College Race Day

Liam has been talking about racing ever since I told him about my triathlon. I looked around the internet for a local kids run and found one on Sept. 27th. With Dan travelling so much, we didn't pre-register in case something came up. Saturday morning arrived and everyone was happy and excited for the kids race.

The "college race day event" had a tailgating theme and all of the proceeds from the event supported the athletic programs at a local high school, so everyone was encouraged to wear their college gear. We were sporting orange and blue, of course!

Rosie outgrew her Gator gear. She'll fit into Liam's jersey soon and he's getting too big for it anyway. 

I bet you are wondering why Dan has a race bib, too? We had planned to just run along with Liam on his 1k and cheer the 5k and 10k runners. On the way over to the park, Dan randomly decided that he was going to run the 5k also. This was seriously like 20 minutes before the 5k race started!

We rushed to registration and Dan stretched and warmed up. Then it was time to go.

The kids 1k started about 30 minutes after the 5k, so we went to the playground. This was at Cook Park, the lovely park where I ran the 5k portion of my triathlon. At the playgound, we ran into our neighbors! The same family who had come out the previous weekend to cheer me on. Turns out the wife was running the 10k! 

When the finishers from the 5k and 10k races started to trickle in, the kids and I lined up along the finish line to cheer on the runners. As we waited, Liam was getting more and more excited for his race. He told me, "I'm going to run really fast! There aren't going to be any yellow lights!" So cute! 

I thought I would see my neighbor first, but Dan really surprised me when he finished the 5k in 24 minutes! Men! 

My neighbor finished shortly afterwards. She was really surprised to see me and the kids cheering her on the the finish line. 

Then it was time for the kids run. We had planned to all go, but the path was not conductive to pushing Rosie in the stroller, so Dan and Rosie stayed behind while Liam and I went. Not all of the parents had finished their races, so there were just 4 in the first heat of kids. 

Liam's a sprinter. He took off and passed everyone, including the girl who was leading the course! That didn't last long, but he did run the whole route without stopping. The group kind of spread out. I kept encouraging Liam on. He was focused and pretty quiet when, about 2/3 of the way through the course, he let out a loud "Meep meep!" 

The road runner is pretty much his spirit animal. 

There were quite a few people gathered around the finish line and the event organizer announced Liam's name over the loud speaker and he made his way to the finish line. It was awesome! I'm so proud of my little buddy! 

Done

I did it, I finished the triathlon. I am exhausted and overjoyed and so many other emotions that I can hardly process.

Last night, I set some goals for my race. #1 was to finish. #2 was to finish in under 2 hours. #3 was to run the whole 5k (with exception for hills.) I accomplished the first two and came very close to the last one.

I loved the way they set up the swim. We had 8 lanes, so  woman would start at the last lane, swim out and back, then move to the next lane. They started swimmers about every 30 seconds, so a woman also finished every 30 seconds or so. All of the waiting swimmers would cheer every time a swimmer finished and came out of the water. It was cool.

I passed a few people during my first few laps. My friend,  Liz, was my triathlon buddy. Her sister was also competing. I had to book it my last lap so that Liz didn't pass me!

I think the pool at my gym is actually shorter than 25 yards, because this swim felt longer, but I finished in 10 minutes.

The first transition took some time. I wanted to get pretty dry so that I wouldn't have to worry about chafing. It also took a few minutes to find out where to leave my bag.

Eventually, we set out on our bikes. The first portion was downhill, so it was nice. A few red lights lights really slowed us down though. There was a big hill about halfway through, but it made for a nice downhill at the end of the biking portion. I finished the 10 mile ride in 47 minutes.

We were much quicker in the second transition. I did text my neighbor and friend so they could be there when I finished. I was surprised then to see my neighbors cheering me on at the beginning of the running course! I was really excited to see them and it really lifted my spirits.

Liz really pushed me on the run. We lost her sister after about 1/2 a mile. Liz also had an app on her phone to track our distance and pace. We were both surprised to know that we had run a 9:22 mile!

There were a few hills that we walked and we slowed down a bit at the end, but still finished at just under 31 minutes, exactly the 10 minute/mile paced I had hoped to achieve.

My neighbors, friends and kids were waiting at the finish line. Liam had a small fit when he didn't get to run with me, so we did a small lap together. He keeps saying that he's going to try really hard at his swimming lessons so that he can do a triathlon, too. He also keeps asking if I won. As far as I am concerned,  I did.

It just got real.

I have been a ball of nerves and excitement ever since I picked up my race shirt on Thursday night. It's real. This is happening!

I had some nice "easy" workouts this week. I swam, biked and ran on Tuesday and Thursday. My Thursday workout was actually kid of crazy. I biked 2.5 miles, took a 5 minute break, then went out for a mile run. I was already warmed up from my bike ride, so my goal was to do my mile in 10 minutes, the pace I am aiming for on the 5k portion. I did it in 8 minutes! That is crazy fast for me. Too fast. I probably shouldn't have run so fast on race week.

