On my 1st tri

It's true, I did my first triathlon on Saturday!

With a bad head cold, not enough sleep, a healthy dose of stubbornness, lots of dayquil and a rush of adrenalin, I got up at 4:30 am and headed to Gallup. I had been wanting to do that particular one ever since, well, since last year. But after the Iron Horse, I guess I was riding that competitive high and set my mind to it for this year, even though it was only 3 weeks away from that big bike ride. I even convinced Julie to do it with me, so she was even more motivation to actually get up and get there for it, despite coming down with a cold on Thursday.

It was a sprint length: 375m pool swim, 12.4 mi hilly bike ride, and a 5k run.

I was glad to have the pool swim for my first triathlon, the open water kind of intimidates me. The bike course was hilly, and given my recent training for Iron Horse, I felt pretty well prepared, but a hard swim and the head cold were hard on my lungs. Then the run, oh man, the run. After biking for 12+ miles, my legs felt like lead and running is not my strong suit anyway.

But, alas, I was pretty happy with my overall results! I just missed placing in my age group, by less than 20 seconds but that gives me something to shoot for next year, hopefully sans sickness. And way to go Julie for getting FIRST in her age group and FIFTH overall female!!!