Black Ridge Triathlon 8/14/2010

Michelle and I at the finish line.

That is right, I participated in a triathlon. It was totally awesome and so much fun. It all started on a walk about a month ago when my friend Michelle told me she was going to participate in the Herriman triathlon and would I like to join her. It was a sprint triathlon, so none of the distances were too long. 1/4 (500 meter) mile swim, 14 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. Sure I could do this. I used to swim back in high school, 13 years ago, it couldn't be that hard to pick it up again. Mike had just purchased us some bikes the beginning of July so that we could get in shape, so I figured I had the biking thing down too. Now running, that is something I really don't like to do. I could walk your socks off, but running, no thanks, but I figured if I nothing else I could walk the 3 miles. So yes, Michelle had me convinced that I could do it. Since the course was right in our back yard, Michelle and I decided we would ride the bike course. I'm so glad we did, because it seemed flat but really it wasn't and on race day it was nice to know when the end was in sight. Again since I don't like running I didn't even "practice" that. I figured I would just wing it race day. We decided to try swimming the Wednesday before the race. Not sure in hind sight if that was a good idea or not. That night the water was freezing and it kind of psyched me out. I was worried the whole rest of the week about how cold it was going to be. One friday I really started freaking out and thinking I couldn't do it without a wet suit. Luckily, my great friend, Michelle, pulled through for me and found me a wet suit, so we were all ready to go Saturday morning. We were up bright and early at 5:00 AM. We went and checked in, placed our running gear that the second check point and like I said, since the course is right in our back yard, we drove to Michelle's house, parked the car and walked over to the lake, which was the first check in point. We set our bikes up and waited around with nervous anticipation for the race to start.
Finally around 7:45 things got under way. We waited our turn for the two groups of men to go before us. When it was time for the first ladies group (which we were in) to start we were ready and waiting on the beach. The signal went off and we headed toward the water. I thought I would stay back when it was time to go, but I was so excited I just got right in and went for it. Side note: Back in high school I was able to swim the 500 yard freestyle (which is about 450 meters) in about 6-7 minutes. It took me a little longer this time, about 15, but really let's not get hung up on numbers. :-) I was just glad I finished. I got out of the water and couldn't get my wet suit off. Good thing Mike and the boys had come up to watch. I ran over to him and he helped me get it off. I hurried and put on my shoes, hoped on my bike and away I went. The two time I had ridden the bike course before it had taken me an hour and a half. I really pushed it the day of the race, and it was nice that Mariah let me use her bike, it was a real street bike and a lot lighter than my cruiser, but I was able to finish the bike portion in just over an hour. I had told everyone that I thought it would take me about three hours to finish the race, so when I was done with the swim and bike in about an hour and fifteen minutes, I knew I had to let Mike know I would be done earlier, or he wasn't going to be at the finish line when I got there, so before I started my run, I sent him a quick text. Bike Done. He said it was a good thing too, or else he wouldn't have come. He thought I was going to take a lot longer. Now onto the run, fun stuff. I would run for as long as I could and then would give myself a minute or two break of walking. When the race first started I had meant to turn on my watch so that I could know how I was doing when I was out on the course, I had forgotten until about half way through the swim, so I knew I had to give myself an extra 5 minutes or so on time. When I was about a mile from being done, I looked down and the time was about 1:41. I could totally do this and come in under two hours I told myself, you just have to get your butt in gear. I kept going and it paid off. I finished the run in about 38 minutes, giving myself a time of 1:57.13. Holy Cow, you do not know how happy I was. It felt so great to be done and to have accomplished my first triathlon. Mike, the boys and Michelle, were all at the finish line cheering me on. Here's hoping that there are more triathlons to come.


Excited and nervous for the race to start.

And we're off.

Out of the water and ready to ride the bike course.

Me on my bike. (Thanks to Zazoosh for the photos).

Me walking. Man running is a lot of work.

So Happy, I'm done. I crossed the finish line about 5 seconds later. Yahoo!!