TriathaMOM August 2016

My friend Kara did a TriathaMOM in 2015 and encouraged me to do it with her. A triathaMOM is more like a sprint triathlon. It is a 300 meter swim, 11 mile bike ride, and 5K. I signed up in January as apart of my birthday gift to myself and started training in March. They had a 12 week training program to follow. My goal was to condition my body so I wouldn't die. I was still nursing so I had low expectations on weight loss in this process. But to my surprise my body reacted really well to my training. I wasn't training too hard core. I did Jazzercise every week, then I alternated between biking and swimming weekly. I also tried to lift weights once a week. Nothing to crazy but totally made a different along with eating better. Honestly I just didn't want to die and be sore for weeks after wards. 

I save my money and bought some mountain biking shorts.

Then came the big day. The week leading up to it I felt like I could finish in 2 hours but then I got nervous and set a goal to finish in 2.5 hours. 

The weather was beautiful. I woke up early (5 am) and got there to get a spot in the transition area and get all set up and make a last minute potty run. I was excited but totally nervous having never done anything like this before. They gathered everyone together to review some last minute rules. There were about 500 people racing. So many different walks of life and shapes and sizes. Pregnant women, elderly, young, and middle age. It was awesome. All through the race everyone was encouraging each other and cheering. It was really lovely the comradely. 

We lined up in our perspective swimming time and waited to dive in. The pool wasn't deep so I found that I was walking in the water at certain times. Swimming went well and then I ran to the transition area to jump on my bike. It took me a while to get a groove on the bike because my legs were tired and my head was still foggy from all the hustle and bustle. But once I got going I was cursing. Then after the bike ride I started my 5K. I ran some and walked some. There were some switch backs in the trail. I tried to run faster as I approached the finish line. I ran through it and they called my name and announced it was my first triathlon (because my ankle computer chip told them it was). My cousin ran up to give me a hug. I had no idea she was going to be there but she was working the massage table. It was so awesome having someone hug me at the end. Then I got in line for a massage and stretch which was wonderful. I wasn't sore as much because of it. They also had a light breakfast, I ate like 3 bagels. I was so hungry. They had a kid carnival going on that I checked out. I waited for my friends to come through then I went home and hung out with the family. 

I left my phone in my car because I was nervous about getting distracted with taking pics and I really wanted to be engrossed in the experience. But I wish I had someone following me around and taking action shots. So above is my before pic.

And this is my after pic

Overall my time exceeded my expectations. I finished in one hour and 56 minutes. 

This was so much fun and I am definitely going to do it again next year. I think I did so great preparing physically but not so much mentally. Which is what I want to work on for next year. They had a sports physiologist come talk to us before we started and it really helped me focus. 

My age. LOL

My pretty necklace I got at the end. This was such a cool experience. Never be afraid to try new things and push yourself.