Danskin Philadelphia SheRox Triathlon 2009

So do you remember back in March when I had the crazy idea to train for a triathlon? I certainly remember because I've spent nearly 5 days a week at our gym training ever since then. I started out with no experience in fitness swimming, minimal experience in cycling (as in I had only owned a road bike with clipless pedals for less than 6 months at that point and had only been outside on it three times, and I fell one of those times) and could not run a full mile without walking and that was using a 12-minute mile pace. I wasn't exactly out of shape, but I was close and I knew that I could feel better about how I looked and how I felt. Through all of my training I found a toned body, better cardiovascular health, an improved body fat %, increased confidence and new interests along with an ability to swim for distance, run 10-minute miles and cycle more efficiently. I also achieved all of the goals I set out with:

• Finish-Achieved, even though the race course was altered
• No walking or resting-Not even tempted!
• Don't come in last-Right in the middle. FYI-Danskin actually arranges for a certain woman to purposely finish last so none of the participants are last.
• Get in shape - tone legs, butt, arms and abs-Done!
• Feel good!-Check

Now for a run down of race day...we woke up to a mild thunderstorm at 5:30am and left the hotel to find a full downpour. The rain tapered off to a drizzle after a quick stop for breakfast, but we were a little nervous about how the rest of the day would go. We arrived at "Race City" in Fairmount Park at 7:15 to get our body markings and set up our transition area equipment. We were immediately notified that the race officials were considering a cancellation of the swim portion of the race due to debris in the river from the rainfall. After a short delay the decision was made to go ahead and cancel the swim and change the event to a duathlon with a 1.5 mile run subbing in for the swim. So our new course would be 1.5 mile run, 15.5 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. Lauryn (my friend, who was crazy enough to sign up for this shenanigan with me) and I put away our swim gear and headed out to spread the news to our fans. Lauryn's husband was there with Eliza and our friends Jenn and Phil also came to cheer us on. After that we headed over to get in our wave group starting position and waited for a little while before heading off on the first run segment. I came in with a time of 14:34 which is right on target with what I've been training on the treadmill. We ran straight into the transition area where we switched our running shoes for cycling shoes and swapped out hats for helmets; the time for this was 4:30. The bike portion was a double loop course that went past some cool historic buildings and also incorporated some nice hills. I was able to pass up a bunch of women on the hills without ever needing to stand up and that felt awesome! I credit that to my spin classes. In the final few miles of the bike segment another thunderstorm moved in directly overhead and we ended up finishing the course with lightning and thunder occuring simultaneously right near the route. Due to the hazards associated with this situation, the rest of the race was cancelled as we pulled back into transition. I ended up finishing the bike portion with 1:05.05 which was a little slower than I expected but wet, slick roads were an issue that contributed to that time. I feel good about the finish though because I felt like I had enough mental and physical strength left that I would have been fine to go on to the 5K had the race not been called off.
We got back into the bike rack area, swapped out shoes again and shoved everything into a bag just in time for a sheet of rain to blanket the entire area (news reports said up to 5" in some areas, I think we were one of those areas!). I was a little nervous because Eliza was outside for all of this too and I knew that she would be scared, but I had no idea how I would find her since we couldn't see more than a few yards away without everything being blurred out by the rain. We didn't know what to do so we headed off through floods of muddy water to hide out under a sponsor tent. Luckily, our friend Phil was running around the race site to find us and happened across our waiting place not too long after that. He went back to get Jenn and Eliza and we all ended up waiting for the rain to decrease a little before trekking the mile-long hike back to our cars. Despite the terrible weather, the delayed start and an incomplete race, I had a great time and felt like I accomplished my goals. I'll definitely be doing more races in the future!

Things I learned from this race:

• Take rain gear everywhere, just in case. Also, take plastic bags for all electronics. We lost a camera in the storm due to water damage (not our DSLR, no worries there).
  
• Know your race wave number, not just your age category. FYI: my wave was #13 :)
• Have a more substantial snack waiting in transition like a banana. Energy gels or chews just weren't going to cut it after a run and an hour of cycling.
  
• A breakfast consisting of a hard boiled egg, a small peanut butter bagel, fruit and cheese was perfect.

More pictures to come later!