I signed up for the Tri Girl Tri, all Women's Sprint Triathlon back in the spring to get myself motivated to get in shape. So for months I have been swimming, running and biking in preparation for this event. At the beginning of the summer I could barley run 1 mile without stopping, so this was a big accomplishment for me.
Somehow I was able to talk my friends Brenda and Enid into competing too, and we had a blast!! Last Friday we loaded up the car and drove to Napa Valley, CA for the race. We rented a great vacation home on Lake Berryessa, just a few miles from the race start with the Enid and her family.
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| Here we are before the race, getting our transition area set up. I was super nervous. |
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| Right before the start of the race - all the athletes are getting ready for the first event - the half mile swim in Lake Berryessa. |
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| Right before the swim. |
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| I am one of these ladies starting the swim. It was great how they eased everyone into the water, just a few at a time. It made the start of the race much easier. We were all wearing a timing chip on our ankle to keep track of our individual times. |
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| This is the swim course......close to 400 women in the water here. |
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| I was ecstatic to be finished with the swim! It took me 20 minutes to swim and was much easier than I had anticipated. I was pumped (and I had nice cheering section as I got out of the water)! |
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| Here are Brenda and me at the transition, getting ready to bike. Micah was awesome throughout the entire event by not just taking care of the kiddos, but also tracking me down as often as possible during the event and taking all these great photos. I'm so lucky to have such a supportive hubby! Maybe next year he'll compete in a triathlon with me!! :o) |
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| Off we go, for the 11 mile, very hilly bike ride. |
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| This was the most difficult event for me. I was riding my very old mountain bike and the chain fell off twice during the race. As a result it took me a full hour to complete the bike ride. If I compete in another triathlon, I'm going to have to invest in a road bike. |
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| Despite my slow bike ride, the scenery was gorgeous! |
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| The final event was the 5K run, or 3.1 miles. Here I am very close to the finish line. It took me 29 minutes to complete the run, which I was happy with. The last 1.5 miles were all uphill, but I felt pretty strong and was anxious to finish. |
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| Happy to be DONE!!! What a great feeling. |
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| It took me exactly 2 hours to complete the entire race, including transitions. I was hoping to complete it in less than 2 hours, so I came close. I think if I get a new bike I'll be able to do much better! |
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| The kids woke up really early that morning to go with us to the race, so Adler was exhausted by the time I finished. |
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| Owen & Ryder found a nice climbing tree. |
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| This is the view from our rental house on Lake Berryessa. Not too shabby. |
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| How many people can fit into a hot tub??? At least 8! |
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| Relaxing and eating after the race. |
I had so much fun, I'm definitely planning on doing another triathlon next year!!
