Tri for Sight

This is how my morning started out!!  Beautiful!!  It was a little warmer than last year so I was a little fearful that it would get very hot today.  I am not a big fan of running in the heat let alone swim and bike in it.  This is my first race report ever so I'm sorry if it is LONG!!  I am very excited about writing this report.  Here I go:

     

This is my husband Jim and I before the race.  I have done this race before (last year) and this is Jim first time doing it.  So I had the pressure of beating my last year's time and he just had to finish.  I freak out when it comes to competing against myself.  I don't know why but I do.  It was the crack of dawn and I was feeling great. 

This is my running BFF Coy!!  She is amazing!!  I'm sure she will have her race report up soon.  Just a little hint, she did FANTASTIC!!!!  She is one strong and determined woman and I love that about her!!  She is my hero when comes to all of this stuff!!

This is the Good Luck kiss right before I jumped in the pool.  I was number 309 and Jim was number 316.  He was not far behind me.  I was waiting any minute for him to pass me up like he does on training days. 

The swim was a 1/2 mile long or 8 laps.  Lap one, I'm calm, relaxed, and feeling good.  Do you notice the guy in lane 2?  He has a snorkel!!  Is that legal??  I don't know, but I'm jealous he thought of it before I did!!  I passed someone on my first lap and and got excited and started to lose my breath.  I had to tell myself to calm down it's only lap 1.  Last year a few people passed me up but this year only 2 people passed me and then I passed them.  I was so excited that I felt so good and comfortable during my swim.  This is the event I was most nervous about today. 

Here is my transition out of the pool.  We had to run barefoot upstairs and about .2 of a mile to our bikes.  I said ouch several times!!  I love that they try to give you water right you get out of the pool.  What??  Are u kidding me?  I just had plenty of water in the pool. Lol!!  But I'm glad we had volunteers that were very good at their jobs. 

The bike ride was 18.9 miles.  Ok!!  I have to admit Jim caught up to me at mile 18!!  Dang it!!  Honestly, I thought he would have passed me a lot sooner.    He pulled into transition right before me.  So my Dad got some good shoots of us together!! 

Jim waited for me while I changed my shoes and grabbed my visor and fuel belt.  I felt like I was taking forever on the transition!!  But in reality it wasn't bad at all.  I was nervous about having to change shoes twice during the race.  I have never had to do that before so I thought it would really slow me down.  Luckily when I put my bike shoes on they were easy and fast.  Thank goodness!!  And my tennis shoes weren't bad either. 

Here we go off to run 4 miles with lots of hills.   On our way out we got to see Coy finish her last 1/4 mile.  She is so inspiring and we were so proud of her!!  Last year this was my best event.  I really didn't think I could beat my time from last year because I was surprised how well I did it.  I ran it last year in 39:54, I normally run 4 miles in 40-44 minutes on practice days.  So today I was not expecting to beat my time from last year.  When we took off for our run I messed up my Garmin some how??  So I didn't even know our pace or distance.  Jim and I stayed together the whole run, I felt good for the most part.  Towards the end I was burning out but we kept on trucking.  It felt wonderful turning into the stadium parking lot  because that is where the FINISH line is!!! 

FINISH LINE HERE WE COME!!!! 

 Woohoo!!! I love this race!!  I smiled all the way through it!! 

Here we are right after the race!!  I am still smiling and loving triathlons!!  I am so proud of Jim because I know what a tough race this is!!  Good job Babe!!  Also, A big Thank You to my pops!!  He was our photographer for the day and for my Mom for watching the kids!! And to all you guys for taking the time to read my blog!!

Here are my results from last year and today:

Last Year: SWIM 23:09, T1 6:43, BIKE 1:17:57 (14.2 MPH), T2 2:12, RUN 39:54 (9:59 PACE)

TOTAL 2:29:53

This Year: SWIM 22:39, T1 4:48, BIKE 1:13:48 (15.0 MPH), T2 1:32, RUN 39:07 (9:47 PACE)

TOTAL 2:21:51

Jim's Times: SWIM 27:17, T1 4:01, BIKE 1:08:43 (16.2 MPH), T2 1:39, RUN 39:08 (9:47 PACE)

TOTAL 2:20:45

Can you believe it??  I beat my time by 8 minutes!!!!  I also beat my run time from last year!! Woohoo!!

Do you struggle with competing with yourself?

Does your spouse compete with you?