 6/15 for my age bracket. Not too shabby.