H2 Tri Crew: April 2008

I honestly can't believe I finished the innagural AFLAC IRON GIRL LAKE LAS VEGAS TRIATHLON!!! My race was not pretty, and it was not fast, but I finished! Yeah, the guy in the white suit on the beach in front of the competitors... yeah, that's Elvis. And yes, that is a large inflated duck in the background. "AFLAAAAAC!"

The swim really threw me for a loop. The swim was seriously the ONE thing I was not worried about. I love to swim! I am a good swimmer! The water in Lake Las Vegas was sooooo very cold! I was not able to get my face in the water, get a good rhythm going, and really get moving! The swim took me three times as long as I anticipated. Every time I would try to get something together as far as a stroke was concerned, the tempurature of the water totally took my breath away. I finally calmed myself down, created a new breaststroke, and somehow managed to finish the 600 meter frigid swim. Sharma hauled in the water! I was so proud of her! She took off on the beach and never looked back! I wouldn't see Sharma again until my second loop on the bike course. On to T1:

I made it out of the water and then up the hill to the transition area. I did not practice getting out of my wetsuit "quickly". I saw women spraying Pam Cooking Spray on the outside of their wetsuits before the race. Now I know why. I was having a rough time getting my right foot out of the wetsuit for some lame reason. Finally, I sat down in the transition area and took the darn thing off. While I was still seated, I put on my shoes and SOCKS!!! Yes, I remembered socks this time! But, alas, wearing socks still did not prevent me from getting blisters on my big toes. Oh well, what's an endurance race without some sort of injury to show for it? I left the transition area and headed out on the bike.

Loop #1 was okay. Big climb (for me) was the first on the agenda. I walked my bike. I really need to get over my mental block for biking and hills. Note to self: Work on that. After climbing a hill, you get to go down the hill. This was GREAT! I think I hit my all time top speed ever of over 18 miles per hour! I don't like to go down hills either... Note to self: Work on that. At the bottom of the hill, yet another climb was laid out in front of me. Steeper than the first, but a shorter distance. Again, what goes up, must come down. Hooray!

As I began Loop #2, what should my wondering eyes should appear? SHARMA!!! She had just come off the hills of the run portion of the race. She looked great and looked as if she was finishing strong! Of course she was finishing strong! Loop #2 was much harder. Could it be that I was getting very tired? Or was it simply the fact that I am just not that great on the bike? Probably a combination of the two. But I finished. I completed the bike. Final leg: The 5K run.

Here's Sharma...coming into the transition area from the run...See how strong she looks?? :)

T2 to run. The first part of the run was long, slow, and very dusty. Not to mention, we got to climb two killer hills in the dust. The NBC helicopter filming the pros was doing a really good job of kicking up more dust and debris. I met the coolest lady on the run. Ms. Linda from Virginia Beach. She was great! We finished the race together. She was so positive and so supportive. Aren't we cute? (I'll post a better picture of us at the end of the blog!)

Dennis actually walked with Linda and me as we finished the race. Nearing the finish line a race volunteer kicked Dennis off the course. The pros were passing us. I don't feel bad about that at all...the pros passing us. You go, girls!!!

As I finished the race, I accomplished a goal of mine: to finish smiling. It was not hard to finish smiling because I had my husband, my mom, Sharma, Nate, and their kids, my aunt Ilah, and Jeremy there to cheer me on. How could I do anything BUT smile? I gave Linda from Virginia Beach a hug and that was it. We were done.

Here are some fun finish photos:

Here is Hollie and Linda from Virginia Beach:

Another WAY COOL thing that happened was that I met Judy!!! She was as warm in person as she was in our email communications. I do hope we stay in touch and that we "bump" in to one another at future races! Thanks again, Judy for all your words of encouragement and support! You are a ROCKSTAR!!!

And now, for my tribute: To my training partner, and neurotic "twin"...Sharma. Girl, I could not have done this without you. You are truly the poster child for IRON GIRL. I am amazed and inspired by you. I love you!!!! I can't wait to race with you again!

Dennis finished his first triathlon of the 2008 season on March 29, 2008. He officially "broke the ice" at the TimpTri Club's Icebreaker Tri. He did AWESOME!!! I am so proud of him! He beat his time from the Turkey Trot Tri by 3 minutes! Dennis said he felt stronger during this race which is a wonderful thing! Next up for Dennis is the SHARK ATTACK TRI the end of May.

I am less than 2 weeks away from the IronGirl race in Las Vegas. Watching Dennis do the Icebreaker I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I am grateful for Sharma and her encouragement and the walk and swim workouts this week. I am excited to be getting my bike back from its spring tune up on Friday so I can get a few more miles in before next week. All in all, I am feeling confident and ready for the challenge. I will certainly post pictures and comments from the race as soon as I can.

So here's to all of the triathloners who have started or will start the race season soon! Good luck and God speed! Here's to sunshine, tailwinds, and finish lines! See you at the races!