Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Woman of Steel Triathlon

So...for "FUN" Jennie and I decided that we would do a Triathlon together in 2009. The result: The Women of Steel Triathlon in American Fork, UT. After 4 months of training, I woke up early on May 16th and tried to eat a healthy, protein-packed breakfast to fuel me for the race. I was so nervous that I only ate a half of a peanut butter and banana sandwich and a glass of water before heading out the door.

We got to the the race early and set up our transition areas. Then we got our bodies marked with our age on our calves and our bib number on our arms. After that I spent the next hour in and out of the bathroom trying to "calm my nerves". If you've raced before, you know what that means! :)

Soon the time came and I we lined up for the swim. With 600 contestants, it took over a half hour before I even got my turn in the pool, and let me tell you...it was the craziest 8 minutes and 31 seconds that I've ever experienced in a pool!

I jumped in 12 seconds after the person in front of me and started to swim. After about 3 strokes I ran headfirst into the legs of a 52 year old woman. (I know this because our legs were marked with our age). I quickly tried to pass her on the right only to find that there was already someone there passing between the lady and the on-coming swimmers in the same lane. Unfortunately, they were evenly matched and I was faster than them both so I spent about 2 minutes getting my faced kicked behind them before we all reached the wall at the same time and I quickly kicked past them.

Finally I felt like I had space in the pool and I started to swim hard to make up for lost time, when all of the sudden another lady behind me grabbed my leg and yanked me backwards whilst propelling herself forward! Quite the strategy! Too bad for her, she panicked when she got past me and had to stand up in the pool. I passed her...again...and swam my last lap to the wall. I popped my head out to make sure I was in the right place just in time to have my butt grabbed and hoisted out of the pool by a NEW lady who had crept up behind me! Wow! I nearly fell out of my swimsuit in front of EVERYONE! exciting times!


After picking myself off the cement I started running to the transition area. I was more tired than I thought I would be and was shaking pretty hard. I dabbed myself dry and started getting dressed for the bike ride and everything seemed to be going well until I tried to pull my shorts on. I had stuffed a big Maxi pad in them earlier to create padding to protect me from the bike seat and it didn't seem to want to stick any more. There were tons of people staring over the fence at me while I pulled my shorts on and off 3 times only to find that the pad had popped out each time and adhered to some part of my leg or shirt. I finally gave up, ripped it out, and decided to bike without padding!

The first part of the 13 mile bike course had two horrible hills on it. One small one to trick you and then a huge one to kill you. I made it up both with burning legs and then picked up speed on the flat part. Soon came the downhill and I peddled the whole way down, matching the speed of the cars on the road! At the bottom of the hill I turned the corner and then!!! Started up the evil hills for the 2ND time! This time was rough. Almost all the bikers were walking and my legs were shaking so bad that I almost got off and walked as well. I felt like it would have been faster. But then this super buff Lance Armstrong lady sped past me and yelled "You go girl! You're working this hill!" HAHAHAH! She was the one working it but that's all I needed to keep pushing. I made it up and then down again and started back to the transition area again after 55 minutes and 19 seconds on the bike.

When I got into the dismount space and went to jump off my bike I found out that I couldn't lift my leg any more. I biffed it in front of everyone and lamely tried to use my hands to pull my leg over my bike so I could officially dismount. Then some dude yells "Yeah! Run to the transition area. You got this!" ...hmmmm...nope....no running...can't feel my legs...bad idea...

Needless to say, when I dropped off my bike and started the running portion, I was NOT running! The course took us right back up the same horrible bike hills and I decided to walk the whole way up! Then this lady who was walking with me said "K. We're gonna start running at the second hill and when we get to the stop sign at the top of the hill we're gonna cheer for ourselves!" She was crazy but I listened and when I reached the top I cheered! Then we walked the flat part for some recovery since we were planning to run the whole second half of the course. When we got to that point, my friend cramped up and though I wanted to wait for her she told me to run as fast as I could to the finish...So I did. I walked/ran the 3 mile course in 37 minutes and 34 seconds. Not bad for walking half!

