About a month after Lily (our first child, who was stillborn) died, our friend Mandy invited Mike and I to train for and do a triathlon with her and her husband, Nate. She explained that it was a "sprint" triathlon, or half-olympic triathlon. She had never done one before, but her husband and some of her family had. She said we should go home and think about it, then let her know. I was quite surprised when Mike committed to it right then and there. I agreed, thinking it would be a good goal that we could work toward together and the exercise would probably do us some good.
Training for this triathlon has been a wonderful thing for us to do during these difficult months after losing Lily. It has been a healthy and productive distraction for us. In addition to the actual exercise, we have developed a cherished friendship with Nate, Mandy, and little Edith. We really appreciate their reaching out to us and helping us to heal in this unique way.
The race consisted of a 1/2 mile open water swim in Salem Pond/Lake, about a 20K (12.4 mile) bike ride (the course was changed at the last minute due to construction, which made it a little longer), and a 5K ( 3.1 mile) run. Though our training wasn't quite as thorough as serious triathletes may recommend, Mike and I were very pleased with our performance. We had quicker times than we expected in each leg of the race, which made a final time much better than our goal of finishing in under two hours.
Below are our times, thanks to Milliseconds Sports Timing.
| Michael | Stephanie | |
| SWIM | 19:11.970 | 17:45.410 |
| min/100yd | 02:24.0 | 02:14.4 |
| Transition 1 | 04:08.450 | 04:16.070 |
| BIKE | 45:00.080 | 42:08.340 |
| mph | 16.5 | 17.7 |
| Transition 2 | 01:08.580 | 00:56.680 |
| RUN | 28:17.090 | 29:31.670 |
| min/1 mi | 09:07.4 | 09:31.5 |
| TOTAL | 01:37:46.17 | 01:34:48.17 |
The following was my journal entry with all the details. I threw some pictures in to keep your attention!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Yesterday was a pretty amazing day. Mike and I successfully completed our first (implying that we're going to do more) triathlon. Not only did we finish the race, which was our goal from the beginning, we got a much better time than we expected. In the beginning, I thought about making T-shirts that said "Here to COMPLETE not to COMPETE" or something like that. Our main goal was to finish without drowning or having a heart attack. Our secondary goal was to do so without being in last place. More specifically we wanted to complete the triathlon which consisted of a 1/2 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run in less than two hours. Looking at last year's results that would put us a little above last in our respective divisions. We exceeded our expectations in each of the events.
Ever since we began training I have had dreams revolving around some twisted sort of triathlon theme. The events have been anything from singing to garden-watering. There have been problems such as forgetting my wetsuit (making me unable to participate) and successes such as being first in the swimming event. The dreams became more consistent the closer the race came.
Last Saturday we did a trial run of everything with Mandy, Nate, and Mandy's mom, Becky. It went pretty well. We completed everything, but with longer than normal transition times. The hardest part for me was actually getting into the pond.
We left home at about 7:15am. We parked at the baseball field and walked our bikes to the transition area. I had imagined the transition area as having assigned spots, but it was a free-for-all. The elite bike racks were tall metal stands where bikes were hung by the seat. The rest of the bike racks were cut from wood. We panicked a little when our mountain bike tires wouldn't fit into the road bike slots, then we saw the rack just for mountain bikes. We weren't the only ones with mountain bikes, but we were definitely the minority.
At about 9:00 (when the first heat was supposed to begin) there was a meeting for all participants. They talked about how the bike course had changed (we found this out when we signed in the night before), how you shouldn't cheat, things that would get you DQed, etc. When the meeting finished and the elite group started, I went down to the beach to get myself wet. There was only 3 minutes between heats and sometimes it takes me that long to get that silly swim cap on. I got my whole self wet, then headed over to wait for our heat to be called. Mike started in the heat before mine.
It was a water start, so the hundred or so participants under 29 (my age group) got into the water, then a few seconds later we started. I had been warned that the first part is the worst. There is smacking, kicking, and plowing due to the sheer number of people. After a few strokes, I realized that my watch was falling off. I don't know if I had done a poor Velcro job in the first place, or if I was grabbed by the wrist in all the commotion. Thankfully I caught it before it sunk to its watery grave. I held it in my hand and swam with it for a bit while I decided what to do with it. If I let go of it, then I was littering and that was bad. I thought about stuffing it down my wetsuit, but the choking neck of those things doesn't allow for this sort of storage. I figured my best option was to just put the silly thing back on. I switched onto my back and just kicked with my feet while I fastened the Velcro once again to my wrist. I quickly turned over to make up for lost time. Just as I was reaching the first buoy, I realized that I hadn't even started the stopwatch on my watch. Better late than never.
