Tri-ing it out...

I had signed up for a triathlon in Denver for mid-April...actually the same weekend we moved. No clue what I was thinking when I thought the timing on that would work out. It ended up that there was a crazy blizzard in the front range that weekend and we decided not to head out for the tri. So the next tri on my calendar was June 6 down in Highlands Ranch, which is also basically in Denver. I convinced Tiffany to do this tri, and she convinced Jesslyn to do the tri with her. So the three of us have been training for the tri and then discussing our progress each day at school. My progress took a major hit when I had that silly bulging disc in my back. So I didn't train for about the last 2-3 weeks leading up to the tri. I was finally able to swim the week of the tri, so I decided I could handle the event itself.

The day of the event was awesome...about 50 degrees by my starting time (7 am) and sunny. I got started a bit late on my swim heat and was placed with three guys. They decided I was the fastest swimmer (based on our practice times), so I swam first. Turns out the guys weren't as consistent of swimmers as I was (not that I was fast, just consistently slow) and we had a bit of back and forth and swimming on top of one another until we settled into a groove.

(blue cap in the pic)









After that, it was on to the bike, which should have been a strong point for me, had I been training. It actually went pretty good and I found myself enjoying the climbing that was part of the 13-mile challenging course.




Then came the dreaded run. Admittedly, it was more of a walk than a run. It was brutally hilly, so combine the hills with the fact that I hate running in the first place, and...blah. I did pick a point about 3/4 of a mile out from the finish and made myself run(wog?? which is walk/jog - word made up by Tammi) to the FINISH line. Torrey and Alana were there waiting for me and cheering me on, so I think I may have actually smiled one time while running:-)


It was great to say I did the race and gave it my best, especially after losing so muich training time to injury. Next tri is up on July 19 in Leadville, which is about 4,000 ft higher in elevation than Gypsum.

Jesslyn, Tiffany and I celebrating our finishes!