Wunderwoman Race Recap

It's been a full week since my first olympic triathlon.  I loved it! The Wunderwoman Tri is put on by Emde Sports http://www.emdesports.com/ and they have two annual, women only, triathlons.  I think the best part of it being only women is the girl power feeling you get from the event.  Also, a lot of women, myself included, can sometimes be intimidated by triathlons, so this gives you a good outlet to try them out and see if you really like in a positive, non aggressive setting.  I HIGHLY recommend any ladies out there toying with the idea of doing a tri next summer to sign up for ValleyGirl (Liberty Lake)  or WunderWoman (Medical Lake).  If you have any questions ...feel free to ask!  I've done both and was very impressed by each race.

Okay, onto the recap:

SWIM-  As most of you know, swimming is NOT my strength.  I'm average, at best, and by average I mean I'm not afraid of the water and I haven't drowned yet!  The length of the swim was a little over 1200 meters.  Around .75 of a mile.  I got there early enough to hop in the water for a quick dip and see how the temp felt.  Ah, relief!!  Warm!  I was thrilled! I don't wear a wet suit (yet) so this was ideal for me.  As we all stood on the beach waiting for the start, you could see the nerves on every ones faces.  Then the countdown....5,4,3,2,1 GO!  I stayed near the end of the pack, so as to let my strong swimmer counterparts do their thing.  My mantra, "Just keep swimming...".  I felt strong, not fast, but like I had built up enough strength to endure the swim.  I'm happy to say I free styled, THE WHOLE SWIM! Minus 20 strokes of breast stroke to cough and see where I was going.  I was never so happy to see a buoy in my life! It meant I was half way there!  Coming around the buoy I found a lady who was swimming my pace and drafted off her for the remainder of the swim.  My brother's advice helped tremendously.  I just kept thinking of the water molecules being broken by my drafter and how much easier it was to swim through.  Hey, whatever gets you through the swim right?! 

BIKE- I made a quick transition from the swim to the bike.  Threw off my swim cap goggles, replaced it with my helmet, put on my socks, shoes, and was on my merry way.  I saw my family at this point and this really helped me pull deep.  For the first 5 or 6 miles it was just me and another girl riding on down the highway.  I kept having to remind to drink my Gatorade I packed on my bike.  Another word of advice I received from my brother, drink ALL OF IT, while riding.  I got through 3/4 of it. Good enough.  At mile 10- 11 I started catching up with people and passing some.  As stated before, swimming...not my strong point. I felt comfortable and pacing myself well.  The last 15-25 miles I kept passing and getting passed by the same girl.  We even had a little conversation on our last miles out there.  Again, there are some AWESOME people out there who race. It's a good community to be in.   Coming in from the bike I felt strong and ready to run, literally.

 

RUN- Again, I transitioned quickly and was ready to roll.  This is the best part for me and all I can say is I'm glad I like running.  Some people at this point in the race look like death warmed over.  I felt strong for the most part.  Hard finding my pace for the first 2-3 miles, but once I got in a groove I felt fine.  It was getting HOT, so I made myself stop at every water station and drink one cup of water/electros and dump one cup over my head.  There was also  a VERY nice man who was spraying us with his hose.  Looking back, I'm sure he enjoyed it for many reasons. Haha!  Perv or not, I could have cared less at that point. It was a loop around course, with the olympic distance going around twice.  The second time around I was feeling pretty good.  I knew the end was near.  At mile 3.5 I decided to get down a gel I had packed in my hydration belt.  I wasn't super fatigued or hungry, but I knew I need something to be able to give a little kick at the end.   Finish line in sight and my family on the side lines cheering me on!  I felt awesome!! 6.2 miles and I was done!

 

 

 

 

All in all a great day!!!  Final time- 3hr 9mins.  Swim- 38 mins, bike- 1hr 32mins, and run 53 mins.

 

Thanks to my AWESOME cheerleaders!!!  Signs designed & copyrighted by Ava and Ashton.

 

 

 

Will Race for. . . . ???

My first (of many I hope) blog posts!  So, clearly, I will run for wine. I also will run for many other things such as; smartfood popcorn, coffee, pedicures, new itunes downloads, new running gear/apparel, bragging rights, fro yo, health (mental and physical) camaraderie, swag, time off from work, to get out of my comfort zone, a day of complete rest and day napping (and not feeling guilty about it) .....and many many other various reasons.

So my next question is, what do you race for?  Personally, the main reason I race is to test myself and see if I can achieve a goal.  To me, there's no better feeling in the world than crossing that finish line and saying to yourself, "I DID IT!!!!!"  Of course I appreciate all the spectators, family, friends who support me along the way to ensure I can cross that finish line.  The whole environment of racing is like one big party of like-minded people and it really gets my blood going!  That feeling I get in my stomach pre-race... and that giant sigh of relief I get post-race...all give me motivation to do it again.  A new distance, try for a PR, a new race.  There's always something to strive for in endurance sports. And best of all, you get to compete against yourself.  Talk about mental toughness!!

So tell me what do you race for?? And if you haven't raced... what do you WANT to race for?  I can't wait to hear what you guys have to say!  Always refreshing to hear new perspectives.


Until next time, use your wings.   :)