My First Triathlon--Women of Steel

Getting the bike and all my things ready.

 Some how this summer I committed to doing my first triathlon.  I think Sarah first brought this Women of Steel one to my attention. It was sprint distance, in a pool, and all women.  Seemed safe enough.  The Women of Steel--South Jordan was held August 7th.  The day after Scott returned from Costa Rica, and the day before Rubie's 2nd birthday.  I had started taking swimming lessons from Heath Thurston, but had only 3 lessons by this time.  We hadn't even gotten to the part of our lessons where I was actually swimming, just doing drills to help me learn breathing, how my body felt in the water and how to be relaxed.  When I told him I was going to do the tri, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, maybe it will come together for you." Hah!

Setting up my transition area.  In this race each participant was assigned an area based on our number.

The transition area.

We came in from the swim and bike at the same entrance.

 

Jessica Wilson and her sister Chelsea also participated in the race.

We arrived two hours early.  After setting up my transition area, that left a lot of time to do what?  I warmed up and killed some time by jogging around this park next door.

Tri Utah puts on a good race.  All the after race treats.

Even these after race treats were good I'm sure.  I didn't have any cookies.  I ate about 4-5 bananas, an orange, and about 5 bottles of water.

Massage tables ready for tired athletes.

I actually visited the medical tent at the end of the race.  While changing my clothes in the car after wards, my sweaty foot slipped and my toe was sliced on the metals rails under the passenger seat.

Pre-race stretching with Jessica and Chelsea.

I don't know how many times I went to the bathroom.  As we got closer to the start of the race, there was a constant line of women.

Lined up for the swim.

I'm to the right of the ladder, the second one over with the white top.  I lined up in the 5 minute time, even though I knew I probably wouldn't be that fast.  I hoped.

 

I was feeling pretty excited, trying to be calm as my turn came up.  Someone jumped in the pool every 10 sec.

Oh no, are those my goggles on top of my head?  I forgot to pull them down on my face.  That was my first mess-up in the swim.  It made me laugh and I just couldn't quite calm down and get my breath.  The swim was all about just surviving.

 

The sky was beautiful.  I noticed that because I spent some time on my back trying to get calmed down. 

Attempting a stroke.

My swim was such a joke.  The people at the side of pool probably thought I was going to drown.  I was hoping no one was paying attention.  Of course Scott was taking a ton of pictures.

The last lap.  I'm going to make it.

Okay, I can do it.  Try some strokes at the end.

Finally out of the pool.

I was probably somewhere like 30-40th out of the pool.  So many people passed me.  I felt bad about being in the way.  But now I'm out and maybe I can make up some time up on the bike.  I biked the course the night before and there are a few climbs that I know I can really power up.

We had to run out of the swim area, down the side walk, across part of the parking lot to the transition area.

Be fast, helmet, shoes, sunglasses and go!

Helmet,

bike shoes,

Run out of T1, across part of the parking lot, over the grass...

Out to the road where we can mount the bike...

and finally take off.  I can get my breathing under control.  But also, I'm going to leave it all out there.  I can do this fast.

Coming in after the 1st lap.

Scott tells me there are just 8 riders ahead of me.  Seriously?!  I passed a lot of ladies, now I'm going to catch up to the rest.

Approaching T2. (That women behind me was participating in the Tri for life race that started an hour earlier than the Women of Steel race.)

Coming in to T2, Scott tells me I'm in 4th position.

Into T2.

Change shoes, remove helmet, grab belt with number.

On the way out the volunteer tells me I'm in 3rd.  I passed someone in the transition, cool.

All of a sudden there was this super exuberant cheerleader.  Where did Carlee come from?

She always shows up when I'm not expecting her to give me a boost.  Thanks for being such a great friend.

The run was on the Jordan River trail, an out and back.  As I got out there I could see one girl in front of me.  I worked hard to close the gap between us.  After a while I saw another woman ahead of her.  Pretty soon the 1st girl overtook the 2nd girl.

Running hard to the finish line.

Passing Scott.

I came in with a finish time of 1:10:24.9.  At this point I was pretty sure I would be in third.  At least I crossed the finish line 3rd.

It feels so good to be done.  All I want is water.

..and a massage.  Ahhhh.

Scott keeps looking at the results, he just told me that I am in first place.  I cannot believe it.  Really?!

On the podium with Julie in 2nd and Malinda in 3rd.

They are great gals.  I hope to see them at races again.  Pre-race I was scooping out the competition and saw Malinda with her tri bike and aero helmet.  I thought for sure that she would just blow everyone away.  She was pretty fast on the bike.  But the bike is how I won. 

We were each given a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

And literally crowned the winners.

I got emotional at this part.  Just being up here when all the women in the race have worked so hard to get to this point.  I almost felt like I cheated somehow because my swim was so bad.

Jessica also had a great race.  It's so fun to have friends in the sport.  Sarah was out there winning the BAM triathlon this day.  It was fun to talk to her on the phone and report my win to her.  Her reaction, "I knew it!"

Look at all this swag!

I think it is interesting to compare our times:

Jen         over all: 1:10:24.9 swim: 7:47  T1: 1:29  Bike: 38:08  T2: 0:55  Run 22:04
Julie       over all: 1:12:30.1 swim: 4:08  T1: 1:47  Bike: 44:21  T2: 0:54  Run: 21:18
Malinda over all: 1:13:26.0  swim: 4:21 T1: 1:23  Bike: 42:19  T2: 0:57  Run 24:23

I'm excited to try this again next year!