I can Tri

In all of the hype and excitement of watching the Olympics this summer, I began to itch for a little competition in my life. So I did something pretty crazy and signed up for a triathlon, my first! I have always been a swimmer and it's an easy thing for me. I still swim at a decent pace and I love to jump in the pool and swim some laps at least once a week. I love my spin class and think that my instructor is quite good at keeping me fit. To put it bluntly, she's really, really tough. I felt confident in both my swim and bike. Running, I know is not my thing. However, I have run a few races before, so I decided to go ahead and do it.

I signed up for the Alta Canyon sprint Triathlon. It consists of a 400 Meter swim, a 9 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. I felt comfortable biting off this much for my fist tri. I am so glad I did it! It was an AMAZING experience that I will NEVER forget. It's so amazing what you can do once you set your mind to it.

I followed a training program I found online. My awesome friend Claire let me borrow her road bike. The first time I got on it, I thought I was really going to have a hard time racing on it. However, my awesome neighbor Deena took me out on a few rides and taught me how to basically ride a road bike on the streets. We did some great rides around these nasty Sandy hills and I felt pretty prepared for the giant hill on the bike portion. I probably didn't train enough for the run, but given it was the last leg, I think I did pretty well.

The night before my race, I had to change my insulin pump site. I think I chose a bad spot because the absorption hasn't been real good. I checked my sugar before going to bed Friday night and it was at 345. I should have changed my site again but I didn't. I set an alarm for 1 am to check to see if my sugars had come down. They were at 200 something so I tried to get some good sleep. I was tired but nervous so I didn't sleep really soundly.

I woke up at 6 am on Saturday a total ball of nerves. My sugar was 131 so that was great. I ate a small breakfast, bolused 50% of usual and packed up my stuff to leave. I didn't realize it until I got there, but I forgot my water bottle. Big mistake! But I managed okay.

I got to the race at about 7 am. There were already tons of racers and their support people there. I found a good spot for transition, set up my bike and laid out my racing gear. At about 7:35 we had a pre-race meeting to discuss the path and a few rules. I prepped my insulin pump with a 50% basal rate, disconnected, and headed over to the pool. It was pretty cool outside so I was nervous about being too cold but it was all good. We lined up by the pool in a general area based on our time for the 400M. I wish I had put myself a little closer to the front of the line but it wasn't too bad. My swim time was 8:48. Should have been about a minute or two faster, but oh well.

We were separated by a quick 5 seconds in the pool, snaked back and forth down the Olympic sized pool for the 400. I passed several people in such a short distance so that's why I wish I could have been closer to the front. Anyway, after the swim I jumped out of the pool, threw on my flip flops and grabbed my towel. While I was running to transition, I was feeling super dizzy. I almost fell over! As I was getting my stuff ready for the bike, I figured I'd better check my sugar again. It was a lot higher than I would have liked (260) and looking back I should have bolused. I dried off, put on my socks & shoes, pants, shirt, my iPhone on my arm band, insulin pump, and headed out on my bike. My first transition time was 3:24. I wish I had taken a few more seconds to collect my thoughts and bolus.

The beginning of the course is a huge hill up 9800 South. The first time up was pretty hard. I took it at my own pace, lots of people passed me. Once I got off the hill I felt great. I pushed it pretty well on the bike and was confident on the down slope. I took that a lot faster than I had without the race officials directing traffic. I was thirsty as all get out though. On the straightaway before the hill, my friend Diane caught up to me and offered me some water so that was awesome. My second time up the hill was much better. After the summit, there is a flat part and then a corner and a down slope. On the flat at the top of the hill, I saw Colin and the boys in the car. That was awesome! I finished my second lap and went back into transition. My bike time was 45:24. I honestly didn't expect to do it in under an hour. The last time I rode it, it took me 30 minutes for just one lap! I was happy with my performance on the bike.

I rode into transition and that was the only time I got yelled at ha ha ha. They were like, "dismount, dismount". So I jumped off my bike, put it back on the rack, changed my shoes, and put on my headphones. I didn't check my sugar at this transition. This transition was 1:23.

The run was pretty good. I kept a decent pace for me. And that was AFTER the bike and the swim. So I was pretty happy with that. There is this one part on the run that's a straight up hill. Like straight up. But then you get to run down the bike climb on 9800 south so that was awesome. Colin and the boys were on the downhill so they cheered me on and brought me some much needed water. My run time was 37:56. I was hoping for under 40 minutes. I think my first lap was 19 minutes so my second was faster, I think. My friend Diane saw me coming down the finish and ran out to cross the finish line with me. It was awesome! Colin was there just after I crossed the line and snapped some pictures of me with my metal on.

He didn't get any pictures of the swim or the bike, darn it but we did take one of me in transition after I had finished. My final time was 1:36:57. I honestly didn't think that I could finish in under 2 hours. Well, I way underestimated myself.

I feel really good about this accomplishment and I think I'll totally do it again.