Three Rivers Sprint Triathlon 2009

Alright, I will take my turn! What a wonderful time. I had been looking so forward to the night away and to be with all the wonderful woman that were coming to Three Rivers with the group. It was so fun to have new faces with us this year. There were lots of highlights to the weekend. It was great to get into Applebee's on-time so that we could be served and get out to see the course. They did an awesome job getting us in and enough seats for our group to enjoy dinner together. Then it was off to the course to see the beautiful Corey Lake, Susan's demonstration at the bike racks, and then to follow the big van through the sprint course. I loved that everyone got in on the nail painting and Andrea topped them all off with great colored designs. Even those that are not thrilled about pink or nail polish joined in on the fun!! We then laughed together before everyone decided it time to head to their own rooms so that my room could go to sleep. Okay that took awhile too. Kristen, Jen, and I got to enjoy having Kristi with us. What a night! We had to laugh ourselves to sleep.

I have decided 3 1/2 to 4 hours is a good time for me to eat before a race. I have the best chance of stomach distress if I do that. So at around 4am I was up and having breakfast. Kristi and I soon had Jen awake and helping us get prepared to head out the door. We got to the parking lot to see that Susan, Andrea, and Bekah had not left and became worried that they had slept through their alarms. Thank goodness, they just decided that they could wait a little later than they originally planned to leave.

Well we got to Corey Lake and it was still really dark. I got everything setup and my spot picked out. It was quit chilly but I knew it was perfect for a tri. The air temp was around 64 but the water temp I think was 71. So instead of freezing when we jumped in it was beautiful temp.

I counted on the swim being my weakest link. So I just got in and when the start began I took the outside and started swimming staying away from the big crowd. I tried to focus on everything from the swim clinic as I was out there. About halfway back there was a girl that kept trying to out swim me and was swimming closer and closer to me. So I swam a few extra strokes to widen away from her and then tried to remember to use my entire leg to kick and get my strokes going strong. YEAH! I beat her out of the water. I ran out of the lake to my spot, which I was not able to do last year. I then got everything on and headed out on the bike. I started up the hill and saw that I had forgot to put my race belt on and that it was on my handlebars. So I wrapped it around the handle bars so as not to lose it out on the bike. I made the turn off the main road and headed out to go up the hill. I obviously shift down too quickly and my chain jumped right off. No problem, I thought, Denise showed me how to release the tension from the back and lay it on the front ring. HOwever, you do need to unclip from your bike before this. If you forget you will bite the pavement. Well I got up with only a nice scrapped up knee. I am so thankful for Rebekah praying for all of us. I am sure that is why I got this all handled and was able to get back on. I was mad because I wanted to make up on the bike and run for my slower swim time. So I pedalled like mad and decided the I would beat the hills. I loved them on my new bike. They felt much different than last year. Then it was off on the run which I also was able to run out of the transition area to begin. The run felt much better this year. I met a lady who turned 65 and this was her first tri. She had back surgery last year and then decided she was bored and needed something to do. Way to go!

So overall, I had an awesome day. My knee is a little tender. I have what I think is plantar facisitis in my left foot so need to take a little break for it so that I am ready for Reed's Lake. I am so excited!

Thank you for all the photos, encourgement, cheering, fun, laughs, etc. from all! Thanks Kristen and Jen for still coming with me even though you were not participating in the swim, bike, and run. All of you that came to encourage and cheer us on were awesome! It was great to see how many of our group were award winners. Of course, we were all awesome winners for just finishing what we started.