First Triathlon: Tri for Fun 8.21.2010

My first tri is over and done with and I can honestly say not only did I have a great time doing it, but I met all of my personal goals!

Laryssa helping me pin on my very official bib!

I participated on Saturday in the 23rd annual Tri for Fun in Pleasanton, CA and I have to say that it is a great race if you are looking to do your first tri race in a not super competitive environment. Before the race I was really worried that no one was going to be crazy enough to wake up at 4 am to go to a tri race in Pleasanton and I would only be one of a hand full of people competing- which would have been intimidating and sad. Luckily, there are plenty of crazy people who want to get up early, pay money to work out and be in Pleasanton way too early in the morning! I should never underestimate the outdoorsy-ness of Bay area folk!

Pre-race photo with a back drop of all the people participating. I am looking very sleepy eyed in this photo because well- I was very sleepy! A big thank you to Laryssa and Andrew who woke up pre-sunlight to watch me race. You're the best!

About 1,000 people were competing that day and most of them were tri newbies like myself! That made the whole feel of the race very welcoming. A few days prior to the event I was starting to get a bit nervous and second guess my ability to even finish this short little tri, but once there at the event, the fact that so many people were new like me, made all the pre-race butterflies go away.

I was definitely happy that I had gone a few weeks before to watch Brian's race so I wasn't totally clueless on what to do/ expect. But it was nice that they had people there assisting you in setting up, understanding the course and walking you through the ins and outs of the whole experience.

Everyone waiting for their swim leg to start.

The swim was a short 400 meter in warm 70 degree water- no wetsuit needed thankfully! Those things are a pain in the ass as I am realizing. I got some really good advice pre-race from Brian to just sprint when the race starts so that you can get away from the throngs of other swimmers and have some actual room to swim. So I waded up right into the front of the crowd and started the race with a nice sprint to the first marker. I had SO much adrenaline going at that point that all my training to pace myself went out the window and I ended up sprinting the whole 400 meters- which isn't too bad cause it was a short distance. This turned out to be good because I ended up being one of the first girls in my division out of the water. Laryssa and Andrew said that they had to run over to the transition area to even see me get out of the water. Ok, swim part done!

Waiting with Laryssa for my portion of the swim to start. It was quite cold outside of the water, but once inside it was a great sprinting temperature.

The biking was 15 miles, short, not hilly and actually really beautiful. It was a really nice ride and we were all able to go pretty fast due to the mostly flat terrain. I did quite a bit of passing on my bike (but don't worry all those people whizzed past me when it came time to run!) and it was quite the array of bikes that people were racing with. Some people had full out tri bikes with special wheels and tri handle bars and others were doing the race in totally beat up old bikes or beach cruisers. It was a huge mix.

Lastly, the run... my nemesis! All I can say about the run is this- I really wanted to stop running- often, but all I could think of was 'what will I tell Laryssa if I stop running and walk? She will kill me!' Oh and she would know if I walked- since she pretty much knows my running times and ability (or lack there of!). Any ways like I said all those people I passed on the bike ride went right past me in the run! Hahaha! This race definitely showed me that I have a long ways to go before I am ready to really run an Olympic distance tri.

This was a hilly run on a loose gravel trail so there were some obstacles for me as a new runner, but I am very happy to say that while I ran slowly, I ran the whole time. Thus completing my goal of wanted to be able to start and finish my first triathlon without stopping in the middle.

I was also able to accomplish my other goal which was to finish in under an hour and a half. I finished at 1 hour 14 minutes with the winner finishing at 55 minutes. I am super super happy with that time and am glad that it is my jumping off point for future races.

Finishing the race after being passed up on the run by many many people. But finishing strong. my actual time was 1:14- you have to deduct 15 minutes from the time due to the swimming wave I started in.

All in all I think that this race was great closure to a summer of training and I can say that I fell in love with this sport. Sadly, for the next few months I need to back off of the training so that I can get my grad school applications over and done with. Also so that I can save some money for X-mas and 2011 races (the start up for this sport is mad expensive!)

However, since I am reducing my training schedule it has opened up time for me to really start to teach Laryssa to swim! We have started with the basics (kicking and breathing) but I am hoping to get her ready to do some tris in 2011! I can not wait to see her progress in the pool and be at HER first sprint triathlon! In exchange she is going to attempt to make me a runner :)

We'll have to see how the trade off goes for the next few months! I am sure there will be many peg-leg days in my future, but I do feel satisfied to know that Laryssa will also be feeling the burn from swimming!!