Vancouver Women's Triathlon - June 18th

My 6th Triathlon was the anniversary of my first! I've come a long way baby! LOL

I was so lucky at this event to have my family along with me... It was great! I had a personal photographer, and a cheering squad on the sidelines for me when I finished the swim & the walk portion of the triathlon. Made for some great encouragement!

Now to tell this triathlon story.

We arrived by 8am (a full hour before the start time as they suggested). We unloaded my gear and headed over to get my race packet. I couldn't believe they were giving me a swim cap that had me starting in the middle wave of swim starters... I am usually in the last wave, so I was immediately worried about being "run over/swam over" by those starting after I did. We headed on over to the transition area. (one of the most lax ones I have been to about letting people in and out.) I got body marked, on my upper arm and the back of my calf this time. Headed to the bike racks & selected where I wanted to be (not enough people there for them to have assigned places).

Set up my stuff, put on the timing chip (on an ankle band), numbered my bike & double checked everything. The kids were antsy to look around more, so we headed down to look at the water. There was no keeping them off the sand until later... They were all over the sand and it wasn't long before they had their shoes and socks off and were splashing around and having a blast! There was no tearing them away from that, so I headed up alone to get my wetsuit on. Back down to the water's edge & watching them splash around more... Too cute!

(If you want to see the images larger, just click on them and a new window will open up with the full sized image)
Before I knew it, it was time to get going in the water.



Last year we started the triathlon waist deep in the water, this year they had us starting clear out in the water - out at a buoy! The first wave was off & I just started my back float swimming out to the buoy to start at. I got there and started treading water to wait, but that was taking up too much energy to stay there. I back floated in one place to relax a bit & then they were counting down the time to start 7-6-5-4-3-2-1... It was official, we were starting.




I just stayed back letting as many of the gals go by that I could and I was off and going on my back. I tried my front for a bit, but I end up drinking too much of the water, and I still get too overwhelmed about the distance I still have left to go... So on my back is the way I am comfortable... Swim, swim, swim, swim. Bump into someone. Look up and correct my direction. Swim, swim, swim. The next wave of people were starting out. It wasn't too bad when most of them passed me. I was out past 2 buoys by then & I just put myself out away from the closest lane so they could pass me easily. (not all of them passed me anyways...) Having them coming up behind me actually helped because I was able to keep an eye on them coming up behind me & I could align myself along with them. Worked pretty well other than I kept doing it (peeking up) and my neck got sore!

I kept going and going and going like an energizer hippo (they swim slowly right?)... I rested a few times just floating on my back, but then I kept thinking if I just keep going I will be done faster! The silly swim cap came off my head at one point, I panicked for a few seconds about that, tucking it into the neck of my wetsuit so I didn't have to hold it the whole time. Mentally I worried about them not knowing what wave I was in since I didn't have the cap on, but eventually I didn't care, I just kept swimming... LOL

When I finally made the turn that I was perpendicular to the beach & headed back in, it seemed like FOREVER to get close enough to the shore to stand up. Eventually I was alerted that I was close enough by S screaming "HI MOM!" at me!!!

I stood up and waved at them & felt the full weight of my body come back to me as I trapsed out of the water. I asked Mike what time it was & figured out real quick that I had done the swim in 34 minutes... (Actual time the race people had was even shorter at 32 minutes) I was so happy & energized about that! The last time I swam a 1/2 mile in open water (last year) it took me 40 minutes (with a rocky start though...)





So up the hill I went to my bike. Peeled off the wetsuit easily. Dried off a bit & put on my socks and shoes for the biking. Ahh yeah, I needed the helmet too.

This transistion had a special treat in it too. Someone else was in the transistion doing something special. Something that was going to make for a long transistion time... She was breastfeeding her infant son! I told her that was dedication to be able to do an event & take time to nurse in the transistion area! Too sweet...

So off again I went. Walking my bike out to the "mount" area & pedaling away I went, with a smile on my face, for I had just finished the hardest part (for me) and was on to the biking that was FUN, FUN, FUN to me!