So here are my finishing stats:

Estimated Swim: 8 minutes 30 seconds. Actual Swim: 8 minutes 31 seconds
Estimated Transition One: 5 minutes. Actual Transition One: 4 minutes 52 seconds
Estimated Bike Time: 1 hour 15 minutes. Actual Bike Time: 55 minutes 19 seconds
Estimated Transition Two: 5 minutes. Actual Transition Two: 1 minute 21 seconds
Estimated Run: 40 minutes Actual Run: 37 minutes 34 seconds

Final Finishing Time:1 hour 47 minutes 39 seconds! Yeah. I ROCK!


14 comments:

Beccarigg said...

Yeah! You DO rock!!

I know all about "calming your nerves" on the porcelain throne. My race isn't until Saturday and I've already had to do several "calming sessions." I really need to lay off the fiber for the next few days.

Sounds like you had some feisty competitors in the pool. I can't believe that lady actually grabbed your leg and pulled you back! I would've busted out some king fu on her! (in my mind, that is)

That's cool that so many people (on the course and off) were helping to motivate you to finish. You did an amazing job and I'm so proud of you! Maybe next year we can do it together! That'd be fun : )
p.s. Maxi Pad, ha ha!

Woolston Fam said...

I did that same course just in a different race in March. I tried to get into the Woman of Steel but it was full. The Icebreaker tri that I did was the exact same. Those hills are killer and I hated that you had to do them twice and them again on the run. Congrats on doing it. Triathlons are tons of fun.

Megan

Natalie said...

Yay! I'm so glad you (finally) posted about your race! Great job! Your times were really good! I'm so impressed. :)

The Reese's said...

that is so neat! i'm very impressed with your athleticism :)

Mucci Ohana said...

so I finally got over the fact that my sisters are all gonna be better than me when it comes to running and stuff, but in the end... My body is gonna be the hottest. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ok evil laugh over. I love ya dude. I am so proud of you. You sure showed those doctors huh! your only partially retarded and you can indeed walk run bike and so forth. I love ya

Sarah said...

Dude, you so totally ROCK! I am so proud of you. I had to wear shades to hide the tears when I was watching you and Jenny. You can do hard things. You go girl. Love the post

Pae and Guy said...

Why do everyone's running a marathon, becoming a personal trainer, doing a triathlon posts always make me feel old!?

Pae and I are hitting the gym tonight for some mileage on the bikes...I'll have to stop by the 7-11 on the way to grab some maxi's...nobody at the gym will even notice! **remind me...which side does the sticky stuff go on again?**

As if ball-hugger spandex riding shorts aren't bad enough...imagine them with a giant "Carefree extra absorbant maxi with wings" crumpled up in there...ewwww! Visual!

Okay, I've done the brotherly duty of yuckying up your blog!

I love you sis, keep on truckin'

Chris

Brian Hanks said...

Wow, as if the swimming part wasn't hard enough! Good for you, congratulations! You're easily my second or third most impressive sister-in-law :)

Jennie said...

Heck yes you totally rock! I'm so glad we did that together! So what "fun" thing are we going to do next? :)

Munro Murdock said...

Sweeeeet Naomi! You are Jennie are super powerful wonder women!! I love your detailed description of the race. Thanks for the great laughs and also for the inspiration. Way to go! It sounds like a killer workout and I'm sure it felt great to finish it. Any other triathlons on the horizon? I'm running a 10k this Saturday and am on a team for the Redrock Relay Sept. 4-5 (www.redrockrelay.com). Teams of 12 run 180 miles...it'll be cool.

Keep it going!

Unknown said...

I am so impressed, Naomi! You are super tough. Those ladies are ruthless, except for the nice ones that encouraged you. You never know who you can trust these days...

Lisa said...

You're crazy girl!! I would have died, and just listening the whole thing makes my legs shaky and unmovable. Congrats though, you should be way proud of yourself!!

naniek3@gmail.com said...

i enjoyed reading about your tri--how far was your swim? i am doing a sprint this Sat(aug 15) in rexburg. "celebrating" turning 51, i guess. anyway reading bout your experience makes me grateful i'll be swimming in a lake(cold lake--we wear wet suits!). not such tight quarters--ladies have the 2nd wave & only around 250 in the sprint. i've been training in the canal, which is reaallly COLD!! it was fun to read your account--my goal is to finish, maybe even in under 2 hr 15 min. we have a 1/2 mile swim. i hate to run so i plan to walk part of it--depends on where my energy level is by then! i am getting more pumped about it seeing your photos. good job!! Karey

M. Fritze said...

geez, your whole family is just full of buff trainers! inspiring me! you go girl!