Spring Classic Duathlon - from home...

Event location: Amboy - by the base of Mt Tum Tum
Number of participants - 1
Weather conditions - wet and cold

There is a duathlon 5k walk/jog - 15 miles on a bike - 5k walk/jog  - that they do today in Portland near the airport.  I have done this event 2 times in the past, one with good weather, and another with not so good weather...

If I had gone there today the weather would be iffy at best...

I found a creative solution...  I did the duathlon from home...

Planned out my layering for the walk/jog portion of it by wearing a long sleeve shirt, a vest and a windbreaker. Found a winter headband to wear to keep my ears warm and the headphones in... (priorities right?)

The first leg - 3.24 miles (just over 5K) of walking/jogging

Got my GPS all ready and started it out and went out on my first leg.  Walked the 1/4 mile to the end of our gravel road and then started my jogging/walking rotation. I would jog for 60 rotations (sets of paces) and then walk for 120. Worked really well as this is the first time that I have tried doing this in anything of endurance length. Cut some good time off of my average mile too!

I had used the car to map out the landmark of where I would be turning around for the out and back to come out to close to 5K (or 3.1 miles) ended up with a bit more than that, but it's all good... This allowed me to not really need to pay attention to my GPS, but just to allow it to keep track of the time and speed I went.  It was raining pretty steadily so I adjusted the hood on the windbreaker to come down around my face a bit more & still maintained a hole to be able to see out of...  LOL

This first leg went really well and quickly as I got lost in the music and the concentration on counting out the paces for my walking/jogging rotation. Got back in 47 minutes, averaging 14:24 minutes/mile.

The second leg - 15 miles of cycling

The thought had crossed my mind of possibly riding this out on the country roads, but the weather nixed that idea totally...  So my bike remained in one place in the garage on the training stand (allows you to ride your road bike in place like a stationary bike).  I had originally planned on trying to watch something on the internet, but when the internet connection would not connect to the computer I was using, I took that as a sign that I was supposed to continue reading in the Love and Logic for Teens book I have.

Felt almost like cheating because I was able to concentrate on something else in the time it took me to ride the 15 miles...  I would alternate between sitting up all the way and not holding on and leaning over like I would have been riding out on the open road. My back usually gets pretty sore leaning over, so being able to alternate was a blessing in this instance.

I was cooking (warm) while doing this - and the air in the garage (where my equipment is set up for right now) is cold. It was so funny to look down at my arm and see that dew had accumulated on my arm!!!

I completed the 15 miles in 57 minutes and 25 seconds - averaging 15.7 MPH - woo hoo...

Time for a bit of fueling up - ate a snack and had a bit more water...

The final leg - 3.24 miles walking/jogging

When getting ready to go back out and walk again I went to put back on the windbreaker I had - that was a no go, it was soaked through - and I didn't want to start out wet...  So I grabbed another jacket I had and adjusted everything to go along with it. Changed back into my walking/jogging shoes and headed back out again - telling my hubby to have a camera ready for when I came back in about 45 minutes...  He made note of the time and said "OK..."

Back out there again. It was just drizzling at the start and then developed back into full rain again...  I was amazed that I was able to get back into the walk/jog rotation again after having done the time on the bike. The first cycle was a bit difficult, but I got right back into the groove again.

Nothing much eventful on this leg again - definitely is different doing an "event" and not having other people to watch. (Reminds me of the Newport Marathon I did where I was virtually alone for 4.5 of the 6+ hours it took me to do the marathon!)  I did have company of some cows, horses and birds.  A few cars went by in the time I was out there, but not too many...

I had lots to think about having just gotten a bunch of stories from Mom about their blessed adventure they are having in Vietnam. I kept thinking about how amazing it is that my Dad is able to push through each and every day and every ache and pain he has with all the ailments he has... I am so proud of him!

For being the third leg of the duathlon I felt really good...  As I was approaching the finish line (aka home) I could see hubby outside - he spotted me and was scurrying around the house to run in and get the camera!  Silly man - told me I was speedy quick!!!  LOL  I finished this 3.24 miles in 46 minutes averaging 14:06 minutes per mile.

I am so happy that I chose to figure out this creative solution to be able to do the duathlon without going all the way to Portland and back to do it - not knowing what the weather was going to be like and all... (don't get me wrong if it was going to be sunny and all today I probably would have gone all the way there and participated in person.)

Sweaty and wet, but proud to be done!

Here are my results:
Leg 1:  3.23 miles - 47 minutes of walking/jogging
Leg 2: 15 miles - 57:25 minutes of cycling
Leg 3: 3.24 miles - 46 minutes of walking/jogging
Total distance: 21.47 miles in  2hrs 30 minutes (not counting about 5 minutes of transition in between each leg)

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me...

Max Muscle Half Marathon

Today was my first 1/2 marathon of 2010... 

It started out a bit chilly, but overcast with promises of burning off eventually - so I was indecisive if I wanted to take off my coat before I started or not...  Almost wished I had on a shirt with long sleeves so I could have just pushed them up when I got warm, but it all worked anyhow...

