triathamom: run

To continue the timing chip saga, as I was leaving the transition area, I told the people at the beeping mat that I must have lost my timing chip in the pool and I took off the useless velcro strap to show them. One of the race organizers was also there and she said "yep. We won't be able to give you your split times, but we'll still be able to give you a start and finish time." So oh well. That was that.:(

Off I went.

I walked for a couple minutes to loosen up my legs a little bit and then got going. My shins hurt but seemed to feel a little better as I warmed up. Then I ran 10 min, walked 2 to stretch out a little, and ran the rest. I have to say that reaching the Mile 2 mark was pretty amazing! Only ~1 more mile to go! Wohoo!!! At that point I felt like I could do anything! One Mile was nothing! (note: I've never felt that way ever before during a run - ever) ;)

So here I am coming into the finish:

I have to say I find finish lines embarrassing. Am I the only one that feels that way? I kind of don't like having people cheer for me when all I want to do is focus on my ipod tunes and get across that line. Push through to the end. I feel uncomfortable with people watching me as I'm struggling and huffing and puffing (there's a race in Provo that goes along the 4th of July parade route that I avoid for that very reason).

Anyway - I made it!!!!! They handed me my finisher's necklace. I said Hi to Zac and the kids. Then I went to the food table to pig out - because I felt like I had earned it for sure. :)
Bagels, cream cheese, fruit platters, and cookies. Yum.

Me, stuffing my face and talking to my mom:

The kids had their faces painted:

They also had a sign-making station for the families while the wife/mom/daughter/woman was running.

Here's one the kids made for me:

So cute!

And my finisher necklace:

The finish line:

And bounce houses for the kids:

It was kind of a carnival for the families waiting, so that was a lot of fun for them.

Anyway. Because of my timing chip problem, my name wasn't even listed on the results page online which sort of ticked me off. I had to email the timing company and they finally got me my total time and said they'd update the list with my name on it (but it's still not there yet).

So - my total time was 1 hr 54 min and 18 sec.

According to my watch, my bike (12 miles) took 1 hr 06 min

and my run (5K) was 36 min

(which was about what my trainings had been taking me, so no surprises)

and that leaves 12 min for my swim and transitions.

It's possible that the swim (300 yds) took 10 min or so (even though my training swims were about 6 min - grrr). So, that would mean I took 2 min in getting from the pool to bike, and bike to run. But I don't know for sure.

So will I do it again?? Definitely. I think I want to try one with a half-mile swim (~800 yds) because I'm pretty sure I can do that. Maybe I'll even try an open water swim sometime (although finding a wet suit is not something I'd be looking forward to and might not even be feasible). I feel really good about what I accomplished. I'm proud of my body markings (that still haven't completely washed off) - and I will gladly show them off. I am sooo glad I won the entry to this race so I could try this out, risk-free so to speak. :) I'm never quite sure how to sum it up succinctly enough when people ask me "how was it?" (hence the very long post series all about it) - but I am very happy to be able to say I did it. That's something!

I can call myself a triathlete now! hehehe.