Wonder Woman Triathlon 2017

This is the 3^rd year that I’ve participated in this awesome event!

The local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hosts a women’s triathlon each year that is free and open to the community. My friends and I look forward to this race each yearJ

 



Me, Karen, Ariel and Micha (Yep...she pushed the nugget during the run portion!)

Not enough to actually TRAIN…but still. It’s loads of fun to do. I like the fun and anticipation of being at an event with a group of my friends. It brings another level of energy to a race when you have friends to cheer for and see while you’re running (or biking or swimming in this case).

The swim is 300 meters in a pool (thank goodness!), 13 miles biking and 3.1 miles running.

This year I ended up nearer the front of the line at the start of the swim than I ever have before. This was not due to any increase in skill on my part…just a lack willingness of the other women to be in the front.

This year I remembered my gogglesJ

I started off with a decent rhythm for my breathing…every other stroke ‘cause I can breathe on each side. But then something threw me off and I got off rhythm and then out of breath. It happens every time. I can technically do a flip turn, there just isn’t really any reason for it. I spent 3/4^ths of the swim doing the side stroke so I could keep my face out of the water and breathe.

You always read about how your legs feel after the bike portion. No one tells you about rubber legs after the swim!

Me, Cathie and Alice. We are all super soggy from the rain!

I’m not very good at the swimming, but I ROCK the transition. Seriously. I was in and out within a minute. That gave me time to fix my bike chain when it popped off as soon as I went around the corner;)

The two ladies I had seen in the transition passed me while I was fussing with the chain. Then I got passed again by another lady! Not good.

I managed to catch up with one of the ladies and pass her. She wasn’t giving up though and put on a surge to get a head of me again. Right about then another woman came up from behind and got in front of us. The two of them laid down a couple of surges that I hung with. We were only at mile 4, so I felt it was a bit early to be messing with that.

Holly, Alisha and Cathie showing off their numbers and calf muscles:)

The best part of the ride was when we passed a guy walking his old dog. That dog didn’t give a flying crap about us. His owner moved over to the side of the trail, but him? Nah. He was old…He just stood there with the full body reaction of “Nope. Not moving. You can go around ME”. Loved itJ

I slipped on the wet ground (it was raining the entire event) and nearly ate it in the bike/run transition but somehow managed not stay on my feet. The spectators gasped a bit.

I’ve run marathons…I’ve run an Ultra, but the feeling in my legs after the bike portion of a triathlon is the WORST. Your legs really DO feel like tree trunks and your legs feel numb in a horrible kind of way. It feels like you are landing flat on your feet with no push off…I can’t tell how fast I’m running (or slow) except by monitoring my breathing. I can usually manage to pass a few women in the run portion. It’s where I make up for my weakness in the swim.

I’m not SURE how I did this year in comparison to last year because I managed to not actually turn on my Garmin until the bike portion but I think it’s at least comparable. I think I got 5^th overall this year.

I definitely had fun!