I got to the starting location in Hazel Dell plenty early, after all I had been able to sign up for a free trial - to use a heart rate monitor for the walk and be able to see the results afterwards.  www.stressthenrest.com is the organization that was offering this - more about that later...

I got all set up with the polar heart rate monitor that would record my heart rate every 5 seconds and store it for us to look at later. Then I sort of wandered around a bit and chattered with a couple people and before I knew it, it was time to start!

There were no timing chips for this one, it was just them starting the time when they said GO - and I started my Garmin (GPS) when I went across the starting line - as I had let the runners go ahead so as to not risk being trampled (not really) shortly after the start...

If you look closely at everyone at the starting line - they all have one thing in common... They are all poised to start their watches/timers at the the moment that the race is STARTED... :)

We did a circle around the parking lot we started in & then off over into some neighborhoods to walk around and not be out contending with much traffic. There was great support from volunteers and from the Clark County Sheriff's department to help with the crossings at the major roads. It was sure appreciated to not have to stop and wait for a chance to cross!

I love this picture - tempted to purchase an actual copy (minus the copyright stamp - lol...)

We did a silly little jaunt up a cul-de-sac and a little turnaround - probably to help pad the mileage a bit more to get us up to the full 13.1 miles.  Down through a bunch of residential streets and then we ended up over by the Klineline pond. Was interesting going down a big hill and being able to see that we were going to go down all the way to the bottom - which meant we were going to have to go back up later!!  

It was really pretty once we got down by the water - Klineline Pond met up with Salmon Creek and we ended up on the Salmon Creek trail. I had never been on this trail before, but it was really nice, paved with asphalt and a decent width (when people were paying attention and would allow others to pass).  Our event was out on this trail as well as the normal people out for a Sunday stroll. There were older couples walking dogs, young parents pushing strollers, a few on bikes, and quite a few with cameras that were out bird watching... :)  Oh I could have taken some neat pictures - perhaps I will return sometime for that purpose... :)

Found a few pictures of the trail area - that were taken by the race photographers...

This part on the trail was an out and back - where everyone went out to the end of the trail and turned around and came back. This meant that we got to see everyone that was ahead of us. The lead person was being led by a guy on a bike - and he sure was going fast & didn't look like he was even winded!!  And then we got to see the rest one by one go by us...  It was neat to see while it lasted...  As people trickled by from about mile 5 to about mile 8 and then I was pretty much by myself other than meeting up with the occasional volunteer that was there to cheer us on or hand out a cup of water.

Out on the end of the trail where we were ready to turn around my cell phone rang!  I was surprised that it rang, so I answered to find that it was my friend (aka boss) calling to tell me he had gone by the starting/finish line after church (he was headed into our office which is 1/2 mile from the start) to see what was going on. He said "The first woman just went across the finish line - I figured you would be right behind her!"  LOL he's so funny... And the even funnier part of all of this is I was trying to talk to him on the phone at the one spot that they were taking pictures!  It will be funny if my only race picture has me talking on a cell phone!  LOL

If you look closely through the copyright in my right hand you will see the cell phone that I was holding on to - just having gotten done talking to my silly friend (as mentioned above!)

Except for one spot coming off the trail by the softball fields - the course was well marked, usually with a sign pointing the direction we needed to go, and a person pointing too... But by the softball fields there were several ways you could go - I went straight where I should have veered to the left... I a bit miffed when I finally realized that I should have gone the other way - only had gone a minute or two out of my way - but at that point I didn't find any humor in it...  I was tired!

I did really enjoy doing an update onto Facebook while walking...  I posted at 3, 6, 9, 11 miles and each time when I went to do an update from my phone there would be replies to my post & they were great inspiration...  "Go get them!"  "The weather is perfect," "Way to go girl..."  They were so neat to get :)...  What did we do before all this technology??

Back to more of the walk details...

Most of the trail portion of the walk (I walked others ran/jogged) was flat, with a few rolling hills here and there. Coming back out of the trail area was a different story - definitely had some hills to go back up...  One step at a time and I made it...  The thing that made me chuckle the most was the gal at the last water station telling me that I had made it to the top of the last big hill... Well she was MISTAKEN... there was still another hill past her that was every bit as big!!!  Oh well - I made it up all of them :)

Before I knew it I came out of a neighborhood and could see the shopping complex where the finish line would be... I got to cross the street again - with the help of another police officer that stopped the traffic, and then walk all the way around the complex to funnel back into center where we had started...  I was looking around for my friend that sounded like he might be there for the finish, but didn't see his truck or him...

Little did I know he was there - I didn't notice him until a few minutes after I finished...

He snapped the following picture:

You can tell I didn't know he was there & it looks silly because the other side of the sign says "FINISH" and this side says Start...  But hey... You can see me telling my GPS that I was done... :)

Here's a preliminary finish photo from the event photographer - waiting for the photographer to post more to share:

The above is not a picture of me - but a picture of the final finishers of the event... I was impressed that this husband and wife walked the whole thing... They used every bit of the generous 4 hour time limit - but I was much impressed that they did it!

