Report from my first tri!

[uk elephant]

Whooooo! Such great fun!! I'll definitely be doing that again!

Did the Harwich Sprint Triathlon on Saturday afternoon. Training fell by the wayside the last month due to too many hours spent at work, but the training I've done since Christmas must have paid off. I always said my goal was just to finish before the Marshalls packed up for the night, and my secret hope was to finish within 2 hours. Ended up with a time of 1:42:12, and could have been under 1:40 had I not waited for my friend in T1 so we could stick together. She had been really nervous beforehand and so we had agreed to stick together. But after about 4 miles of the cycle she told me to just go because I was clearly a lot faster than her on the bike. I knew she would catch me up again on the run so I went ahead on the cycle part. The cycle was so much fun! Essex is very flat, all my training had been in Wales with has big hills everywhere. The hill training had clearly paid off, I was flying along! With a big grin on my face. And I had a good rabbit, someone just out of reach I kept seeing disappear around the next bend ahead. I very nearly caught up by then end of the cycle, but then lost him again when I was a little more cautious around a roundabout with traffic. The organizers had some issues with the time-recording so they have only recorded the time for the swim+bike+transitions and then the run separately, but the bike was clearly my strong point. For those first two sections together, I came in 36th from the end. Then everyone kept passing me on the run, although I ran the 5K faster than I've ever done in training! Came in 5th from last in the run, so that'll be what I have to work hardest on for next time. My friend did catch me up on the run and we ran together for a couple of mintues before I told her to just go. I just didn't have enough in me to try to keep up with her pace. We both had a great time and will definitely be doing this again! Oh, and another thing to practice before next time...getting out of the pool without steps! I had a very un-graceful exit from the pool when my arms buckled as I tried to jump up to get out.....

I'll post some pictures eventually. Mom (Duck on wheels) and dad and BF were all there to cheer me on and I hear there are photos......

[lph]

Fantastic, and good job on those excellent times! Sounds like a great day

[OakLeaf]

Woohoo! Way to go UKE!

[rocknrollgirl]

Great Job!!! Are you hooked???

[kacie tri-ing]

Great job! It is such a great feeling to cross that line!!!

[Susan Otcenas]

Congratulations!! What a wonderful accomplishment!! So glad you had a good experience. Looking forward to pictures.

[Veronica]

Very nice! Sounds like a super fun day.

Veronica

[roadie gal]

It sounds like a great race. Congrats!

So when is your next one....?

[NbyNW]

Congratulations! Sounds like you had a great time, and I enjoyed reading your report. I liked the part where you were chasing a "rabbit"

[colby]

Awesome report. And very nice work!!

So, when are you doing your next one?

[sfa]

Congratulations! Sounds like a fun event. I'm with you on the difficulties of getting out of a pool without stairs or a ladder. I hate it when I get stuck in a middle lane and have to either worm my way to the side through other peoples' lanes or flop out like a particularly ungraceful seal.

[Tri Girl]

Congrats!!! I'm so glad you had a great time. Yippee!!!
Can't wait to see the pictures.

[GLC1968]

Yay! Great job and it sounds like you had a great time.

I can totally relate to the pool exit - I did the same thing on mine. I felt like a seal flapping my wet, weak body up onto the deck!

[uk elephant]

A couple of the photos my BF took. The resolution isn't great as the photos were taken with his phone. I'm sure mom (Duck) will post better ones when she's home.

I've already started searching for another sprint I could do this summer, but haven't found one yet. If any of you know of one, preferable in Wales, let me know....I have a few lined up for next year, though. Definitely hooked!

[colby]

A couple of the photos my BF took. The resolution isn't great as the photos were taken with his phone. I'm sure mom (Duck) will post better ones when she's home.

I've already started searching for another sprint I could do this summer, but haven't found one yet. If any of you know of one, preferable in Wales, let me know....I have a few lined up for next year, though. Definitely hooked!

Finishing with a smile, I love it.