Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon at SEAFAIR - TriathlonSprint

Woo hoo!!! My wave went (I ran back to kiss Roy before my wave) and I had three interesting experiences I've never had on the swim.

1. I did not have even a moment of fear or panic. I actually felt confident from the moment I stepped into the water.
2. I overtook a LOT of swimmers, and a number of people from previous waves. Generally I am the last out of the water, or close, in my wave. I even used strategy and stayed with the pack. Normally I try to get away from people for fear I'll be kicked. I almost acted like I knew what I was doing!
3. I SWAM OVER someone! I didn't mean to and I felt bad, but in the water (which was very murky and dark) you can't see the person in front of you sometimes if they're in a full black wetsuit!

I have NEVER EVER had such a great swim! Seriously I felt like I could go on forever! Obviously I've been training for longer distances, but I've still been worried about the nerves. I just felt strong and confident from the moment I went in!

Nothing. I really felt fantastic from start to finish. I am very VERY proud of my swim.

Hey, when you don't have to do the next leg, the transition is EASY! But I do need to figure out how to get this wetsuit off faster!

Warn Roy in advance where we should meet. It was so crowded at the relay point that I couldn't see him and had to run through the crowd calling his name.

It was funny because I thought that since I had some knee problems that I would do a more leisurely bike through the course. When I saw how fast people were biking though, I pushed myself a lot more...a lot, lot more. I made it my goal to try and pass as many people as I could on the route and that made it a bit funner.

Not much. Having a bike like 95% of the other bikers would've probably helped since my bike was just a comfort bike made for simple commuting. Everyone else had bikes built for speed. Still, I was able to pass some of those people on the route, but that could be because they were exhausted from swimming, and I wasn't.

It also would've been interesting to have had the Garmin. I used my watch to kind of figure out my time, but it would've been nice to know exactly where I was at.

I may have also picked a spot in the transition area closer to the exit. Since we were literally against the back wall I was really concerned that I would have a hard time getting started because so many others were blocking that entrance/exit with their bikes waiting for the swimmers to return. Those of us in the back had a harder time connecting to our partners because we couldn't get out and they couldn't get it. If everyone had waited with their bikes at the racks instead of standing in the middle of the aisles things would've transitioned much easier.

Overall, I felt that I was trained for this ride. After all, Tory's had me doing 40-50 mile bike rides with her, so 12 miles seemed rather small by comparison.

I waited for Roy in the relay area. There weren't a ton of people left, so that was nice (we weren't last, though). I had my camera so I could get a shot of him coming in and then handed the camera off to him and ran out on the run.

The run felt great. Went out fast with a goal to do negative splits. I realized that wouldn't happen on mile two because the hill was 1/4 mile long, but that was okay. I went for a sub 9:00 on the hill and then a negative from 1 to 3. Worked out GREAT! Roy met me right at mile 3 and ran in (at my pace, I might add...GO ROY) the last part together holding hands. I can't wait to see that picture! It was awesome to finish together on our 23rd wedding anniversary. Definitely a memorable day.

I actually saw a woman in flip flops. The only thing I could figure was that she'd forgotten her shoes. Easy to do if it's your first triathlon...I've gone out on a brick and forgotten my running shoes. She was doing a pretty good clip, too!

Nothing. I felt great throughout. This was, by far, one of my best triathlons.

Food! By the time we finished we were both hungry so we enjoyed the traditional Seafair food; Newman Ohs (like Oreos), organic sour gummie bears, bananas, and water. PFC also had a fantastic pasta salad. We walked and stretched some and cheered in people who came in after me.


The fact that I'm not very fast.


I had a GREAT time! What a neat thing to do together. Roy has always been my BIGGEST supporter and I've really hoped he'd consider doing a triathlon some day. He has always resisted, but not today! Today he stepped up to the plate and he made me proud. More importantly, we made a wonderful memory together. We could dress up and go out to a fancy dinner and drop a lot of $$ on a load of calories but you know what? I'd rather don a wetsuit and running shoes and run across a finish line with my honey ANY day! Love isn't jewelry and 6 course dinners. Love is stepping outside of your comfort zone to do something that you're a little afraid of because you know it will make your wife happy. Roy showed me a LOT of love that day, as he does every day. I am so blessed.