Today I completed the Honolulu Sprint Triathlon: .5 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike, 5K run. I met my goal and finished in 1 hour and 32 minutes, and think I might be hooked. Maybe there will be an Olympic distance triathlon in my future! It was awful, great, and inspiring all at the same time and an amazing experience. I hope these pictures can somewhat tell the story.
What dorks in those swim caps! Yes, this is me with some of the neighborhood gals. We signed up together, trained together, and encouraged each other to the finish. However at the start line as it started to rain and nerves got the better of us we wondered "Whose idea was this and why are we here?!". I always get super jittery at the beginning of a race-it is a terrible feeling. And this one held so many unknowns...swimming in the open ocean in a crowd, transition areas with people going every which way, switching shoes and hats, but I must say my family was the best cheering crowd out there!!
The gun went off and there we go!
In this picture, Joel tried to capture all the sea of white swim caps. It was mass craziness. We had to swim out to a certain buoy on one side, go around, and swim back on the other side. On my way back, someone going out crossed over and ran in to me head on! It got me all discombobulated. Not to mention getting squished between 2 swimmers and kicked a few times.
But I finally finished the swim and am here running out of the water to switch into my biking gear.
...and then off I go. This was actually the part I was dreading the most and ended up enjoying it the most. Thank you Natalie for the use of your professional bike! The first time I "clipped" into this bike, I fell right over on a trash can, but in the end believe using this baby cut 5 to 10 minutes off of my time.
...and on to the run. The part I thought I would be the strongest in but it seemed SOOOOO long and I struggled.
But I finished!!! I am not posting the picture of me lying on the ground dying after this triumphant finish.
Celebrating with some of the gals. My "permanent" number somehow washed off in the swim but I still have a faint number on my leg even after scrubbing. It really was a great experience. I love a challenge and am blessed to have the support of my wonderful husband. Joel, Thank you for chasing the kids and corralling them to every photo point for 2 hours, and for all your support during training-you ARE MY HERO!
What dorks in those swim caps! Yes, this is me with some of the neighborhood gals. We signed up together, trained together, and encouraged each other to the finish. However at the start line as it started to rain and nerves got the better of us we wondered "Whose idea was this and why are we here?!". I always get super jittery at the beginning of a race-it is a terrible feeling. And this one held so many unknowns...swimming in the open ocean in a crowd, transition areas with people going every which way, switching shoes and hats, but I must say my family was the best cheering crowd out there!!
The gun went off and there we go!
In this picture, Joel tried to capture all the sea of white swim caps. It was mass craziness. We had to swim out to a certain buoy on one side, go around, and swim back on the other side. On my way back, someone going out crossed over and ran in to me head on! It got me all discombobulated. Not to mention getting squished between 2 swimmers and kicked a few times.
But I finally finished the swim and am here running out of the water to switch into my biking gear.
...and then off I go. This was actually the part I was dreading the most and ended up enjoying it the most. Thank you Natalie for the use of your professional bike! The first time I "clipped" into this bike, I fell right over on a trash can, but in the end believe using this baby cut 5 to 10 minutes off of my time.
...and on to the run. The part I thought I would be the strongest in but it seemed SOOOOO long and I struggled.
But I finished!!! I am not posting the picture of me lying on the ground dying after this triumphant finish.
Celebrating with some of the gals. My "permanent" number somehow washed off in the swim but I still have a faint number on my leg even after scrubbing. It really was a great experience. I love a challenge and am blessed to have the support of my wonderful husband. Joel, Thank you for chasing the kids and corralling them to every photo point for 2 hours, and for all your support during training-you ARE MY HERO!
Congratulations Mary! WooHoo!
ReplyDeleteWay to go!!!! And I thought that my running around the block was an accomplishment!
ReplyDelete