I was out and going... Enjoying the country setting seeing lots of fields, cows and calves. One field had to of had 25 calves in it, I was looking at them for so long that I almost rode off the road! (not good) Back into concentrating on my ride... I was cruising along. Catching up with others on their bikes. A lot of them on mountain bikes (where I was last year), only my new road bike allowed me to be able to catch up with them & pass them. I maintained an average speed of 17 mph... 42 minutes 12 seconds to go 12 miles...

I had a blast again doing the bike portion... It is just fun to get out there and go quickly. No slowing down because I am not the greatest swimmer, or because I choose to walk instead of running. Just pedal, pedal, pedal. It is sort of the "equalizer" for me...

Back into Vancouver Lake Park, off the bike at the "dismount" line. Had to talk to my legs to convince them that it was time to WALK again. Parked my bike, changed my shoes. Sat on my bucket that I had brought along this time - and got a comment from a husband of another participant about what a neat idea it was to use the bucket. I told him "Yeah I learned this trick last weekend doing another triathlon."

I carried in some of my gear in it, it was perfect to sit on while I was changing shoes & great to put my wet wetsuit into when we were leaving!

So I had my walking shoes on, took another drink of water quickly, grabbed a little bag of cookies I had & I was off again... Walking, walking, walking...

I had a lot of fun trying to catch up with a gal in front of me that was mixing it up walking a bit, then jogging a bit. I caught up to her & would get ahead of her & then she would jog again & get ahead of me... We paced each other most of the way. Was actually a good motivator.

Other motivations were three different people that were jogging and caught up with me & said something on their way by. One was telling me I was all muscle since I was walking... That it took so much more power to keep walking, while the runners were using momentum to keep going...

The next comment was how many more calories I was burning because I was working so hard to keep the pace up walking. And she said she had been trying to catch me for such a long time.

The final one was a gal that came up behind me & told me I was her new inspiration, that I had done so well, kicking her butt on the bike (I passed her) and going so strong on the walk... These comments were just neat to hear... Bigger triathlons and such are all so competitive and big that no one ever has time or takes time to communicate with each other. This smaller scale one with just women was different! :o)



I was finishing up the walk when I spotted Mike and the kids in the park. It was cool to see them run up along side me. They wanted to hug me, I told them they would have to wait, but they could run with me to the finish line. They ran along side me for a bit, but ran out of steam quickly at Mom's pace. They watched me finish and get my medal & then I came back for hugs and kisses.



I was excited thinking I had finished in 2 hours and 2 minutes... (compared with 2.5 hours last year) but then I heard the time of the next person coming across the finish line - and she was just over 2 hours, so my time had to have been less that two hours.



I went and looked at the computer results to find that I had broken the 2 hour mark! 1 hour 59 minutes and 47 seconds! :o) I swam 1/2 mile & beat my time from the previous weekend! :o)



This was a very fun time with the nice cooler weather, nice atmosphere, being an all women's event & having the cheering squad at the end as well... :o)

My time breakdowns: (it's not about the time for me, more than just finishing these events, but I love looking back and seeing my personal improvements)

Swim - 1/2 mile - 32 minutes 4 seconds
Transition 1 - 5 minutes 7 seconds
Bike - 12 miles - 42 minutes 12 seconds
Transition 2 - 2 minutes 36 seconds
Walk - 5K/3 miles - 37 minutes 47 seconds

Total Time: 1 hour 59 minutes 47 seconds

Blue Lake Triathlon - June 10th

I completed my 5th Triathlon today! :o)

I left home about 6:35 thinking that would give me plenty of time to drive 15 miles to Blue Lake Park and get my packet and be in the transition area by 7:45. Driving there was no problem. It was just waiting in the line with 150+ cars to get into Blue Lake Park that took a long time...

I was watching other people that had carpooled, or a family member had driven them there, they were hopping out of their cars and jogging into the park, or hopping onto their bikes and riding into the park... I couldn't find the auto-pilot on my car, so I had to wait through the line.

Once I got in, and parked, I was thankful that I had all my gear ready to be able to hop out of the car with a bag on one shoulder, unload the bike & go...

