My first of two triathlons this year is done! Yesterday morning I got up at 4:15 am (after sleeping on the couch so my dear mother could use my bed, given that she was kind enough to sleep over and babysit Eliana all morning) and dashed out the door to pick up my favorite athletic event friend, Lisa Wallace. Lisa & I are tight, when it comes to these sorts of things - not only have we done two triathlons together, but we also spent an entire week bicycling across Iowa. This required sleeping next to each other in a TINY, TINY tent, with no wriggle room - and I'll be honest, I do snore. Thankfully the experience only made our friendship stronger. :) Lisa surprised me by making me the MOST AWESOME CHEERING SIGN. You'll see it again at future Year of Racing Slowly events!
We then drove all the way to Naperville, and while Lisa stopped in the Starbucks and schlepped our stuff from the car to the race start, I rode my bike to the transition area and got set up. For those not so familiar with sprint triathlons, first you swim 1/2 mile, then run a short distance to transition and grab your bike, then bike 14.2 miles, head back into transition and rack your bike, then head out on the 3.1 mile run. There's always a wonderful nervous energy in the early morning as everyone lays out their gear. Here's me around 6:30 am.
The triathlon started at 7:00 am, and they start small groups, called waves, every 4 minutes - my wave started at 8:36 am, so Lisa & I had plenty of time to sit and chat. The swim is at Centennial Beach, which is a beautiful place with lots of green grass and trees. Here's the race start:
I am proud to say that I did the entire swim front stroke, rather than backstroke (as I've done every other triathlon). I'm sure I had the worst form ever, and I was breathing so hard from the excitement and exertion that I had to lift my head out of the water way more frequently than I do just training in the pool, but I did it! The swim is always the hardest part for me, so that's why I look so happy running with my wetsuit on my way to transition:
The bike part was fun, as always, and I made sure to drink my entire water bottle, because it was HOT. The run went well too, though the first half mile or so is always so hard because your legs are used to pedaling, and when you switch to running they feel like wood. But I pressed on, and lots of spectators in the neighborhoods we ran through had set up their lawn sprinklers to go over the run course, and at the water stations they also had ice that I rubbed on my neck as I ran. I forgot to take a picture after the finish (I was very eager to get back to my little Elly) but just imagine me sweaty, sunburnt, and happy with a finishers medal around my neck. I finished in 1 hour, 39 minutes and 18 seconds - which is 25 seconds faster than my time in 2009 (1:39:43) and 81 seconds faster than my time in 2010 (1:40:39). Yay!
A big shout out to Lisa for being with me the whole morning and cheering me on with that very sparkly sign - you all should save the date for August 26th, because that's the (international distance: double everything I did yesterday!) Chicago Triathlon downtown. Come cheer me on! :)
You rock Danika and Lisa too! I hope to do a Triathalon someday, likely a sprint, and loved reading about your experience yesterday. I have some friends who were there doing their first one yesterday and had an awesome experience too. I am so proud of you being almost 1/2 way through your year of racing! I also know how much it means to have people like Lisa to train with and cheer for you. So huge kudos to her! I don't know if I will ever run a marathon, but I love going as a spectator and following/cheering for my sister-in-law! Congrats again on another great race! xoxo
ReplyDeleteLove the report! It's still my goal to do a sprint triathlon not in a pool. Though I am a horrible swimmer.
ReplyDeleteWhen you mention your causes again, you should add that another valuable benefit of donating through you is that you don't have to get mail from the institution. I donated directly to the Civic Education Project so I could get cash back from my credit card and now I get mail from Northwestern every week.