On Sunday I participated in Tri for the Cure. It was my second sprint triathlon... but the first one I've done since Elliette and Cadence were born! Tri for the Cure benefited the Susan G. Komen for the Cure; this year over 2,400 women participated. I decided to do this triathlon in May after talking to a few ladies from the MOMS Club of Aurora. At that time I had just met them, but it instantly gave me a connection to some other women who also wanted to train for something fun. Over the past couple of months I've gained some good friends!
The triathlon consisted of a half-mile open water swim, an 11.4 mile bike, and a 5k run. I completed an 11-week training program for the triathlon. Eric gave me a Scott Sportster Lady for Mother's Day this year, and it really came in handy! I did a lot of biking (most of it pulling the girls!) and a lot of swimming, but I didn't really focus on the running. I just have never liked running... and I especially don't like it when I have to push the double jogger. I did a little jogging, but I ended up mostly walking my running and bike/run brick workouts. My plan for the triathlon was to push myself on the swim and the bike, and then just get through the run to the finish!
I had to pick up my packed on the Saturday before the triathlon at the pre-race expo. It was held at Bicycle Village, and it was pretty cool! Eric and the girls came with me to pick up my packet and get marked for the big day. The girls tried out some Strider bikes, and we had fun checking out all of the vendors. I loved the atmosphere and excitement.
The race had over 2,400 women participants. I think there were around 24 different waves, ranging from the elite and competitive groups to cancer survivors to buddies (we were in the buddy group!). The race started at 7:00 am, and we arrived at around 5:30 am. The waves started in 4-minute increments, and our wave was last. It was so neat to watch the really awesome athletes who started the race. The cancer survivors wave was really inspiring, too. We watched a bunch of waves begin, and then we headed back to our area to finish preparing for our race. My overall goal for the triathlon was 2 hours and 30 minutes. I figured that I would complete the swim in 20 minutes, the bike in an hour, and the run in 45 minutes. I also gave myself a big cushion for the transitions (our transition area was pretty far back!).
Our race started at about 8:30 am. The swim was pretty good. We were kind of in the middle, so it was hard at the beginning to maneuver around the other swimmers. I think I expended too much energy trying to get around the people at the beginning. I kept getting kicked in the face and in the chest, and I kept kicking people, too. I tried to apologize every time I hit someone, but most people didn't seem to care because they were kicking people, too! Even though I feel like I had trained for the swim and increased my endurance, I ended up breaststroking most of the time. I felt like it was the easiest way to maneuver around people, and then I'd front crawl as soon as I had some open space. The water wasn't too cold, and the waves weren't too bad. It felt like it took forever, and I was so happy to be pulled out of the water when the swim was over. I wasn't very tired and felt like I finished in my goal time!
By the time the run started, I was already pretty tired. One of my friends told me that the run-to-bike part of the triathlon was the hardest, and I have to agree with her. My legs were tired, I was worn out, and I didn't feel at all like running. To top it off, the first part of the run was uphill! Overall it was a nice run course, right up a hill, across the dam and then back. I started the run at a really slow, almost strolling pace. I wanted to enjoy a cup of water and let my legs loosen up before I started jogging. After about seven minutes of strolling I decided to try to jog a bit. I ended up jogging for just a bit and then walking again. I was pretty frustrated with myself, but I just made myself keep going. Seeing my friends on the course (we all wore tie-dye tank tops) helped give me some motivation. I also ended up with a group of ladies who pushed me to jog more, which really helped! Once we were saw the finish line, we all ran in strong. It was such a good feeling to be finished! I knew that I had beaten my goal, but I wasn't sure of any of my times. I got my finisher's medal and a bottle of water, and I waited for our group to finish. Our group did great! A couple of the ladies really kicked butt, and the rest of us finished within a few minutes of each other! We stopped by the post-race party on our way to pick up our bikes and gear. I am so excited to TRI again next year!
I was really proud of my times. I am definitely going to sign up for another triathlon next year. For now, I'm going to focus on my running. My 5k time was the slowest 5k I've ever done! In GA I did two 5k's and my times were around 38 minutes and 35 minutes... still not fast, but I know I can do better than (almost) 43 minutes!
I am so glad that I decided to sign up for Tri for the Cure. Not only did it give me some wonderful new friends, it got me back into a good training schedule. I loved riding my bike and swimming at the Aurora Reservoir (I think it's my favorite place here!). Training also made me take time for myself. Eric was wonderful about watching the girls a few times a week or taking them to swim lessons by himself. I really enjoyed my new-found "me time," and I intend to keep it up as I train for my next race!
My official times:
ASHLEY BLANCHARD #2693
AURORA, CO
| Distance | Short |
| Clock Time | 02:01:24 |
| Overall Place | 1738 / 2411 |
| Division Place | 176 / 386 |
| Swim | 00:14:48 |
| Swimrank | 206 |
| Trans1 | 00:09:32 |
| Bike | 00:48:13 |
| Bikerank | 1806 |
| Mph | 14.1 |
| Trans2 | 00:06:11 |
| Runrank | 1982 |
| Run | 00:42:38 |
| Pace | 00:13:45 |
1 comments:
I'm so proud of you!!
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