It was hard to anticipate what the swim would be like. We had practiced in the calm, clear, warm water of the pool at the Orem Fitness Center. The water of Salem Lake/Pond was anything but calm, clear and warm. The jet skis and boats used by Search and Rescue made the water quite choppy. I got more mouthfuls of the duck poo water than I bargained for. It seemed like I was always touching at least three other people. Whether it was someone grabbing at my ankles, mirroring me at my side, or backstroking across my path, there was always plenty of company.
Between the drama with my watch at the start and all the waves and crowding, I though for sure my swim time was awful. Without delay, I yanked off my swim cap and hobbled up the grassy hill. A man ran along side of me (I must have been running) and unzipped my wetsuit and started to pull it off like it was his job.
When I got to the far end of the parking lot (transition area), I found Mike and Mandy just finishing putting their shoes on and then taking off one by one. I got my wetsuit off the rest of the way, dried my feet and put my shoes on. I put my helmet on and started to pull my bike out when I realized that my shoes weren't tied. I decided it was worth my time. I thought my transition had been speedy, but when I got the results I found that it was less than impressive.
I ran back through the transition area to the mount line and took off. Biking is by far my best event. Even though a mountain bike cannot compare to a road bike in speed, weight, and efficiency, I was ready and willing to do the extra work. On the first long hill, I passed several people on road bikes, some of them even commented on how well I was doing on a mountain bike. A semi-busy road was incorporated into the route in the last minute change. This stretch, the emphasized in the 9:00 meeting, was a no-passing zone. I was disappointed to get stuck behind someone slow in the no-pass zone. Other than that, I did my best to make up for my lack of proper equipment in plain old hard work.
After a couple miles, I saw the bright colors of Mike's tye dye shirt just ahead of me. I was so excited to see him! When I was sure he'd be able to hear me, I yelled out that I loved him. He turned around and seemed excited, though unsurprised that I had caught him. He told me later that he knew it was only a matter of time before I caught up to him. I figured we could just ride together. When I suggested it to him, he said that it would be better if I just kept going as fast as I could and he would just do his best to keep up. I remembered that after our practice of all three events the weekend before, Mike had said that he hoped to have someone just ahead of him that he could count on to set the pace, like I had done. I decided that would be best for both of us if I went ahead. I looked back often to make sure he was still there. Sometimes I saw him and sometimes I didn't.
I had a nice finish on the ride. I quickly parked my bike, got a drink and took off running. Whitney said I looked pretty terrible on that transition and wasn't sure I was going to make it. Having practiced the weekend before, I knew that the first part of the run was the worst. Not only is the transition from riding to running hard, but the first part of the run had about a mile stretch of just uphill. I had committed to myself that I was not going to walk at all during the run. I knew that the temptation to walk would come strongest on this hill where most of us had walked the weekend before. There were lots of others walking, which made it even harder to keep going. I was happy that my knees, which had been giving me problems over the past few weeks, were not bothering me at all. I kept looking back for Mike's bright colors, but I couldn't see him. Mike told me later that he had seen me keep looking back and was sure that I had seen him. My florescent yellow jersey made me pretty easy to keep track of, as well.
The last half mile of the race has a steep uphill, then downhill, a flat part, then a short, steep uphill to the finish line. As I reached the bottom of the downhill, I looked back and, to my great delight, it was my love! I yelled for him to hurry up so that we could finish together. I slowed down a bit. As he approached, he told me to speed up. He grabbed my hand and almost pulled my arm out of socket. He was going really fast now. We held hands (cheesy, I know, but I thought it was wonderful) and he dragged me up that last hill (I thought it was awful to have that right there at the end). We crossed the finish line together (though Mike's long leg probably stretched over it before mine).
Stopping after that final sprint made me feel quite sick. I felt that same sick feeling as I stopped my activity at each transition. I put my hands on my knees and leaned over. I thought I was going to throw up. As I took a deep breath, I realized that someone already had. Knowing that smell as the best trigger, I moved away from the finish line and laid on the ground for a few minutes,until I heard my friend Karyn's name announced. I stayed and cheered everyone on at the finish line. It was great to see everyone's expressions as they finished.
Now we are officially triathletes! It feels good to have accomplished (and exceeded) our goal!
1 comment:
Way to go you guys! What an inspiring story. The photo of you two holding hands as you run to the finish line is so cool!
Post a Comment