"Tri"ed Again

First - because Toni didn't participate in this Tri, there will be no video like last year...sorry!  Sunday was the SheROX Sprint Triathlon at the Aurora Reservoir.  There were about 270 women who participated this year.  Because we had the Avett Brother's concert the night before (yeah, that was poor planning) we asked my parents to keep the kids overnight so we wouldn't have to wake them up before the crack of dawn!  Byron and I woke up at 4:30am and were loaded up and out of the house at 5:15.  We made it down to the Aurora Reservoir around 6:15ish and unloaded my gear.  Here's a  few pictures of me walking with all of my stuff to the transition area.

Tiffany is a good friend of mine that I work with and she signed up for this race as well.  She had beaten me there that morning, so she already had a place for our bikes.  I set up my bike and started getting all of my gear laid out.  

Before heading down to the beach

It was finally time to make our way down to the beach.  I didn't mention the weather prior to this, so I'll give you the low down now.  It was partly cloudy but pretty windy - sustained winds in fact.  The water, although it sounds warm was 71 degrees.  Add that we have had a TON of rain the last few weeks, the early morning hour and the wind, the water was freezing!  For the bike and the run, the cloud cover was nice, but for getting into the choppy reservoir, it was not so fun!

Tiffany and I on our way to the water,
I am in the bright green wetsuit

You can spot me from a mile away in that suit!

Ohhhhhh, I'm sooooo sexy!

They did the heats by age this year, so my heat was before Tiffany's.  I am pretty sure that they started us right on time at 7:00.  There were quite a few girls in my age group. 

 

Our wave getting ready to get in!

And we're off!

Because the water was so cold, it would literally take my breath away when I tried to do the freestyle.  I did the breast stroke more than I would have liked, but then made myself do the freestyle just to get moving.  I felt so much more comfortable in the water this year and it 100% is because I trained this year.  

Smiling as I come out of the water

Up to the transition area.

I did pretty good going into the transition area, but I couldn't get my shirt rolled down, so I spent a lot longer in the transition area than I wanted....

Out of the wetsuit

Into the running shoes and onto the bike

The bike course this year was different than it was last year....it went up two gigantic hills this year instead of the one and then a bunch of smaller hills.  The wind was AWFUL on the bike course.  The second we made the turn around to make our way back to the reservoir, we were in an awful head wind!  

Heading out!

Finishing the 10 mile ride!

  

Tiffany making her way in from the ride

Then began the final leg of the race - the 3.1 mile run.  I was pretty much exhausted by this point and my legs felt like jello.  They were so awkward and wouldn't move like I wanted them to!  After about 3 or 4 minutes into the run, they finally felt more normal.  Tiffany caught up to me around the 1st mile of the run, and never looked back!  She did an amazing job!  I attempted to keep up with her, but failed miserably.  

Tiffany and I taking off to run!

 The finish line!  Woo Hoo!

Tiffany crossing the finish line!

Me crossing the finish line!  Finally!

The finishers with our family!  

My time this year was so much faster than last years!  My overall time last year was 2:08 (yep - two hours and 8 minutes!) 29:00 for the swim, 1:01:00 for the bike, and 31:00 for run. I was determined to train and be better this year.  This year, my overall time was 1:39.  I improved my swim time to 17:30, my bike to 45:00 and my run stayed pretty consistent at 31:00.   I am so proud of myself for going out there and bettering my time!  Next up - the Boulder DIVAS Sprint Triathlon on August 14th.   I am so excited for that one.