Found where to pick up my packet, got it, my t-shirt & my goodie bag and headed to the transition area. Stopped to get my lovely body marking... Race number on one calf & age on the other... (Where else do you get to display your age to everyone? LOL) Into the transition area (a big corral of bike racks with numbers on the end of them). Found the rack with my race number and started to get everything set up...

Chatted with people around me, all of the people that entered the event in the "Tri-it/Novice" division were all grouped together, so it was fun to talk about our experiences, or lack thereof. I wandered around a bit. Looking at the water, people watching and just passing time.

Around 8am when the first waves of people were starting in the water, I made a few phone calls - the dr's office, the babysitter, and Mike. Ahh what did I do before having a cell phone?

I finally figured it was time to get the wetsuit on. Went on easily, with the exception of the cuffs on the arms... They are TIGHT... I pulled at them trying to stretch them out a bit, no go. Finally figured out I could fold them up once and it made it more comfortable. Did one more check of the gear, making sure I had the stuff out for the transition from Swim to Bike.

I headed down to the waterfront & watched the people out doing the full 1/2 mile swim and the people getting ready to start. There were 9 waves of people starting 2-5 minutes apart. I was in the last wave... It was finally time to get into the water... Brr... I slowly advanced into the water, the wetsuit sure made a difference... I wasn't really cold until I had to get my arms wet in the water...

We were off... Like a herd of puppies dog-paddling... Just kidding... I tried doing the breast-stroke for a bit, but one big gulp of water killed that idea... It was onto my back I went... (What I have done previously in these open water swims) The wet suit was great! It kept my core warm & helped with buoyancy... Swim, swim, swim, that's what I did... I would peek every little bit to make sure I was on track for going the right direction. Yep on course, and making way, slowly but surely...

By the time I was heading into the shore I was so ready to be able to stand up and walk. I tried a few times, but was still too deep... But when I could stand up I was so happy... Finished with the most difficult part of the triathlon (for me).

I trudged my way out of the water - feeling the full effect of the change in the feeling of your body when you go from water (feeling like you weigh less) to air again... I had the people on the shore laughing when I got to the hill I had to climb up to get to the transition area "Who put this hill here??"

Once I was up the hill I started stripping off my wetsuit. Felt like I was in handcuffs for a minute or two while I worked to get my arms free from the suit. I had it peeled off down to my waste by the time I got to my bike. Easy to find since I was one of the last people out of the water & most everyone else had already left on their bikes.

Got the suit off the rest of the way, dried off a bit & got socks and shoes on. Added a long sleeve biking jersey over the top of my sport tank. Put my helmet on and started to push my bike out of the area, to the mounting area. Onto the bike & off again to the easiest part of the triathlon for me. The biking is where I am able to make up time. I enjoyed myself on this out and back course. As always it is fun on an out and back course where you get to look at people coming back at you. Also it was very scenic along the Columbia river, with the river to one side of me & the road and industrial areas along Marine Drive on the other side.

I peddled along really well maintaining an average speed of 16 MPH... I was going as fast as 19 MPH for awhile on the way back... It was lots of fun. And as I said before, a way to make up time... I may have been one of the last ones out of the water, but in the biking I was definitely not the last... :o)

Came back in from the biking, always fun to stop the bike at the dismount area & remind my legs of what they need to do again to walk... Made my way back to my stuff to change my shoes and get a quick snack. Off again walking this time. Got into a rhythm quickly and just walked, walked, walked...

Went pretty quickly considering that I was walking and out there a bit longer than most were since I only saw a few other people walking the 5K portion. Got up to the turn around and grabbed some water to drink, always fun to "chug" water quickly so you don't have to worry about a place to get rid of the cup later... (no littering...)

Headed back in and going as fast as my body would let me (not as fast as if I had just been walking). Finished up the walk in just over 41 minutes. And finished the whole thing in less than 2 hours!

This was a lot of fun. Have to wait for my medal to be mailed to me since they ran out, but that's ok... :o)

Here are the details of each section of the triathlon...
Swim - 1/4 mile - 16:05
Transition 1 - 5:34
Bike 12 miles - 45:24
Transition 2 - 3:26
5k Walk - 41:25
Total time: 1:51:54