Saturday June 27th with my dad at the DinoLand Triathlon in Vernal, Utah. I debated on what to do and finally decided to just do it. However, I did not race as I normally would have. My goal was to finish the distance. I switched from Olympic to Sprint because I don't have the aerobic training behind me. Wait! I hardly have any training behind me. I've been on my bike once since last fall. I haven't ran faster than a 10 minute mile pace and my arms get worn out after 300 yards in the pool.With low expectations, but a desire to do the best I can, I finished the triathlon and was surprised with my times! Not the best, but not bad considering.
Swim 13:13.780
T1 02:23.101
Bike 43:08.756
T2 00:40.475
Run 24:15.070
Total 01:23:41.18
The swim and the bike hurt because I am not in aerobic shape. In fact, I almost stopped in the middle of the swim, but not because I was in danger or re-injuring myself. I wanted to stop because I was embarrassed about the pace I was holding and I was in a lot of "out-of-shape" pain. Instead of quitting, I decided to be grateful for a body that can do this. A body that can spend almost 4 months recovering and healing, while not working out, then go and race at this speed! I realized there are many triathletes who wish they could swim as fast as my "getting-back-into-it" pace. This new perspective gave me the drive to keep swimming and I love the swim at the Dino Tri. Red Fleet is a beautiful venue for a race.
I climbed out of the water and ran slowly up the boat ramp. I was out of it for T1 and wasted at least a minute. I was falling over, disoriented, unorganized, and really not with it. But managed to get on my bike and start the 2 mile up hill (a very steep hill) climb out of the Red Fleet camping/resort area. I measured it by car the night before. 1 mile through the steepest part then 1 mile to hang on and keep climbing. I had a lot of bikers passing me during this part because I just didn't have the training behind me to climb any faster. The whole bike was a pretty painful process as well. I don't have more than 60 minutes in the saddle! "Endure. Hang on. You're doing great!" I told myself.T2, bike to run, and I was off. The run was awesome! The whole time I was focused on listening to my body and would adjust my pace accordingly in the swim and the bike. On the run, however, I was surprised at the pace I could hold. I kept feeling and listening to my body and asking, is this okay? Yeah it was! It felt great! I was surprised, satisfied, and grateful I finished.
I got first in my age group and 4th overall.
