I did it! I finished my first triathlon!! Because this was my first tri, this is a lengthy recap and I am posting a TON of pictures. Enjoy!
On Sunday, September 16, I became a triathlete by swimming, biking, and
running the Long Beach Triathlon. I did
it with two of my best friends and my younger bro, and my dad, hubby, and
friends’ hubbys came out to be our cheerleaders and photographers! Btw, it was all our first tri!
The day before Lisa, my bro, and I cruised down to the expo to pick up our packets. The expo was tiny with only four vendors, so we were in and out in no time.
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| At the LB Tri expo |
When I got home, I laid everything out to make sure I had what I needed for my early wake-up call the next morning.
Race day I woke up at
3:30am. The night before I laid
everything out the way I wanted to lay it out at my transition area (TA going
forward), and had it ready to go in the morning.
After making some eggs (I knew I wasn’t going
to eat for a few hours) and taking care of business (gotta do it before a race!)
I picked Lisa then my brother. We parked
and arrived at the TA by 5:30am and to our benefit we were some of the first
people there. We got prime spots and set
up our items. Around 6, my other friend
K arrived with a couple of her friends and they set up next to us. We were all ready to go way before the TA
closed at 6:45am, with ample time to pee before heading down to the water. Here are some pics of us at our transition
spot:
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| Me and my baby bro |
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| Me and Lisa |
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| Lisa, baby bro, me, Koko |
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| My TA |
We headed down to the
water around 6:30am to dive in and get acclimated before my brother’s wave, Wave
1, took off at 7am. Side note: it was the most spectacular morning…it was
foggy, cool, and the moon was lingering over the Long Beach skyline as the sun
rose. Here is a picture and this is not enhanced:
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| Sunrise over Long Beach |
The water felt so good
when we dove in and no wetsuit was necessary, although a majority of people
were wearing them (I hear they make you very buoyant). Sam lined up and he took off with the Elites
and Males under 29 promptly at 7. Lisa,
Koko, and I were in Wave 5 which didn’t take off until 7:12. I was told by some pros that if you’re a weak
swimmer (ME!) stay back and to the left.
That means I’d be further out in the ocean and swim an extra lot of
yards, but I’d be out of the chaos and have “safe passage.” So I left my friends who are very strong
swimmers, and found a nice spot on the left and towards the back of my wave. At 7:12am we were off! I leaped into the ocean and began swimming
and holy moly was the water choppy! A
week prior I swam the course and it was like a lake: calm and
glassy. This week was the complete
opposite. The ocean was so choppy, but I
kept chugging along alternating between freestyle and breast stroke. I stayed away from the crowd and had zero
issues. The 800meter swim that previously
took me 15 minutes, took me 24 minutes on race day. It was still exciting and fun.
Once I made it to shore,
I ran the 400m through dry sand to the TA. My friend's bf hollered my name as I was running out of the water so I turned towards him and he snapped this photo:
I ran into Lisa there who was gearing up for the bike leg. I poured a jug of water over me to wash the
salt water off (thank you to my brother for the brilliant idea!), dried my feet
and put my shoes on. Lisa and I rode out together and stayed with each other the entire 11 mile bike ride.
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| T1: Swim to bike (Lisa and I are in center in the distance) |
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Riding out {& up a hill} together, and smiling ear to ear
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| Still smiling :) |
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It was unsually foggy and misty. I was wearing sunglasses and kept wiping them because I couldn't see. Here is a picture that shows the fog well:
Finally I took my sunglasses off and tucked them in my sports bra.
I was soaked from the mist and my bike and helmet were drenched, but the
dampness kept us nice and cool. After
tackling a few {large} hills/bridges on what was expected to be a flat bike
ride, Lisa and hit the TA area for Transition 2.
After taking off my
helmet and sipping some water, I headed out for the run. We ran along a beach, a path I am very
familiar with, then out and back through Shoreline Village (which happens to be
where the Hope Steps & A Cure Walk was in April for MDS, for my mom). I smiled the entire.
I wasn’t tired at all, in fact I felt
invigorrated. I never was out of breath,
but from the swim + bike before (and my lack of training, let alone a brick workout) my legs were dead. I kept
asking Mom for strength to keep me running.
I wasn’t going to stop no matter how dead my legs felt…and I didn’t
stop. My legs were fading fast, but as I
got closer to the finish, I heard someone shout “Go Magster, yea you got this
girl!! Yeaa!!” and I saw my Dad cheering
me on and waving his arms like crazy. He was
with my brother who had finished {a while ago} and together they gave me the extra motivation and
strength for me to finsih STRONG. I know
I am a slow runner, but I always have to finish strong. So I high fived my Dad and bro, and took
off in a full fledged sprint. I heard
random people say, “Damn look at her go!” and I felt so encouraged.
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| Me rounding the corner to the finish! Accidental Gatorade ad? |
I dashed through the finish line, then
literally slid to a stop when a lady flailed her arms at me and said “stop stop
I need your chip.” My hubby and Lisa’s
hubby were at the finish line and they said I looked like a cartoon character
sliding. I don’t understand why they
make you stop right there. Give us some distance to slow down and catch
our breath. Oh well.
After crossing the
finish and getting my chip clipped off my angle, I gave my hubby a giant hug
and kiss, and hugged Lisa who had already finished, and her hubby. My Dad and bro walked over from where they
were standing and I gave them a huge bear hug. We stood around talking for a while and
taking pictures (see below), before heading to a local joint for the most
delicious veggie omelet with a side of bacon I’d ever had. Oh, and a mimosa :)
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| We are triathletes!!! |
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| My family :) Daddy, hubby, and baby bro |
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| My extended family :) Love these guys! |
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Thanks for coming out and cheering me on baby!!! I love you!
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| Bromance |
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I love this girl!! Friends since 1994 :)
Btw, she finished THIRD IN HER DIVISION! I'm so proud of her! |
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| YUM!!! Post race veggie omelet...DELISH! |
It was an unbelievably
fun race, and I feel comfortable saying that I can see myelf getting addicted
to tris. Next time I will make sure to
train though. But next on my plate is
the LA Marathon for MDS in memory of my Mom on March 17, 2013, and I am being
sponsored by the Aplastic Anemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome International
Foundation. But more on that to come
later.
Here are my
finals stats, and may I just add, I achieved every single one of my goals, including finishing in under two hours!
Overall Time = 1:57:45
Swim (800m) = 24:08
T1 = 4:12
Bike (11 miles) = 50:09 (13.2 mph)
T2 = 1:40
Run (5k) = 37:38 (12:33 pace)
I am so stoked about the entire triathlon experience. I will definitely be doing another one, and I can't wait!!
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