Tag Archives: triathlon

10 Triathon Tidbits This Mother Has Learned in Two Years of Triathlon

In May 2012, I was reading through a copy of one of my favorite magazines, Women’s Running. At that time, I had my leg propped up on my desk drawer, my slacks rolled up and ice on my shin. Yes, I was battling through another shin splint. I stumbled across an article and training plan to do your first sprint triathlon in eight weeks. Needless to say, I was sucked into the article and came home that day and told my husband I had a great idea….. I was going to do a triathlon. I’d love to tell you his response or his facial expression, but I honestly didn’t pay attention long enough to see his response…  I was already off writing a list of stuff I needed and found a calendar to start mapping out my training plan.

In August of 2012, I did my first triathlon. This month marks two years of my love for the sport. Over the past two years, I have learned a few things…

GA Veterans 2012

1. Race Day… To wear a sports bra under a tri top or not?

Before my first race, this question had me stumped for months. When I decided to do my first triathlon, I knew no one who enjoyed the sport and therefore no one to direct this question to. So, I decided to look up race photos of the race I was doing from the year before and check out all the pictures of the ladies who had raced. After searching photos of mid distance finishers and back of the pack finishers, I noticed lots of ladies raced with a sports bra under their tri top. I decided to do my first triathlon with my favorite running bra under my tri top and have raced every race this way. I like compression with NO bounce.

2. Race Day… Swim will not go as planned.

I grew up in Southern California in a surfing family. I have swam in shore break in Hawaii and this stupid confidence carried over into my first lake swim in my first triathlon. No matter how many laps you swim in a pool, and no matter how many years you jumped and played in the waves, none of that prepared me for a grimy, warm water, lake swim. During my first race, I panicked after the first buoy, panicked more as I saw the other swimmers getting further away, and panicked even more when the people were cheering from the dock at the end of the swim. Clearly they were yelling at me to hurry up because they had seen an alligator and were not just merely clapping and cheering. It took five more races before I learned to swim calmly and to stop worrying that I would be last out of the water. Being last means I still made it out of the water. Being last doesn’t mean I can’t be happy. Continue reading →

Freedom Springs Sprint Triathlon Race Recap: 7.4.2014

Freedom Springs Sprint Triathlon

This is the second year I have participated in the Freedom Springs Sprint Triathlon and is officially a 4th of July tradition for me. Due to a very busy and hectic schedule leading up to the 4th, I wasn’t sure if any of our Tri Club members had signed up for the event.

Race Day

The forecast for race day: Sunny, HOT, and HOTTER. Since this was not my first time taking small country roads to Marianna, FL, I was able to enjoy the drive and not worry about getting lost. Once I arrived, I checked in, got my body marked, set up my transition, and was pleasantly surprised to see several of our Tri Club members. One of our Tri Club members looked a little nervous, more nervous than usual, and I asked her how many of these she had done. She told me this was her first and she was nervous about the cold water and the swim. I told her I would swim with her if she wanted. Continue reading →

Freedom Springs Sprint Triathlon Race Recap: 7.4.2013

Triathlon is a Team Sport

I signed up for the Freedom Springs Sprint Triathlon when a friend in a local moms running club signed up and announced it would be her very first triathlon. By no means am I a seasoned triathlete or a veteran of the sport, but I was elated to know that another person was being introduced to the sport. I also knew how much I dreaded the swim and thought she might have some concerns about the swim.

She had about 5 weeks of swim practice to prep her for the triathlon. She also told me at this time that she almost drowned when she 5 years old and was hoping to conquer part of that fear by doing this triathlon. During this time I asked around about the swim. I learned that the swim was an out-and-back swim in chilly, spring fed waters. The worst part of the swim would be grabbing and kicking through plant vegetation (long grass). An open water swim is challenging enough, but to swim through all that nonsense did not sound pleasant.

Race Day

Freedom Springs 001

The forecast for race day: 80% chance of thunderstorms by 9:00 a.m., 100% chance for the rest of the day. It did not help that is had rained everyday for the last 10 days. I had a late start out the door and the rain slowed me down. As I drove to no-man’s land Marianna, Fl, I had the privilege of crossing into Central Standard Time and gained a much-needed hour for the 7:00 a.m. race start.Once I arrived, I checked in, got my body marked, set up my transition, and started chatting with friends as they arrived. I kept a lookout for my friend and she arrived 20 minutes before the start and was in a mad dash to get situated. At this point, the rain had still held off.

Continue reading →

Tri and Recover… & Recover Some More

Prior to March 31st, I had no plans on racing in the Madison Sprint Triathlon on May 4th. In fact, I had planned on going out to support my Tri club with a camera in hand. However, my dismal bike ride at Red Hills on March 31st left me determined to prove to myself that I could ride faster than 11 mph, not that 11 mph is bad, I just knew I was capable of better.

So, after the Red Hills Triathlon on March 31st, I signed up for the North Florida Sprint Triathlon in Madison, Fl. This race also offers an Olympic distance option. Part of me wanted to sign up for the Olympic distance, but the thought of swimming out twice as far, instead of swimming two short loops quickly helped me make up my mind about the Sprint distance.

I maintained the same training schedule that I had up to the Red Hills Triathlon so that I wouldn’t try and bike too much. I didn’t want to change my training much because I wanted to get a true gage of where my cycling actually is.

As race day neared, I realized that this race was going to be a little different from the previous triathlons I had done. For the previous three races all I had to worry about was getting me and my gear ready. For this one, I would be taking my little girls with me and they would be watched over by some amazing mom’s in our tri club. Still, I had to get their gear, diaper bag, snacks, and sleeping arrangements ready in the car.

RACE DAY

North Florida tri

I was up at 4:00 a.m. and hoped I could make it out the door by 5:00 a.m. with gear, two little sleepy girls, and a cooler full of food. My 4 year-old was up at 4:30 a.m. and decided she needed to wait in the car while I finished getting everything ready. I sure do love that girl. We somehow managed to make it out the door by 5:00 a.m. and during the entire drive I kept thinking I forgot something (I didn’t forget anything and triple checked before leaving the house). When you do a race and take young kids with you, the amount of stuff you are accountable for is ridiculous and I think I had more anxiety about forgetting something than actually racing. Continue reading →

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