Women's Triathlon Festival - Super Sprint Triathlon - TriathlonMini Sprint

This was my favorite part! I completely relaxed and swam freestyle just like I was supposed to. I kept on bumping into people doing backstroke, so I cut around everyone and passed a lot of people. It was surreal, swimming in this warm water with only about 4 feet of visibility. I went to the outside of the pack, since everyone else was so slow. It reminded me of that Harry Potter movie with the underwater lake scene. It was surreal to swim and see these beautiful water plants come up from the bottom.

Matt and Rob later commented on how surprising it was that I was passing everyone. It was a great confidence-booster.

Next time I will start at the front, on the outside. I will also get some water shoes as it was not fun stepping on sharp rocks.

This was hard. As I got out of the water, gravity hit all 270 lbs of me and I slowed down. Other women were running out of the water and moving quickly, and I couldn't catch my breath to run. I enjoyed sitting on my towel and it took a while to dry my feet enough to get my socks and shoes on.

Practice transitions, work on cardio and my fitness, get triathlon shoes.

This was worrying me, I am not strong on the bike, and the week before was the first time I had ridden at least 5 miles. It wasn't bad, but a few people passed me. That is ok, I just relaxed into it and rode. I have an old road bike and it performed well. I was able to pass people on mountain bikes or comfort bikes, but anyone who had any ride experience on a road bike passed me quickly.

I would train more on the bike, at least twice a week. I also need to get some good bike shoes, as the ones I have are uncomfortable.

I was just grateful to get off the bike! I mean, I did it! I did my hardest part! Thank you! Again, I felt like I had not caught my breath, but oh well, I moved slow and just racked my bike, changed my shoes and socks and went on.

Not sure, I just need more training.

So, I made it this far, the last mile should be easy, right? This was harder than I thought. Now, when I first started training in April, I could not run at all. I finally can now run 3 miles without stopping, but after the bike, I had no energy to run. I tried at first, and nothing happened, I only could walk. It took about an 1/8th of a mile before I could start jogging. I just couldn't catch my breath. In fact, the only time I felt like this before was during an asthma attack.

Eventually I got my running legs back, and was able to do a slower version of my normal ultra-slow run. I knew I was slow, but didn't care. In fact, a power-walker passed me easily. I was able to pass a few people,

The best part of this was seeing the other women of all ages, shapes and sizes. I gave them encouragement when I saw they were struggling like me. That was wonderful. When I encouraged them, I felt their encouragement for me!

When I got close to the finish line, I couldn't believe it. I was finishing! There was my husband, cheering for me! I passed the finish line and heard my name called. That was priceless.

I need to practice brick workouts. I also need to increase my cardio and run faster, as well as run longer. I also am desperately in need of new running shoes.

I got some water and caught my breath, and then hugged my husband. The food they provided was pasta, and I can't eat wheat, so I eat a piece of fruit, and then some yummy coffee.


I need to get into better cardiovascular shape, and definitely lose some weight. I am 100 lbs overweight, and although tall, I know losing weight will help my times. I have thyroid problems, so losing weight is not as simple as it was before.


Good race! They were short on volunteers, but it was a great first race.