T3 Telos Timp Tri - Relay - April 16, 2016

Team Sweat, Sparkle, and Sprint!  Jessica, Joyce, & Brandy!

It was a last minute decision... like many fun races are... to take part in this triathlon!  My great friends, Jessica and Brandy, decided to join me for a relay for this sprint triathlon down in Orem this past Saturday.

It was cold!  It wasn't supposed to be cold!  But for some reason, I either choose, or the cold weather tends to find me, for these crazy races!

I headed down to Sandy, to pick up Jess, and we cruised down to Orem.  I thought I was going to get pulled over a couple of times on the way there, as there were a lot of cops out on Saturday morning.  It was probably due to the heavy volume of people in Salt Lake for the Salt Lake City Marathon and Bike Tour happening that same morning.  I'm glad I got out in time before getting stuck! 

We got down to Orem, and boy was it cold!  They weren't allowing any of the athletes into the indoor areas either!  We set up transition, and did some warming up to stay warm (and then hid in our cars too). 

Before the race!

I don't know how, but I somehow talked Jess into running this relay with us!  She was a trooper in pushing through it, despite her recent trip to the hospital (two days before)!  This was her first time getting to experience a triathlon.  I've been slowly trying to convert her (bwahahaha... just kidding!  But for real... I'd love for her to join me)!  She ran into some of her friends from Addicts to Athletes, and I ran into one of my friends from the U (my friend, Thomas, who I worked with in the mouse-house at HCI, was there to support his wife, Katie)!  So funny how we ran into each other at a triathlon of all places!

National Anthem.

Anyway... we had the race meeting at 8:15am, and then Jess got ready to start us off with the run.  Oh... I failed to mention... it was a reverse triathlon - run, bike, swim instead of the regular swim, bike, run.  I found my teammate, Richard, who I haven't seen in quite some time.  He's been traveling for work, and doing some crazy, awesome triathlons overseas!

And off she went.  While I was waiting for her, I warmed up, and debated with myself on how much clothing I was going to wear.  The sun was warm, but I felt like I'd get cold on the bike.  Should I wear my leggings?  Or should I just got with my tri shorts?  Should I wear my SmartWool jacket?  Or just go with my driFit shirt?  Gloves? No gloves?  In the end I went with my tri shorts, no jacket, and no gloves.

It wasn't too long before she was coming back to transition and passing off the timing chip to me!

And then off I went.

For some reason I had trouble clipping in!  I realized shortly after I headed out that I should have warn those darn gloves!  Oh well... too late now!  The bike was a 3 loop course with a pretty intense uphill (well, more like 2 uphills) at the end of the loop!  I was the moron who didn't realize she didn't gear down to her lower ring on her first loop!  Can I just tell you how much my legs burned?  Yeah... I didn't make that same mistake the second and third loop around.  I noticed that I had a hard time catching my breath.  I think the cold air tends to affect my asthma a lot more than I'd like.  And my throat got all dry again, just like it did at Ice Breaker.  But I pushed through.  There were some people walking that hill, but I just refused to get off my bike!  I didn't care how long it took me! 

I finished a few minutes later than I expected to.  I would have finished in my estimated time had I not made that mistake on the first loop, and that hill... oh, that hill!

I tagged off to Brandy, who headed off to the pool for her the swim. 

The pool area was so hot, but it felt good after my hands froze on the bike!  Michelle showed up and came to cheer us on!  She had just gotten back to the area from the Salt Lake City Bike Tour!  We flip-flopped in race areas! 

Brandy was done in no time!  She rocked it!  She told us that she ended up in a head to head collision with another swimmer in the pool!  Ouch! 

We had a lot of fun!  It's kind of nice switching it up and running a relay instead of running the whole tri by yourself!  I'm glad Jess got to experience a little bit of tri life!  I hope she joins me for a triathlon soon!  We stuck around for awards, and most of the guys from SLTC made the podium!  So awesome! 

I love this sport!  I love it for all the friends I've made, for what it's made of me, and what I continue to learn about myself as I continue to participate!  Thank you, triathlon, for changing my life!

