On Saturday, May 9, 2009, I participated in the sprint distance of the Iron Girl triathlon at the Lake Las Vegas resort. This was my third sprint tri, but my first after having Gabriel. I was absolutely thrilled to have my husband, children, parents, and brother at the event supporting me.
The excitement started on Thursday about 4 hours into our drive from Tucson to Las Vegas. I realized the front wheel for my bike was still sitting in our garage in Tucson. CRAP. Matt convinced me that we should not turn around and drive 4 hours back to Tucson to get it. And we continued on our way. Luckily we found a manager at a bike shop in Vegas who was incredibly helpful despite all his bikes being rented out, and he dug up a front wheel which he rented to me for a terrific price. WHEW!!
Triathlon morning: my ever-supportive brother showed his true dedication to me by rising at 4:30 A.M. and accompanying me to the race site to prep my transition area, cart around some gear, and keep me calm.
I always love the pics which show the body markings.
It makes me feel so tough.
Wetsuit on, warm-up swim in the lake complete.
My wave prepares to start our 1/2 mile swim...
...and we're off!!
My family created a shaded area for waiting
(remember, this is Las Vegas in May!).
Let the biking begin! The course was only 10 miles with the uphill portion fairly early on. Of the three disciplines, I have improved most on the biking and was pleased with my performance.
After a glimpse of me on the bike, the family wonders
what to do until the next glimpse an hour away.
My family reports that the 5k run started on a steep uphill. I actually didn't notice the hills until partway through the course when the hills kept coming!!
Here I'm heading out to the unpaved portion of the run. My normal pace is a 9 minute mile, but this course took me 33 minutes. I thought that was terrible until I looked at all the other times in my age group and discovered that there were only 7 competitors out of 80 who ran it in under 30 minutes. WHOA! That's got to be a direct result of all the steep hills on the unpaved portion. Two years ago, I did a tri at this same location, but they had different swim, bike and run courses. I completed that 5k in 24 minutes. Huge difference, huh??
Home stretch, and thrilled about it!
Triathlons, even sprint ones, make for a long hard day. We were exhausted!
5 comments:
Congratulations for doing such a great job! Looks like you had fun with the family support too!
Val you are so amazing! I'm in awe at your amazingness. Thanks for sharing the full story, I would have felt cheated otherwise ;). What a fun event to get so much family together to cheer you on. You are just simply amazing! (I feel accomplished if I can jog 10 minutes twice a week, I need people like you to inspire me, thanks)
Way to go!! That is awesome!!
Good job Val! You look great, no one would know that you had 2 kids. Hope you are well!
Good for you! I wish I had that in me. And you actually make it look fun!
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