Back when we lived in Ithaca, NY, a colleague/friend of mine sent me an email and said she needed me to do her a favor. With Melissa, you never knew what kind of favor you were in for. Usually though, it involved either exercise or a practical joke. This particular favor was to do the biking portion of a triathlon on a relay team. I was new into road biking but loved it and was happy to do this favor. Watching all the people finish the Ithaca YMCA Triathlon that day, I thought to myself, "I could totally do that on my own next year". So, I did! Melissa also had this amazing knack to convince tons of people to do things, and we had all these teachers from the middle school either on teams or doing the triathlon as individuals.
T-Burg Middle School Triathlete Teachers
Then, my dear friends Juliet and Margaret and I decided we needed to do an intermediate triathlon together. I would swim, Juliet would bike, and Margaret would run. So, we did the Keuka Triathlon. It involved getting up early to drive to Keuka College but it was worth it. The swim was nearly a mile, the bike nearly 25 miles, and the run a bit over 6 miles.
Then, we moved to Ashland, WI. Apparently Melissa's influence came with me, and that August we went to Duluth and I did the Brewhouse triathlon and enjoyed it, minus getting up super early to do the race. I sort of trained for this one, actually going for a bike ride, then changing my shoes and going for a run.
The following summer I signed up to do the Chequamegon Bay Sprint Triathlon as part of the Bay Days celebration in Ashland. I had a great time and signed up to do it again the following summer. But then I was pregnant and in the height of my morning sickness. So I didn't do the race. But I was determined to do it the following summer. What a great way to get back in shape after having a baby. I signed up again but then had to get my gallbladder removed and Nick had hip surgery - oh and we had a four month old . . . . so no race again. Somewhere in this time frame I also did the Baxter Lakes Triathlon near Brainerd with my sister-in-law Becky and Nick, his dad, and Sam did the race as a relay and won. I can't remember what year that was though - either the first or second year we were in Ashland though. Nole and Cally did the kids' triathlon the day before, Nole has won it all five years! (pictures from this time period are on a different computer, so just picture me wearing that same red shirt and standing at some sort of finish line).
This year though, after doing the Eau Claire Triathlon with my mom and feeling great at the end, I signed up. As soon as the check was in the mail I had buyer's remorse. What was I thinking? I have zero time to train! I hate running and that's the only part of the three I can do with Lilly. I just did not want to do the race. But, the check was in the mail, so I might as well do it. I didn't really train - I exercised as regularly as I could, biking with friends, swimming a couple of times (once, actually) and actually going for some runs (and not hating it as much as I thought I did - in fact, I kind of liked it . . . scary thought).
July 21st rolled around (and Lilly slept through the night minus one early wake up before we were even in bed, so it totally counts), I woke up at 6:15, got ready and headed out the door to do the sprint triathlon. Lake Superior isn't very warm, so I put on my wetsuit and waited for the fun to begin. Normally people test out the water before getting in, but I didn't really care, I was just out to have fun and try to survive. I really wish I would have put at least my feet in the water before they sent us out on the swim. HOLY SMOKES that was the coldest water I have ever been in in my entire life. I could barely feel my feet by the time I was finished. Luckily I am a fairly fast swimmer, so I wasn't in the water for too long. I would have been in the water for even less time if I could flippin' swim in a straight line. Then to my nemesis, the transition from the swim to the bike. I cannot get my wetsuit off. It sticks to my ankles and refuses to come off. My transition in the EC tri was something around seven minutes. The goal I set for myself for this race - transition faster. I achieved that goal, but barely. And if it wasn't for the very nice young woman across from me in the transition area, I may not have made it, but she yanked my wetsuit off my ankle for me. The bike was fun and fairly fast but the entire time as I was pushing myself to ride hard I kept thinking, "Ugh, I still have to run after this!" And as people passed me over and over again, I thought, "oh no, I am going to come in last place". But, I hopped off my bike, traded biking shoes for running shoes and headed onto the waterfront trail to run a 5K. I let myself take a few breaks and walk so I could be sure to run the last part in front of everyone (and did not walk until I was away from the spectators!). I wasn't last - wasn't far from it - but I am still really happy with how I did.
My time overall: 1 hour and 52 minutes
Swim: 10:01 (bragging point here - I was the 16th fastest female swimmer out of 70)
Bike: 1:01:48
Run: 33:38
The best part of this race was the spectators. My friend Katie cheered me on as I biked past her house, friends of ours cheered me on as I ran/biked past them and laughed at my self-deprecating humor as I tried to get them to run for me, former students, and most importantly, my husband and daughter. Seeing them near the transition area, Nick pointing me out to Lilly and seeing the big smile on her face certainly made the race much more enjoyable.
Mother and daughter after the race, Lilly eating my finisher's medal and wearing my race shirt, and Nick and Lilly (she picked out the scarf herself before they left the house) waiting for Mom.
My final race adventure for the summer will be Point to LaPointe, the 2.1 mile swim from Bayfield to Madeline Island. Maybe I will get a few lake swims in before August 10th . . . although I have decided training for races is totally overrated!
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