I'm a triathlete!

Heather and Kim did a triathlon in June and got hooked on that type of race. They preferred the varied activities over shorter distances to just running the longer distances. They said I should try a triathlon. I was already taking spinning classes on a regular basis and obviously the running portion was right up my alley. The swimming was the most intimidating since I hadn't swum with purpose in years and years. So I swam in Heather's pool a few times to make sure I wouldn't totally embarrass myself - I didn't - then I bit the bullet and signed up for my first triathlon.

It started at 7:00 on Sunday and was in Wake Forest, which is a solid 45-minute drive from Holly Springs. We needed to be there by about 6:00 to get our numbers by 6:30 (the cutoff time) and get our stuff situated in the transition area before they closed it at 6:45. So guess what time I got up? 4:35 in the morning. I'm not sure I've ever stayed UP until 4:30 in the morning let alone gotten up at that time. For someone like me who's not a morning person, I'd say getting up that early was maybe the hardest part of the whole day.
















I'm not sure I've ever captured a sunrise on a camera. And if I never do again, it'll be too soon.
















Of course, we made sure to use the facilities before the race started. Port-a-Potties don't look any better (inside or out) under a sunrise.
















This is the transition area. We set our bikes and stuff - helmets, shoes, towels, Chap Stick, etc. - up in this area, and it's where we were between the swim and bike and then again between the bike and run.
















Even though the event started at 7:00, we didn't start until closer to 7:30 to 7:45. The swim is done in a pool so obviously the 350 participants couldn't all fit in at once. You're supposed to be swimming with people of similar capability, but we saw from the pool deck as well as from the lane while we were swimming, that that wasn't always the case. Heather was in the lane behind me and we got stuck behind slower swimmers with no chance to pass and make up the time. That was the most frustrating part of the day and I see why people prefer open water swims.

Here we are running from the pool to the transition area, where we'll dry off as much as we can, put on our shoes, socks, helmets, and sunglasses and grab our bikes for the next portion of the race.
















As you can see, we're all dressed differently but still appropriately. Kim was in tri-shorts (they go from the pool to the bike to the run) and a sports bra, I was in a bathing suit and needed to pull on shorts in the transition area, and Heather was in a tri-suit, which she completed the remainder of the event in.

Here we all are coming in from the cycling portion. You can't ride across the timing mat (well, you can, but you'll get a time penalty) so I was a little paranoid and stopped a touch short. That's why I'm not exactly riding my bike as I'm finishing.


















Running a 5k (3.1 miles) was the last part of this race. Ordinarily I'd say 3 miles wasn't something I'd be worried about. But after the swim and 10-mile bike ride, I knew the distance was going to be more challenging than usual.

And we're off!

















You know how your grandparents would say that they had to walk uphill both ways in the snow (year-round apparently) to school and back home? After this course, I now believe it was physically possible for that to happen. We all agreed: we don't know how they did it, but somehow this course was uphill the whole way even though it was 1.55 miles out and then we just did that in reverse to get back to the finish line.

Done!





































Heather and Kim weren't far behind.
































A triathlete trio.





















And an equally important trio - our supporters, Bronte, Bruce, and Greg. I especially need to give a shout-out to Bruce for taking all the pictures. Thank you so much!





















Once we were all done, we meandered away from the finish line to check out the snacks and drinks. An Italian restaurant was offering baked ziti and lasagna, neither of which appealed to me. I had some peanut butter bread then had a sample from The Meat House, which hit the spot. We were entertained by a juggler/performer.











We stuck around until the end for the awards because both Heather and I placed, as did my neighbor, Kara.
















































We were all second in our categories. Holly Springs made a pretty good showing out there Sunday morning.
















Okay, my official stats. My swim time was 5:53, but take that with a grain of salt since I was stuck behind people. I could've finished at least a minute quicker without the pokey puppies blocking my way. I finished the 10-mile bike portion in 31:49. Because of the hills during the run, I didn't expect to do as well as I did, but I surprised myself by finishing in 24:21. So with the transition times added in, my total was 1:05:12. I was 7th out of 131 women, and 2nd in my age group (30 to 34).

So, what did I think of my first triathlon? I really enjoyed it. I could do without the 4:30-am wake-up call, that's for sure, but I'm so glad I tried this and do plan to do another one, probably in October. That one starts an hour later and is in Apex/Cary so I definitely won't have to be up as early.

Thank you, Kim and Heather, for inviting me to join you guys and pushing me to do it. It was a great experience and it was awesome sharing it with you.

(If you're interested, you can view all the results here.)