On Saturday, August 27th, 2011, I competed in the IronGirl Boulder Sprint Triathlon at Boulder Res & I crossed the finish line!!! Not with any phenomenal timing records, but without injury! I had the pleasure of training with Amy Douglas, Cindy Molloy & Michelle Weingardt & having Amy's sister, Gayle, join us for the race. I knew I could manage through each leg individually, but I wasn't sure about all of them back to back. I was even more hesitant when I had to stop some training for a few months so I could go to physical therapy for my right shoulder and elbow. So, here are a few pictures from the event...
We checked in our bikes the day before & listened to the "course talk" and had Q&A time.
Me, Cindy, Michelle, Amy & Gayle flexing our pre-triathlon muscles at the finish line that we can wait to see tomorrow!
Eric & the kids decorating cheering posters for me the night before the race.
When they assigned me my bib#, I had a bad feeling, because #911 for my first triathlon felt pretty ominous. To add insult to my hopefully not pending injury, they mark your leg with your age! Once I realized what that number was, I couldn't stop looking at everyones calves!
Me (in all my Speedo glory) with my cheerleaders just minutes before the start.
Amy, Michelle & Me waiting for our wave to start our 1/4 mile open water swim. SO NERVOUS! The swim was a little harder than I anticipated, because I could not get a good breathing pattern since I was constantly getting splashed & inhaling water! I had to resort to breaststroke for more than I wanted to. I only got swam over once, which is pretty good for being in the thick of 150 people in my wave.
I don't have any pics on my camera of the bike portion (17.2 miles), but the bike was way more fun than I thought it would be. I actually enjoyed the ride & did it faster than my practice rides! Now, the 5K run. All I have to say is BLAH! I hate running & I totally ran out of steam. But, here I am approaching the finish line!
I did it!
Eric & the kids came to cheer me on as well as my mom & my brother. It made me so happy to have such great supporters cheering me on!
Amy, Michelle & Cindy having our post-race breakfast during the awards ceremony.
Yep, I was there, too! Check out the beautiful Boulder Res behind me! The water did not look that beautiful swimming in a crowd of people.
We are all first time triathletes! Woo-hoo! Now, maybe next year I'll actually care about my times & not just finishing.
