Triathlon ....Check!!!

The Triathlon has come and gone and boy was it an adventure!!! I was fairly relaxed about the whole thing when it came down to it which was nice. I found while chatting with others that it was a lot of people's first time doing a triathlon as well, 235 people out of the 800 to be exact. As for training I really didn't do too much just some work on my swimming, a few biking (once on a stationary bike, once on a mountain bike around a golf course and then finally yes on the back of a tandem)go rounds and a lot of running!! You would think with my fear of biking and lack of swimming endurance I would've been training more but hey why be soo stringent and have no life, been there done that!!!

First fun incident was going and trying on the wetsuit that I was renting. The helpful guy told me in detail how to properly pull it on and how to lick the pads of my fingers so as not to tear the material, etc, etc, but he failed to mention that the zipper goes in the back. so I sucked myself into the wet suit and came out with it on backwards and provided everyone in the store a little chuckle!! Then I had to unsuck myself and turn it around and reface the waiting audience!! Luckily it fit and I was done with that cool event!!

A few days before the race my friend Biz graciously lent me her road bike and shoes w/ clips which I had visions of tipping over stuck onto the bikes pedals and being run over!! Breckan luckily is a pro and gave me a quick lesson on clipping in and out and how to shift and such on the bike the day before and after a few rounds I felt as good as I was going to be.

Race day I had my bag packed, car loaded and was off up the canyon to Jordanelle. The same day there were two big bike races biking in the same area as we were Tour of Utah and 1,000 Warriors bike ride so as we passed the groups of "real" cyclists I took in their form and technique to memory to try out on my bike portion. Luckily we had to bike into the park so I could practice my new skills and figure out the shifting before I was in the middle of it all.

I was body marked up, my station was all set and my wetsuit was on and zipped up, swim cap on, googles on and timing chip was in place and I was ready to hit that water!!! Swimming was a whole different event once I started the race, I found that I don't like putting my face in the water (breathing issues), I love the back stroke (spent 85% in this stroke the other a mixture of freestyle with my head out of the water and doggy paddling to maneuver around those pesky slow swimmers!!!), Googles and a wet suit are a bit inhibiting and would like to have neither next go around and third I wish I had a nose plug for those moments when I was behind some kicking feet!!
What I Faced Going In

Can't Wait to Get The Wetsuit Off!!


The bike portion was fun becuase everyone is soo friendly and cheery for the most part. I only jumped once when someone passed due to their eager greeting & well wishes and I only thought about careening off the road into a ditch once, I watched people wash the front of their houses, mooed at some cows, talked to some ponies in a trailer, cheered on fellow bikers as I passed or was being passed, had a few conversations with myself and successfully unclipped at the appropriate spot without falling!! Success!!!
Getting Ready to Leave

Glad to be Back


Running was surprisingly weird in that you felt like lead for about 1 mile. I seriously thought I was running an 11 1/2 minute mile, luckily I was going at an 8 1/2 min/mile which encouraged me to keep on moving. My family was on the side lines early on and cheering me on, they even gave me a drink of gatorade, which I discovered was given to them by some random runner who asked them to throw it out for him and they thought ah this would be perfect for Dareth, well they were right!!! Luckily, I had a lovely gentleman to get through the first two miles with that was in is late 60's and was doing the Olympic distance ta-boot who kept me moving until it got easier!!
Just Starting Out

Almost There

All Done with my Fans



When it was all over, I was really glad I went ahead and did it even if I was solo. It was great getting to meet all the cool people, change up the activities and be done before noon!!!

I finished 25th in my division and 238th overall. I completed all three in 1 hour and 49 minutes. Swimming took less time, biking took a bit longer than thought and running was right on!! So all those people that are wavering if they should attempt a triathlon, just do it and you won't regret it!!