MomTRI Sprint Triathlon

Crossing the finish line!!!!

Sprint Triathlon- 400m SWIM, 12 mile BIKE and 3.2 mile RUN

I finished in 1:46

* * * 

Last Saturday I competed in my first sprint triathlon. 

It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

I had heard about this cool Mom's triathlon that a bunch of ladies in our ward put on/participated in the year before and figured, hey I ran a half marathon a triathlon will be easy!

So I signed up and started my daily training.

(I followed this 12 week training program HERE. )

Swimming was/is definitely my weakest skill out of the three, but I jumped right in and got to work. 

My first couple swim workouts were HUMBLING!

I was like OH-MY-HELL....

How can I run for 13 miles but I'm freaking hyperventilating after 25m in the pool!?

It is certainly an entirely different set of muscles/breathing skills thats for sure. 

But, I kept at it, attended a few swimming clinics, watched a million youtube vidoes and with every swim workout, I felt more confident in my abilities. 

Along with the daily triathlon training, I was also completing my 90 day HIIT Mamas challenge, so I was doing daily crossfit WODs too.

It was no nonsense for a few months haha, but it felt amazing. 

I felt like I found my groove and I was thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. 

Through out the training I met so many amazing women!

I'm like I've found my PEOPLE, haha.

As race day drew nearer, I totally started to feel the nerves. 

Mostly because of the unknown I guess?

I felt really good about my brick workouts but I really didn't have an experience with setting up and doing the transitions between events. 

Really, my only goals were to 1. not drown 2. finish  and 3. not poop my pants. 

Everyone laughs at the poop part, but my fellow race ladies know exactly what I'm talking about...It's a REAL and LEGITAMITE fear. 

Anyway, my girl Gissell came and picked me up bright and early Saturday morning and we headed over to get checked in and set up!

It was so nice to be going through the whole experience with a friend, it totally helped the nerves. 

Prepping my gear the night before!

After getting our transition areas set up we went to pick up our timing chips. 

Pretty soon it was time to line up to get ready for the swim!

They divided us up by swim times. 

We had to time our 400m a few days before the race so we'd know what group to go in. 

The categories were-

expert-under 7 min 

advanced 7-9min

intermediate 9-11 min

beginner 11-17min

novice 17+ minutes 

I went with the intermediate group since I was consistently clocking between 10-10:30 for the 400m. We lined up one by one to jump in the pool and begin!

My heart was RACING!!

I feel like this was the worst part of the whole thing, just waiting to get in and go. 

The atmosphere was electric as all the women were cheering for each other outside of the pool. 

I LOVED IT! 

Finally it was my turn. 

I said another quick prayer, jumped in, waited for my countdown and pushed off the wall. 

The pool was divided into 8 lanes, 50m long each. 

So we zig-zagged back and forth from one end of the pool to the other.

We were to stay on the right side of the lane unless we wanted to pass, in which we could do on the left side of the lane. 

It was nice that we were sorta spread out so it didn't feel like we were all on top of each other. 

After I got the first 50m done, I was like ok, I got this no problem. 

My goal for swimming was not to stop.

 In my training I decided that if I felt tired or out of breath during the freestyle stroke, I'd immediately turn over to my back and kick/do back stroke. 

It was really effective for me because I could catch my breath when I needed to but I was still moving forward. 

To my surprise, I passed 5 people during my swim!

I was like alriiiiight, I'm doing OK!

I got to the end and jogged as fast as I could, trying not to slip on the cement and run to the transition area where our timer would stop. 

I was annoyed that the whole running segment was included in our swim time but, I understand why they had to do it like that.

Before the swim!

Can you see me? I was legit 12 inches taller than everyone lol. I always forget how TALL I am compared to the general population. 

My good looking crew!

The one "official" race photo that actually turned out, haha! 

I'm SOOO glad my dad was there to capture the rest of these. 

I felt like I had my own paparazzi.

Don't slip, don't slip!

Running to transition! 

My whole outfit via walmart lol

It did the job..but I will for sure be investing in a tri-suit for the next one. 

I was one of the first people in my row to get on the bike-

It was nice not having to compete with the crowds. 

I threw on my running watch/hr monitor, shoes, helmet and grabbed some water, a protein bar and a gu packet!

Everyone said the bike was a good place to replenish fluids and energy. 

My very own cheerleading section. 

The bike route was a 4 mile loop that we had to do 3 times to get the 12 miles. 

It was totally blocked off with cones and police men along the route. 

They were so awesome and cheering us on!

It was just so much fun. 

On my first lap, I went to grab my protein bar that I had shoved in my pocket and it fell onto the ground and into the gutter lol. 

I was super bummed about it. 

Thankfully I had grabbed the gu so at least I had something. 

Also, can we just talk about how PASTY WHITE I am!?

David said he could tell it was me coming around the corner because I was glowing LOL. 

I'm obsessed with these pics dad grabbed of the kids while they were waiting for me. 

It was HOT that morning and they were troopers! 

OLIVE!!!! LOL

The bike portion actually went by really fast. 

I was so happy to finish it without any flat tires.

Next came the runnnnnn.

It was only a 5k distance so I wasn't worried about it at all. 

The only thing that was rough was that it was HOT and the entire course was in direct sunlight. 

I felt like I was running through a furnace. 

One of the water stations had ice cold towels soaked in water that we could wipe down with and those felt AMAZING. 

I kept a slow and steady pace the whole run. 

A lot of the women were sprinting and then walking and sprinting and walking so we'd keep passing each other which was annoying and I was just jogging along like do-de-do-da-do.

I could tell my pace was slower than what I trained for but I just wanted to not-stop so it didn't bother me too much. 

Literally reflecting the sun off my skin. 

I loved rounding the corner and seeing my little family cheering me on from the sideline. 

As I passed, Remington, Olive and Frances joined me for the last 50m across the finish line. 

FINISHED!!!

As you can see the finish line was suuuuper crowded. 

Someone quickly handed me a little pouch and another person was grabbing my leg trying to get the time chip from my ankle and I was like wait hold up, what is going on? Stop touching me!? 

There was so many people It was just really kind of crazy. 

I reconnected with the family and took a few pics on the stand.

We didn't last long though because it was so hot and so loud (the speakers/announcer was BOOOMING) and soo many people crowded into that one tiny space I was like GET ME OUT OF HERE. 

Talk about a sensory overload, YIKES. 

And then before I left  I was like wait, where's my medal?

Don't I get a medal!?

I looked around and saw that no one else had one...

I remember leaving kinda bummed-

Like what the heck, that's half the reason I do these things LOL! 

Turned out that little pouch that was handed to me literally just as I crossed the line had this gorgeous little gold necklace in it. 

It says "STRONG"

and I'm freaking obsessed with it. 

I'll take one of these over a medal any day. 

Anyway, that's my first triathlon account!

It was so fulfilling and so much fun. 

I felt challenged but it didn't feel impossible if that makes sense?

I was throughly enjoying myself the ENTIRE time. 

I literally have a giant smile on my face in every photo LOL.

I'm already looking at some more races in September and December. 

I'd actually like to do a full length triathlon next year!!

We will see what the future holds.

**another shout out to my Dad for taking these awesome photos!!! I seriously LOVE THEM! THANK YOU!!!