Fifth Tri Overall, Fourth (and final) for the year

This last Sunday, Holley and I had our last triathlon for this year. Yep, that's right, one week and a day after our last one! Ok, we were a little crazy but it was nice to do one more than our goal this year. It was a hard one in many ways, but mostly because it started at 7 a.m. which means we had to get up somewhere around 5 a.m. and when we got to the start it was still very dark. This one was so large it had a triathlon and duathlon going on at the same time so there were over 1500 people there. We left our bikes in the park overnight (they had security there to watch over everyone's stuff) and let me tell you, I did not have high hopes for the morning because it rained all day on Saturday and by the time I got my bike settled I was soaked.

The morning of the race was too early, especially after a night of little sleep because of Ayden. We stayed at my mother-in-law's house and she slept very poorly (on the floor in her sleeping bag), she is not used to sleeping without a crib or pack-n-play!

I did the Kirkland Triathlon which was a half mile swim, 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run in 2 hours 4 minutes 59 seconds.

This is in the morning when we got to the park:

Why I look so happy in this picture, I'm not sure. I was very tired!Here we are suited up ready for the race to start. I think it's about 7:25 at this point, the tri started very late! I was supposed to start my swim wave at 7:15 and I started at 7:35! I did the half mile swim in 20 minutes 27 seconds, which was a little slow I know, but I have to say that my face was numb for the first quarter of the race because the water was so cold! I can't believe some people did it without wetsuits.

This is my wave starting to swim. The seaweed in Lake Washington was so tall (although thankfully not too thick) that it brushed our bodies until we got out into deeper water. That was a little uncomfortable.Here I am coming out of the swim which had a very rocky entrance and exit which made it hard to get into and out of the water.

Since Andy was the only one with a camera on this day he didn't get me heading out on my bike but here I am finishing on my bike (in the orange). I did the bike in 59 minutes 38 seconds, under an hour, which is what I wanted. I really raced down the last part of the course so I could be sure to make it (I slowed down a little when I saw another person had fallen off her bike and had blood running down her legs. The roads were still quite wet!)This is me starting out on my run. I had a bad side cramp through most of it, so I really had to concentrate on my breathing to keep it from overtaking me. I didn't stop, so I kept it under control, but just barely. Still need a lot of work on my running! I did the run in 39 minutes 59 seconds.

When I was almost done with the race a girl ran past me and said "You can do it 318! Come on push it! There is only a half mile left!" So I thought, she's right, let's push it, what the hell! So the last half mile (despite the terrible cramp) I ran much faster. I still finished with a slow pace but I did it!
Here we are packing up all our stuff to head home. We were quite cold at this point and just wanted a nice hot shower! Thanks to Andy, James and Heidi for cheering us on. I really can't believe how loud you can yell Heidi! (I could still hear her about a half mile away on the run!)

I'm glad I did all the races I did, but I'm also glad that this tri season is over and I can have a little break (Holley and I can now pass the race baton over to Andy and James). Holley and I are planning some different training this winter season to help keep ourselves motivated. It's just so hard to keep going in the cold, dark, winter months! But after stepping on the scale Monday and realizing I lost 9 pounds I have to keep this up! I'm finally starting to lose all the baby weight from Ayden and she's almost 2!

Next Sunday is the Bellingham Bay 1/2 marathon for Andy and James!