Akron Womens Triathlon

So call me crazy, I participated in a mini-triathlon. This race was half of what a normal triathlon would be, it consisted of a 250 meter swim, 7 mile bike, and 2 mile run. I had a friend tell me about this race in the spring, and I seriously contemplated whether I should do it or not. I decided not to do it, because I did not have a bike, I was not sure if I could do the swim, no one seemed like they wanted to do it with me, and I did not want to do it by myself. So I pretty much put it out of my mind, until my sister-in-law called a month before the race to ask if she could stay at our house, because she was going to participate in it. Matt said I should do it with my sister-in-law Monica, and that it would be fun. I didn't think it was possible because I did not think I could train in a month. Then I found out that Monica had not done any training either, and had only a month to get ready as well. So I decided to take the plunge. Then I registered and paid the NON-REFUNDABLE entry fee, and made sure there was no turning back.
I worked out that first week, and was actually excited to train for this, and then Seth got admitted to the hospital, and I got deathly sick, and was sick for 2 stinkin' weeks. It was a good thing I had registered because after being sick, I would have definitely backed out knowing I had only 2 weeks to train. A couple of my other friends also decided to do it, and I started working out with them. We were told that this was a really laid back race, because it was meant to get your feet a little wet in the world of Triathloning. So here we are at the beginning awaiting for the race to start. How do you like those cone heads?

This picture from left to right is Jen Tanner, Me, Monica, & Jenny Jones.
I was feeling pretty confident about the swim, until I started swimming. We were swimming in a lake with lots of gross seaweed wrapping around your arms and legs. I wore a nose plug to help me when I did the freestyle stroke, but I was a little bit leary to stick my face in the brown muddy water, so I kept my face out of the water, which was a very bad idea. When one wears a nose plug it forces you to breath through your mouth, well since my head was out of the water, and you have lots of women swimming it produces lots of waves, and it felt like I caught every wave in my mouth because that is what I was breathing through. Lessoned learned, forget nose plug. Needless to say when I got done with the swim, I felt like I took the whole lake with me in my belly.

Here I am leaving the lake and heading to the transition area to get my bike & shoes etc.

I finally got on my gear to start the bike, boy am I in trouble.

Like I said earlier the bike part of the race was 7 miles, and this kicked my butt. This is where one of those embarrising moments come in. Leave it to me, the ditsy blonde to make this mistake. The bike consisted of two loops, and coming off the first loop heading onto the second, I made the wrong turn and went the wrong way. I finally run into those big orange cones that block me from my path, at this point I yell " how come there are cones?" A kind soul from the side lines informs me that I am going the wrong way, and I have to turn around. Well don't I feel stupid. I am so frustrated, becuase this now sets me back even further. Finally after 35 mins. of biking I finish that part of the race, and have to begin the 2 mile run.
Did I mention that by this point I officially feel I have been run over by a truck. Seriously my legs were so wobbely, I did not think I would recover, but amazingly the more I ran, the better my legs felt, and I am proud to say I did not stop. My goal was to finish in 1 hour. I ended the race in 1 hour and 7 mins. I do not think I have ever excersized continuously like that in my whole life. I came in last of all my friends, and that is fine with me, because I finished the race instead of giving up (which by the way crossed my mind many times throughout the race).

Here I am almost to the finish line!!!

There it is, the end is in sight! Hallaluah!!!!

Here is the whole gang. We are showing off our prison numbers(this is how they # you, writing black marker on your skin). The one in the red is my good friend Beth Hayes. She was the one that first told me about this race. She is awesome. She ran the race in 45min. She is my idol.