Try a Tri, 2007

Here is the note I wrote in Facebook back when I did my Try-a-Tri, at the end of the summer of 2007. (Owen was 14 months old, and I was just about to get pregnant with Jake). Can't wait to try it again this summer, with all 3 of my boys to cheer me on!

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So, as you can see from my pics, the Try-a-Tri was this past weekend. My first ever Triathlon, and even though it was just the baby one, I am still just as proud of myself for doing it as if it had been the Ironman. :)

We couldn't have asked for a better day, the weather was sunny, not too humid, and hot enough to be comfy coming out of the lake after the swim. The total distances were to swim 375 metres, bike 10 km, and then run 2.5 km. I was feeling a little nervous - I knew I would finish, but didn't know how my knee would hold up, since it had been giving me some trouble the past few weeks. I hardly did any training at all the last two weeks leading up, opting instead to rest my knee.

The day of, Valerie came to pick me up (after a brief mishap where she nearly lost her bike on the expressway!) and we headed out to the Conservation area. We found the transition area easily and racked our bikes, then went to sign in and gather our freebies. It was a little overwhelming to see everything there, and I was nervous, but pumped. We got our numbers, our hot-pink bathing caps, our timing chips, and then we got marked. The write your number on your arm, and your age on the back of your calf. I guess the logic is that if you're competitive, you can identify people in your age group to pass them? We were joking with some other girls that rather than having to walk around with our age written on us, they should write how many kids we have, and how old they are!

We laid out all our gear on our towels next to our bikes, shoes and socks neatly lined up for easy put-onability (that is too a word!), and did a brief warm-up run. Before we knew it, Val's entourage had arrived, and she got to give her little girl Sadie a quick hug before the race. We grabbed our goggles and headed down to the lake, keeping an eye out for my family on the way down. We started the swim in several waves, and our wave was heading out at 6 minutes after 1. I slithered into my wetsuit, and tucked my hair up into my cap. Just as we were wading into the water, I saw them: Steve, Owen and my parents had arrived to cheer me on! Yay!

Standing at the start was an incredible feeling - with all the other women in our category, all laughing and joking about how we all just hoped to finish vertically! Then, the start! The swim was crazy. Legs, arms, thrashing and splashing, I have never felt so crowded since the mosh pit at EdgeFest a long number of years ago! I was glad I was wearing my wetsuit - the little bit of added buoyancy gave me the extra confidence to stay calm and "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming swimming..." The turns around the buoys were especially crowded, and I swear I didn't even swim around the first one, just rode the crush of bodies around it.

As we headed back to shore, I got my first boost of confidence: passing some lighter-coloured bathing caps that were parts of the groups that had left before us. We got to shore, and as I was wading out of the water, I ripped down the zipper on my wetsuit, and had it down around my waist before I even got out of the lake. Swim cap and goggles came off next - my mom didn't even catch me with the camera at this point, because she was looking for wetsuits! Luckily, Val's group caught a few shots (not that they're flattering or anything, but still, glad to have the memory captured, thanks Ian or Ian's parents!)

Of course, when they tell you the distances, they don't mention the HUGE hill you have to run up from the lake back to the transition area. Barefoot. With jelly post-swim legs! But of course, we all did it, and then it was time for the first transition. I ripped off my wetsuit, leaving it in a spent, rubbery pile where it fell, grabbed my sunglasses and helmet, pulled on socks and shoes, clipped on my number, and grabbed my bike. Ran my bike over to the road, crossed the "On Bike" line, and hopped on. The bike was probably the least-strenuous part of the race, because of the opportunity to catch your breath on the downhill portions, even while you're still pedalling like mad. And while I was passed a few times, I passed my share of people too, which felt good. My mountain bike was obviously not the conveyance of choice, but actually, I was fairly happy with how I did. My only preference would have been for a different style of handlebars - it's way too hard to try and stay bent over to maintain a low profile with your hands spread out across mountain bike handlebars.

I got to get in a few sips of water on the bike too, which really helped. Before you knew it, you hit the turnaround, and headed back, and before you knew it again, everyone was skidding on the brakes, to avoid everyone else stopping at the "Bike Off" line. I didn't see it, but my dad saw a few people get assessed a penalty and made to go back across the line because they rode over it. Glad that wasn't me, although I did have to lock up my tires to avoid running into the guy in front of me, who was doing the same thing to avoid the guy in front of him!

The transition from bike to run was easy - rack the bike, throw down my helmet, and grab my ballcap (I can't stand to run with sun on my face!) That run was the longest 2.5 km I've ever run. I'm not ashamed to say that I walked on a few of the uphills, but since I was doing them at a fast walk (and passed other walkers, thanks to my long legs!) I don't think it hurt me too much. A little more disheartening was the little boy, about 7 or 8 years old, who was running along with his dad. Or I should say, running ahead of his dad, then back to his dad to encourage him along, then ahead again, then back again... this little guy did the whole run portion with his dad! The run was where I was really glad to have my cheering section along - they helped me pick it up. At one point, I heard Steve's voice from way far away - I could feel the energy flowing back into my legs from that! And as it turned out, I had a little bit left to sprint at the end. Turns out it was a good thing - I ended up finishing in the top 20 for my age group, and no, I wasn't 20th! I was 19th, I beat the girl who ended up 20th by just 2 seconds!

I could not be happier with my finish. I was hoping to come in around the hour mark, and felt I'd be SOOO happy with that. I did it in 56 minutes, which was awesome. Overall, I was 186 out of 348 participants! My best segment was actually the swimming. For that portion of the race, I was 139 out of 348, which is fantastic. You can see my results at (omitted).

Valerie did a great job too, finishing in just over an hour, 1:01! She also had her best performance in the swim, which really is an accomplishment, since that seems to be the hardest part for a lot of people. And she did the run without stopping to walk! So we're both feeling like Super Mamas these days. Especially considering that not only do we both have 14 month old babies, but it's not like we were doing anything like this before we had the babies either. I could not have done it without Valerie, knowing that she was out there training too, doing those hated bricks, having good days, and the "days of doubt". Not to mention all the advice she had from friends who had raced before! Thanks Val! :)

So, my first Triathlon attempt was a rousing success. I would definitely do it again, and maybe even eventually attempt the "Sprint Triathlon", which is a little longer, but still not quite full length. Who knows when that will be, but I really enjoyed myself, and can't wait to do it again. I'd like my next challenge to be the Oktoberfest 10 K, but we'll see how my knee is feeling over the next few weeks before I make a decision. In the meantime, I'm feeling very happy with what we've accomplished, and can't wait for Owen to be old enough to be cheering along with all the other little ones I saw yelling their little hearts out for Mommy or Daddy!

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postscript: I was too busy throwing up (thanks Jake!) to do the Oktoberfest 10K that year, and no where near 10K after Jake had been born this past year. Oktoberfest 10K in 2009!