Ever wonder what it would be like to be to willingly subject yourself to torture? Well that's what I did on May 16
th! For some reason I let myself get talked into signing up for a sprint distance Triathlon in American Fork called the Women of Steel. It
think it was the cool name of the event that was the deciding factor to me giving in. :) So anyway I signed up for the race in January thinking I have plenty of time to get in shape for the 300 m swim, 12.5 mile bike ride and the 3 mile run, and ultimately squandered my time away until I looked at the
calender and almost died when I realized that time had slowly crept up on me and the race was only weeks away! Panic set in. I finally decided to go buy a bike (yeah, I hadn't really ridden a real bike since I was 12 and spin classes
kicks your butt but aren't quite the same. Not too smart of me.) Purchased the bike the Saturday before the race and went on a little 2 mile ride on Monday to "break it in" before the race. I'd been running so I wasn't too worried about the running part of the race, but I was worried about the swim. I'd been practicing swimming at the local rec center. They have a 25 m pool that I felt pretty comfortable in but it turned out at the race that they used a 50 m pool to swim in. Now I was used to having a break every 25 m
because I had to turn around at that point at the rec center pool but now I wasn't going to be able to get a break until 50 m, I was pretty nervous about that.
Anyway, the day arrived and my friend's wife Jerry picked me up at 5:30 AM so we'd have plenty of time to get there and get set up before the race. Jerry is the most wonderful lady and we had a blast driving down. She is in her mid 60's and she totally kicks butt in these events! She'd completed this race last year and had so much amazing advice that she shared with me on the drive down that was invaluable! So we got there and set up our areas by placing a towel down and setting out shoes and socks and everything we'd need for the transitions in order, and went and look around at the competition. For some reason I was thinking that
there would be just some regular looking people there but no, all these ladies looked like they meant business! They all had
Tri suits on and they looked like they were in really good shape. Gulp! That was my first hint that I was in trouble. It was finally time to start the race and everyone gathered at the pool. You were supposed to have timed yourself to see how long it took you to swim the 300 m before you got there so you knew where to line up when you got there. Jerry and I both stood in the 9 minute line and waited for our turns. That was the worst! You have to stand there and watch these ladies that could give Michael Phelps a run for his money finish the swim in 3 or 4 minutes! It was seriously intimidating. The way it worked out was they had two lines that you could choose to line up in, and each line was divided up into the different time's with the shortest time being at the front of the line. The 9 minute people were towards the end of the line. Anyway, the first person jumped in and a timer held off the next person until 10 seconds had passed then they let the next person in. This pattern continued until they reached the end of the lines.
There were three lanes you swam in, going up one side, turning around in the same lane and going back down that same lane. When you reached the end of that lane you dove under the lane line into the next lane and repeated the swim, going up one side and back down the same side of the lane. You did that for a full 3 lanes, then you got to get out of the pool and race over to the transition area to get ready for the biking portion of the race. This was where my inexperience got to me. I hadn't purchased a
tri suit, I'd just worn my
tankini thinking I'd just pull my bike shorts over my swim bottoms, pull my shirt on and creatively get into my sports bra while taking my
tankini top off, slip on my socks and shoes and I'd be off! Yeah right! I hadn't really practiced this part of the race, thinking that it wouldn't be that hard to hurry and change, but oh was I wrong! Bike shorts are pretty easy to put on when your dry but they didn't want to budge up my wet legs! It took me forever to get those babies on, having to contort my body in way's I didn't think were possible, giving everyone a show who were around me. :) Oh what I'd have given for a bed to lay down on so I could wiggle them on and do them up! I almost decided to just leave them and pull some shorts on I'd brought for the run when I gave them one last yank and they slipped up! Thank heavens they did
because I think my butt would still be sore today if I hadn't of worn them. The bike
course was a 6.25 mile loop that you did twice. That was fine except for it had three huge, steep hills right at the very beginning of the ride that almost did me in. When I got to the top of the last hill all I could think about was that I had to ride up them again! I ended up having to walk up the last hill the second time around, but that's what I get for not training on a bike beforehand. I really wanted to quit by the time I was 3/4
th through the bike ride. I couldn't even contemplate having to run after the biking portion. But I remembered what my goal was and that was just to finish. I didn't care what my time was but I just wanted to be able to say that I finished it. So I calmed down, finished out the bike ride and went for the run. That was the funniest transition because my legs felt like jello from the bike ride and it took me about 1/8 of a mile to get my
rhythm down for running. The s
cene that kept coming back in to my brain was a clip from Seinfeld where Kramer went to the dentist to get a tooth fixed so his mouth is numb and he's also wearing these new exercise shoes that make him walk funny so people keep thinking he's mentally challenged. Anyway, that's how I felt I looked like as I was trying to get the kinks out of my legs so I could run. The run felt great and I actually passed a few ladies. I finished really close to being the last person but I at least finished! In retrospect it was the most amazing race I've ever done and I'd love to do it again, but it took me the weekend of recovering to have that attitude. :) If you ever need any advice on what NOT to do for a triathlon give me a call, I'm an expert on that. :) Can't wait for the next one, it really is worth a
tri.
