Subaru US Women's Triathlon Series - Naperville - TriathlonSprint

Before I went into the water Whizzzz was standing there telling me to have a good time! I was the first one of the BTers to go in because I am soooo old!!! I was already nervous but just seeing her there and knowing that I was about to embark on a new adventure made me start to cry. I was scared, nervous and excited. As we moved forward into the water I realized how this was really going to happen. I knew that I could do it I just hoped I could do it in a respectable time frame.

Despite my original thoughts my time was really good here!!!
I knew from the beginning that I needed to start this part slower than I thought and I didn't do that! Started the swim off OK until I got run over and then I started to panic a little. I swam some back stroke but for the most part I swam normally.

Start off farther back in the wave. I need more time swimming but need more time swimming in mass groups!! I think my swimming deficiencies will correct themselves as I do more races. There's absolutely no way to practice swimming with 75+ people.

Felt like I was spending too much time in transition cleaning off and drying off my feet. In hindsight, I should have dried them off better. It took a while to get my bike off the rack. The run from the beach to the transition area was long.

Learn how to ride without socks. Get a lighter bike so that I can remove it easier from the racks!

This route was fairly flat. There were a few hiccup hills but nothing hard. Had a good time on the bike. Enjoyed watching all the other cool bikes and admiring the fact that I wasn't the only one on a mountain bike.

BEsides getting a better bike----ride more!

This was OK but I wish I had taken a few extra seconds to put on dry socks. My feet apparently didn't get dried off all the way after the swim so my feet were still wet after the bike and my feet felt like they were wrinkled and pruney and likely to blister.

Take the time to switch socks if needed and put yanks on my shoes.

This was tough!!! I had not really practiced any bricks and it showed here! The road out of transition was a hill that my legs refused to climb!!! I walked about 1/2 mile of the first mile. Ran a little, walked a little, etc. By the time I got to the 2nd mile marker I decided to run the rest. I was tired and sooo ready to go home and take a nap. The end of the run through the park was pretty and shaded which helped with finishing strong!

Practice bricks!!!

As I was coming down the straightaway one of my boys called to me saying, "Sprint MOM!!!!" I had nothing left (I thought) so I let one my birds fly towards him! He laughed and caught up to me saying that I better not let my son beat me into the finish line. He was joined by his twin brother and we all ran into the finish line. They wanted to sprint but my leags just weren't gong to cooperate do I thing they literally dragged me!!! Came through the finish line and was given a medal and a towel soaked in ice water--HEAVEN!!! Walked around and found Whizzz, startingtotri and waited for Steph883. Had a banana, water and some orange drink.


Since this was my first tri I wasn't sure what to expect of myself or my training. Now I can buid on what I learned.


THere were many people here that it was hard to find each other. On the other hand, there were so many people here that the wide range of ability levels made it a great first race. I got the opportunity to pass people and to be passed. It was very incredible to know that I started in wave 10 at 7:36 and I was being passed on the run by people in the 17,18 and on waves!

I'm glad this was my first race. I learned a lot about me and what I can do. I learned that I panic way too easy and need to work on my self-confidence in regards to my training. I learned that I really do want anoher bike so I will have to build that into the budget over the off-season. I learned that I'm not a quitter!

When we got home McFuzz was asking me if I was going to call all of these people that we know and tell them that I finished. I could only think of one person that I wanted to tell! He wanted to tell the whole world!