It was great to have someone to chatter with for a few minutes & a bit later after I had rested a bit more I was off to turn in the POLAR heart rate stuff...  The guy downloaded the data (which I should be able to share here as soon as I get it) onto his laptop & was able to show me that my heart is healthy... I stayed right in between 130-140 for the whole event!  He said out of the people that had the data logged today, mine was the closest to what it should be for the duration... :)  He and I talked a bit more about how I could utilize data like this to help with ultimate fat burning in my workouts... And he suggested I have VO2 testing done to figure out the optimum range for my fat burning...  I may look into that at a future date...  :)

Here's the heart rate chart...  The majority of the activity being in the green range is GOOD... :)

All in all this was a great event - I felt good with my finishing time of 3 hours and 13 minutes & that I was able to accomplish a 1/2 marathon without all that much training...

What's next?  A Duathlon the end of March :)

Ridgefield 1/2 Marathon

September 13th - I did the Ridgefield 1/2 marathon... Have to come back in here and add pictures and details when I get a chance...

Ridgefield 10K

July 4th, 2009

I had the great opportunity to do this 10k with a good friend of mine - Jericho.

We hadn't seen each other in a long time & it really helped us to keep our mind off of walking and helped our time...

We finished in 90 minutes... Pretty good for 6.2 miles! :)

Wish I could convince her to do lots more events with me!

North Olympic Discovery 1/2 Marathon

June 7, 2009 I did this one while we were in Port Angeles visiting my in-laws...

I finished with a SLOW time of 3 hours and 40 minutes & two VERY VERY bad blisters on my feet from some tears that were in the lining of my shoes... YIKES... Will check that before doing that long of a distance again!

But I had a great time...

Time to update this again!

I am going to have to back track and find out what things I have done since October of 2006 -surely there have to be more than a few in there... I will post them as I remember and hopefully get caught up...

I want to keep this active so that I keep encouraging myself to be active as well... :)

Olympic Medical Center 10K

Today I walked a 10k (6.2 miles) in Port Angeles, WA...

It was a cool and foggy fall morning in Port Angeles...
I got all registered for the event, stashed my purse and the event shirt into the car & went back to the starting area to people watch for a bit.

Then I got to have fun watching the kid's Fun Run... I think they ran 1/2 mile total... But it sure was cute listening to a few little ones recant how they "walked a little and ran to catch up with someone else they wanted to beat!" Too cute!

Soon it was time to start myself... I stayed to the back of the chutes since I knew I would be walking & there is no reason to get in the way of the other people that want to run/jog.

Got off to a quick start along with those doing the 5K... I think there was 175 people in all... 75 doing the 5k and 100 doing the 10k.

This was a beautiful course along the waterfront in Port Angeles... 2/3 of it asphalt and 1/3 rock/packed dirt. Really pretty with the waterfront/water and waves to one side and pretty forest type greenery...

I ended up back with about 15-20 walkers... But we spread out pretty quickly... I was behind an older lady for a bit of time that was walking and jogging... She would walk just long enough for me to catch up with her & I would make a move to pass her and she would jog again! GRRR...

Finally I passed her only to have to stop in front of her and get rid of some uninvited little rocks in my shoe... Wasn't long before I was ahead of her again and for good...

I got to the 10k turnaround at just under 43 minutes... Pretty good in my thoughts... (I hadn't done any distance over 3 miles since my Portland to Coast walk 7 weeks ago!)

Turned around and headed back... Pretty much alone since we had spaced out so much... Since it was an out and back course I was met by the 10 or so people behind me... All smiles having fun!

Also met by a HUGE dog and his owner on the course... The owner was on an adult sized scooter and the dog had been pulling him along... The dog was very interested in the people on the trail... He was HUGE... He stood a good 4 ft tall... (He would have loved to play with Dukie I bet) He and the owner proceeded further through the people in front of me... The owner having quite a time trying to keep control of him... Quite comical if you ask me...

So on the rest of the way back I was following a young lady that had run the fun run & decided she wanted to do the 10k with her mom as well... She hadn't kept up with her mom so she left her on her own to finish up the race... I spoke with her enough to find out that she was nine years old and the two of them (her and her mom) had been doing races together, but she hadn't done more than a 5k... This was the first time she attempted this distance! Impressive... She kept walking until I got up close to her and she would run to put more space between us... Eventually I caught up to her and talked with her a bit and then passed her... I was impressed at her maturity and dedication to completing the walk...

Soon I came around a corner and was able to see the finish line... Funny thing was I didn't have my MP3 player with me so I was thinking of the beats to my favorite song to finish events with... Crazy Frog... So I was singing the song/beats of the song to myself out loud as I finished the last 3/4 mile or so...

It helped me finish strong and quickly... Finishing it with a time of 1 hour 25 minutes... :o)

Just 5 minutes more than my last 10 k time and with little training over 3 miles... :o)

Another fun memory...

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