Tri Diva Tri

I love this race! It is the best beginning race for women. I love it so much, that I signed up for it way back in November. It was the first race I signed up for as I thought it would be a great first race for the season.   There were several of us going to this race together and we trained throughout the winter.  My goal for this race was to beat my times from last year, especially on the bike, which has been my focus lately.
As the date got closer, the weather looked great! 13 degrees and sunny! It was the perfect weather. However, as any good Calgarian knows, the weather changes quickly.  Soon the forecast was 2 degrees with snow and there was talk of changing the triathlon to an aquathon.  I can't say I was overly sad about not having to ride the bike, but was a little disappointed to know I wouldn't be able to see if my hard work had paid off.
Just in case, we met up a few days before the race to practice our transitions. We put on our swim caps and goggles and laughed at our ridiculousness.  We worked on our transitions from swim to bike and bike to run but in the back of our minds we knew we wouldn't be doing them.

Do you think that Bob could sneak into Tri Diva Tri? With his beer?

On Friday evening, I received an email from my coach saying it had been changed to an aquathon. This sure changed how I thought about this race. I packed some warm, easy to slide on clothes and and stored by bike back on its trainer (with a small, smug smile and a na na boo boo).

Lucky Number 242!

I got up early, loaded the car with Kristen, Jodi and Sasha and we headed out to the snowy, icy highway to Olds. We were all a bit nervous, but we managed to laugh and chat to keep out minds off of the race butterflies. We arrived just after 8:00, got body marked, set up for the transition and headed over to the gym for the mandatory meeting. I was so happy to see one of my teammates, Yvonne, as soon as I walked in.  It was great to reconnect after the winter of hibernation!
 None of us swam right away, so we had some time to watch the first heats. It is always inspiring to me to watch these first heats.  Soon after the first couple heats, my friends were up. This was the first time I went with a group of people and I liked that I had the chance to watch each of them swim. It really kept me calm and made the time fly by. I was very happy that I could be there with them on their first race and help them where I could.
The race was going quickly and soon the last heat was getting ready for the swim.  I changed into my suit, took a few deep breaths, and made my way out to the pool deck.
While in line,  I chatted with the others in the line up and soon I was just a few spots away from starting. I spotted my friends and family through the window cheering me on.  This picture of my friend Kristen makes my heart melt. Having so much support and knowing that my friends had just finished made me feel even much more inspired and excited.

Can you find me? Look for the one
 without the ankle timer!

As I was putting my goggles on, the swim captain noticed I was missing my timing chip! What an idiot! I ran back, slipped it on and by then it was my turn to jump in the pool.  I was assigned lane 3. I jogged across the mat, but no beep went. The race director called me as she thought my timer was broken. It finally beeped... so I went to jump in the pool. As I got close to the lane,  my lane mate stopped!! Why is she stopping?!?! I had to wait for her to get mid way down the lane before I entered(more missed time!) I was a little nervous, but I was quickly soothed by the warm water and within a few seconds I felt relaxed and comfortable.  After about 50m, I  caught up to my lane mate.  I tapped her but she wouldn't move over. I was feeling a little frustrated so rather than kept worked up, I decided to draft her and save some energy. Once I finally passed her, she sped up and started tapping me. With a sigh, I moved over at the end of the lane to let her pass. She then told me to go ahead! What was happening?? I just kept swimming and rejoiced when I saw her hop out of the pool. I knew I had 75m left, so I picked up the pace and enjoyed having the lane to myself.

What a stroke!

I was the second to last out of the pool, so the transition area was quiet. The first person I saw was my coach Sharon who moved from Bike Captain to Mop Captain. It was great to see a smiling, friendly face! I quickly found the locker with my things.  I dried off as best I could and started to get dressed. Was I ever happy about my choice of pants. They slipped on so easily! What a weird transition this was! Here I was putting on a jacket and long pants while I was soaking wet. I struggled with my jacket. I thought this was such a good choice with its zip up closure and embedded dry fit shirt. Turns out, it wasn't a good choice. I could NOT get my hands through the arms. I finally got it on, tied up my shoes, attached my run belt and ran outside. I had been smart enough to tuck mittens and a toque in my pockets and I got those on as quickly as I could. Man it was chilly! I saw my cheer squad as soon as I came out and all I could say was " I am soaking wet in the cold!"

I tried to remember to keep an easy pace at first to make sure I didn't cramp, which I often do when I start running. My legs felt a little bit jellyish and it took a few minutes for this feeling to pass.
The snow was falling, but it felt surprisingly refreshing.   I passed a few runners on the course and offered each of them a little piece of encouragement. I thanked the volunteers and tried my best to keep up my pace.  I sped up as I went through the route and when I knew I was on the home stretch, I gave it all I could.  I could hear my name announced and felt so happy to be done and so excited to have tried a new race.

Finished and out of breath!

When I finished, everyone else was already done, so we hugged it out, said our congratulations and stood there for a photo shoot with our husbands. Then we all went together to the change room and chatted like excited a bunch teenager girls. We shared all of our challenges and successes from the day. We had so much to catch up on! I was so proud of all the girls for coming out, giving it their all, and accomplishing their goal. It was exciting and uplifting to hear each of them say that they wanted to do another. Tri S'more.... here we come!

I love the snowflake nose I have in this photo!

 We went over to the gym for some food and coffee. I had some time to talk with Yvonne and Sharon.  As we chatted someone mentioned that the results were up. I quickly grabbed my phone and searched for my name. I couldn't see it... where was I? I started to panic and thought that maybe my chip was faulty after all.

Then there it was... 10th place! I could not believe it. And it gets better - 1st in my age group. Was I reading that right? I really thought there was a mistake, but it turns out there wasn't. I really did it! I was so proud!  It was wonderful to be able to celebrate my success with my husband, my coach, and some of my closest friends. I was embarrassed to go get the flower award and couldn't wait to get out of the spotlight, but Sharon managed to sneak this picture of me. In hindsight, I am happy she did. Thanks for a great race everyone!

Getting my 1st place award and trying to escape being in the spotlight.