Ice Breaker Triathlon March 26, 2016

I originally signed up for this triathlon for the medal... and because I think I found my motivation and love for the sport again.  After a mentally draining running season last year, I decided to take a break.  I think I was experiencing what Matt Fitzgerald mentioned as depression, for an endurance athlete.  I almost didn't enjoy doing anything anymore.  I didn't want to run.  I didn't even want to sign up for a race.  I found more joy in antigravity fitness and other activities that didn't require rigorous training... until I ran Kearns Indoor tri series, and met more of my Salt Lake Tri Club family.  They are super supportive, and made me feel alive again! 

The last series of Kearns, which I didn't blog about, turned out to be great!  I felt better on the swim (although my distance stayed the same), but improved on the bike and the run.  I've progressively felts stronger through the series.  Which leads me to Ice Breaker.  Like I said, I signed up just to have the medal in my collection.  I hadn't really trained, but I figured I'd go for it anyway, being just a sprint and all.  I could manage that.  We got our tri kits the week of the race, and they turned out awesome!  I felt amazing to be fitting in this suit from all the weight I've been losing.  It's almost a little big!

Saturday, March 26, 2016
Race Day.

It snowed the night before, so the weather forecast expected a low of 32 that morning.  My training buddy, Alberto, came to pick me up and we headed down to American Fork for packet pickup.  As we drove down, we saw looming grey clouds above the area we were to be racing.  It just looked cold outside.

When we got to the race site, the wind was blowing.  It was freezing!  I'm just grateful there was no snow, unlike what the residents of Tooele were experiencing that morning. 

We got our packets and proceeded to set up transition.  We saw Chris...

And my running friend, Cevan (who was also the 2:40 pacer at the Dino Half last year, which I ran) was running his first tri!  We set up right next to each other!

Our bikes became friends too!  Meet Sparkle and Helga!

Being so cold and all, it was really difficult trying to figure out what to put out for transition.

I wasn't sure if I needed to leave my SmartWool gear out for the bike or not.  We finally caught up with Brandy too!  I'm a little sad that I didn't get more pictures with my tri team, but they know I've got much love for them!  SLTC, Baby!

Brandy and I got all tatted up and ready for the swim!

We headed into the pool, where we started our tri.  The water was nice and warm, but was a little too warm for me to breathe well.  Cevan and I swam next to each other for our 300 meters!  The run to T1 was so cold!  I was so cold, I just wanted to get on my bike and go.  I did forego my SmartWool leggings, but put on my jacket.  The bike felt great, with the exception of the big hill and my frozen feet.  I wished I would have found my inhaler before starting the race, because I felt like I couldn't slow my breathing, and my throat was so dry I couldn't swallow any spit to relax my throat.  We went for two 6 mile loops around the American Fork fitness center.  I felt quite strong on the flats.  My feet were freezing by the time I dismounted and ran into T2.  When I got back, Kenya and Landin (Arnett) happened to be heading out, and they noticed my helmet was backwards!  Hahahaha... that has never happened to me before!  I guess I was so cold that I just wanted to get everything on and get going, that I didn't even bother noticing that it was backwards!  I did feel, however, my helmet being a little loose during the second loop, but paid no mind.

After getting my shoes on, I decided to go without jacket.  The sun was out, so it was bound to warm up!  My feet, however, were still frozen blocks of ice.  It hurt to run.  I walked up the big hill, waiting for my feet to thaw out.  As soon as I got halfway up the hill, they started to warm up.  I began my run.  My legs felt heavy at first, but I kept going.  I did a bit of a run/walk for awhile, until my lungs felt ready to keep a steady pace.  I was trying to keep up with a man who had been in front of my for the run.  At some point, my body felt good enough to maintain a steady pace.  I ended up passing him.  I also caught up with Michelle!  I was so glad to see her!  She was doing great, but told me her legs were cramping (in the place that I usually cramp too - on the inner quads, right near the knee).  I kept going... and finally saw the finish line.  I checked my Garmin and picked up my pace.  I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 1:45. 

Checking my time from 2 years ago, I finished 12 minutes faster!  I was pretty excited about that!  I felt so much better too! 

A lot of my SLTC fam ended up making the podium!  Here's my friend, Andrew, taking second in his age group!

I waited for Alberto to finish up too!  So excited he joined me, even without training!  He's a beast!  This tri was just what I needed to really re-solidify my enjoyment of triathlon!  I'm signing up for more races! 

Thanks to my friends for being so crazy as to join me on this "Ice" Breaker!  And to my SLTC fam for being such a huge support in my tri life!