I have to remember to chill out and not exhaust myself on the swim or bike portions tomorrow. I have to believe in myself and not let my mind talk me out of a good run.

Last Week

I was really nervous going into my bricks last week, especially after discovering that the bike portion of the triathlon was significantly longer than I had previously thought. Tuesday afternoon was my first bike/run brick. My neighbor watched my kiddos for an hour while I went out. I was really nervous about biking on the main road through our town, but it was alright. Uphill on the way home is hard, as always, but I felt pretty good. I expected my legs to turn into jello after a substantial bike ride, but they were okay and I was able to run after just a few seconds of walking.

I was back in the pool on Thursday and tested out Body Glide for the first time. It's supposed to help with chafing, but I don't really have that problem. What I do struggle with is getting my sports bra and workout tank on while my skin is still wet from swimming. I think it will help me with my transition.

I also did an extra lap on Thursday, too, just because. 450 yards non-stop and it honestly felt like a rest day. Even though I was a fairly comfortable swimmer when I started training, I'm still proud of how far I've come with my swimming.

Friday night was a long night. Liam had a s'more party with his primary class. My cold that I had been denying all week caught up with me. The kids hadn't seen Dan all week so Rosie pitched a fit and cried for me when he put her to bed. I took tissues with me and powered through my biking and running. I did 6 miles on my bike and ran 2.5 miles. I had an armband for my phone delivered that morning and discovered Amazon Prime music, which is awesome. Train, Panic at the Disco and FUN were incredibly helpful for my run. Except for the hills, I ran the entire time.

My cold really caught up to me on Saturday night. I spent most of Sunday in bed reading and watching tv. I'm feeling much better today, though I still have a disgusting cough. It's "taper" week anyway to rest and prepare for the tri in 5 days (5 DAYS!!!) so I'm not going to work out today. I'm hoping to do light, swim/bike/run workouts on Tuesday and Thursday and I think that will be enough to keep me focus but rested.

Painted Faces at the Children't Museum

Rosie and Bear Bear Watching Frozen

Our neighbor, Emma, with Liam & Rosie

So sweet!

Rosie takes after Dan a little. 

Me and Liam at the Portland Gator Club

Bouncy Basketball at Pump It Up

Rosie painting our faces at the Children's Museum

Oops

I just realized that the bike portion of the triathlon is 10 miles, not 10 kilometers. There are only 11 days left. Yikes.

I'm also in the denial stages of a cold. My throat hurts, I'm tired and I ache all over, but I'm not sick enough to skip my workout today. I have my first bike/run brick today and I'm nervous about it. I've only got childcare for an hour, so I won't have time to try out a 10 MILE bike ride in addition to a half hour of running.

Man, oh man.

Bricks, Pains and Thinking about the Future

I started my swim/bike bricks this week. I had a 24 hour stomach bug on Monday, so that threw off the first part of my week. I was able to complete my swim/bike back-to-back workouts as scheduled on Tuesday, but my Thursday run really suffered.

I was feeling better by the end of the week, so I left myself get talked into playing women's basketball on Thursday night. After I came home, washed the blood off of my knuckles and prepped an ice pack for my knee, I knew that I was going to be hurting the rest of the week. I could hardly walk up and down the stairs on Friday, so I gave myself an extra rest day and pushed my 2nd swim/bike brick to Saturday. I was still sore then, but swimming and biking as such low impact that it was no problem.

I ran again Sunday night and it was glorious. Dusk, 75 degrees and a full moon made for a beautiful run. I also took a moment to appreciate that there are no mosquitoes or other obnoxious bugs in Oregon. I ran 2.4 miles through my neighborhood. I've mentioned the hill before, right? I live at the top of a hill so coming back up at the end of a run or bike ride is so hard. I plugged my route into MapMyRun tonight and it gave me this elevation report:

Translation: oh my aching knees.

Bike/run bricks are next week. I'm on week 9 of the triathlon training program that I am following. It's supposed to be a very difficult week, but week 10 is mostly rest leading up to the tri next Saturday. I'm not sure how well next week is going to work out for me. I seriously need to get out of the gym and put more miles onto my actual bike, but Dan will be gone all week. I hate to pay a sitter to watch my kids when they already have a membership to go to the daycare at the gym, but I might have to suck it up this week. We'll see.

I've also started to think about what's next after I finish the tri. There is a fun, Halloween run in my little town and a Thanksgiving run in my hometown that benefits a great cause near to my heart. My neighbor teaches a circuit class for women at a local cross fit gym. I went a few months ago and it kicked my butt, but it would be exactly what I need to build strength. I don't know what I'll do yet. So far buying myself a new watch as a reward and getting a massage are the only definite plans that I have.