Anyway, the day arrived and my friend's wife Jerry picked me up at 5:30 AM so we'd have plenty of time to get there and get set up before the race. Jerry is the most wonderful lady and we had a blast driving down. She is in her mid 60's and she totally kicks butt in these events! She'd completed this race last year and had so much amazing advice that she shared with me on the drive down that was invaluable! So we got there and set up our areas by placing a towel down and setting out shoes and socks and everything we'd need for the transitions in order, and went and look around at the competition. For some reason I was thinking that there would be just some regular looking people there but no, all these ladies looked like they meant business! They all had Tri suits on and they looked like they were in really good shape. Gulp! That was my first hint that I was in trouble. It was finally time to start the race and everyone gathered at the pool. You were supposed to have timed yourself to see how long it took you to swim the 300 m before you got there so you knew where to line up when you got there. Jerry and I both stood in the 9 minute line and waited for our turns. That was the worst! You have to stand there and watch these ladies that could give Michael Phelps a run for his money finish the swim in 3 or 4 minutes! It was seriously intimidating. The way it worked out was they had two lines that you could choose to line up in, and each line was divided up into the different time's with the shortest time being at the front of the line. The 9 minute people were towards the end of the line. Anyway, the first person jumped in and a timer held off the next person until 10 seconds had passed then they let the next person in. This pattern continued until they reached the end of the lines.
There were three lanes you swam in, going up one side, turning around in the same lane and going back down that same lane. When you reached the end of that lane you dove under the lane line into the next lane and repeated the swim, going up one side and back down the same side of the lane. You did that for a full 3 lanes, then you got to get out of the pool and race over to the transition area to get ready for the biking portion of the race. This was where my inexperience got to me. I hadn't purchased a tri suit, I'd just worn my tankini thinking I'd just pull my bike shorts over my swim bottoms, pull my shirt on and creatively get into my sports bra while taking my tankini top off, slip on my socks and shoes and I'd be off! Yeah right! I hadn't really practiced this part of the race, thinking that it wouldn't be that hard to hurry and change, but oh was I wrong! Bike shorts are pretty easy to put on when your dry but they didn't want to budge up my wet legs! It took me forever to get those babies on, having to contort my body in way's I didn't think were possible, giving everyone a show who were around me. :) Oh what I'd have given for a bed to lay down on so I could wiggle them on and do them up! I almost decided to just leave them and pull some shorts on I'd brought for the run when I gave them one last yank and they slipped up! Thank heavens they did because I think my butt would still be sore today if I hadn't of worn them. The bike course was a 6.25 mile loop that you did twice. That was fine except for it had three huge, steep hills right at the very beginning of the ride that almost did me in. When I got to the top of the last hill all I could think about was that I had to ride up them again! I ended up having to walk up the last hill the second time around, but that's what I get for not training on a bike beforehand. I really wanted to quit by the time I was 3/4th through the bike ride. I couldn't even contemplate having to run after the biking portion. But I remembered what my goal was and that was just to finish. I didn't care what my time was but I just wanted to be able to say that I finished it. So I calmed down, finished out the bike ride and went for the run. That was the funniest transition because my legs felt like jello from the bike ride and it took me about 1/8 of a mile to get my rhythm down for running. The scene that kept coming back in to my brain was a clip from Seinfeld where Kramer went to the dentist to get a tooth fixed so his mouth is numb and he's also wearing these new exercise shoes that make him walk funny so people keep thinking he's mentally challenged. Anyway, that's how I felt I looked like as I was trying to get the kinks out of my legs so I could run. The run felt great and I actually passed a few ladies. I finished really close to being the last person but I at least finished! In retrospect it was the most amazing race I've ever done and I'd love to do it again, but it took me the weekend of recovering to have that attitude. :) If you ever need any advice on what NOT to do for a triathlon give me a call, I'm an expert on that. :) Can't wait for the next one, it really is worth a tri.
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