Training is more fun than racing!!

 Echo Olympic Triathlon- July 2012

Laura and I are kindred spirits. We like to swim, bike and run, we like to listen to good music and we like to complain when it gets hard.  We are sarcastic and we both like baking & eating treats. I LOVE training with Laura.  (Not to mention we are in different age groups- barely!)  :)

We have done a few triathlons this year, some easier than others.  Our latest adventure was the Echo triathlon, which we signed up for the Olympic distance.  We did the Jordanelle Olympic in June and we both figured this second attempt would be more pleasant.  I made the mistake of choosing a race which fell on the Saturday after YW Girls Camp.  HUGE mistake.  I could NOT fall asleep the previous 3 nights before the race and had to wake up at 4 am on race morning.  I was so tired that Laura had to drive my car to Coalville for the Echo tri.  I kept going in and out...the whole trip up was a blur.  

By the time we biked from the parking lot to the race venue I realized I had left my photo ID in the car. BIG mistake in triathlons.  No one can pick up a packet without photo ID and I did NOT want to ride my bike 2 miles back to my car at 6 am.  After working my magic with the race director (a very nice man), I picked up my packet, got my timing chip and set up my transition area.

Starting off with the swim, it was the most disgusting water I've ever swam in. The mud was so plentiful that when your face was in the water it was honestly BLACK.  The only reprieve came when you turned to breath and could see the cloudy, blue sky.   The water wasn't too cold, very mild actually, and for the first time my wetsuit didn't feel too restrictive.   I set off when the horn blew and swam the first 800 meters with no problems. Middle of the pack, as usual.  As soon as I went around the buoy to swim my second 800 meters, my calves cramped up.  This was awful!!  I had double-charlie-horses in my calves which meant I couldn't use my legs to swim! By this time, Laura had probably exited the water (she's a KILLER swimmer) and most of the other female Olympic swimmers were pulling ahead.  A race volunteer in a kayak asked if I needed to be pulled into her boat but I told her I could kick the cramps out.  I persisted but the cramps did too.  My legs were useless and now days later are still sore from being in a state of contraction for 15 minutes straight.  I finished the swim using only my arms and hobbled onto the beach.  30 minutes after I'd entered the water I was onto the bike portion.

The bike ride was beautiful!  I pulled on my shoes and helmet, got onto the road and immediately started eating a Honey Stinger waffle out of my jersey because the swim left me famished... (probably because we'd been up since 4 am).  It was now about 7:45 and the sun was shining on the nice, green lake we'd just swam in. :) Thank HEAVENS I made it through the swim.  After a week at girls camp I was still very close to the spirit and I believe we are "helped" through hard things that we do.  Whether it's something hard that we are forced to endure (death, illness, emotional/physical hard times) or something that we choose to endure (learning something new, weight loss, competitions, etc) we can call upon our Savior for strength and I know we can be blessed in those times.  I spent the last half of my swim singing 'A Child's Prayer' in my mind and now that I was on the bike I was silently thanking my Heavenly Father for helping me get through it.  A neat thing happened on the bike ride while I was praying.  The LDS Young Women theme came into my head and I could not shake it.  I decided to recite it in my head and it opened my eyes to the values which we, as women, vow to live by.  Faith, Divine Nature, Choice & Accountability, Integrity and Virtue (to name a few).   I decided that even while I'm competing in triathlons or races, I can live by those values and be a representative of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I don't mean to be preachy or self-righteous...I need all the help I can get.  It was a great opportunity for me to draw closer to God.

I finished the 25 mile bike and headed to transition to start the run.  I was tired and out of gas but had to finish.  I kept asking myself why in the world I was doing this on NO sleep but I had to see it through.  (Besides, anyone who knows me knows that after paying $105 there was no way I wasn't going to give it my all.   I'm too cheap.)  The run was a simple 10k, pretty flat course on the Park City Rail Trail.  Easier said than done.  Luckily I got behind a tall, dark Kenyan man (he may have been Jamaican) and he kept a good pace the whole 6.2 miles.  Halfway through the run when my legs were about to give up, I started singing "Come Thou Fount" in my head.  Usually when I'm running I'm listening to Florence + The Machine or Paramore but today I needed help from above (and no iPods are allowed in Tri's.)  I received the help I was looking for and was able to "lean & lift" my way to the finish line.  After being almost the LAST female out of the water, I had passed all but 2 women in my age group through the bike and the run.  I came in 3rd and immediately went to the line for a massage. My calves were shaking and I could barely walk.  I finished in 2:45... not as good as Jordanelle but who's keeping track!?!?

Why do we do these things to ourselves?  To learn who we are and what we can accomplish?  To give ourselves a challenge?  To keep a commitment we made to our training partner?  This race was tough but it strengthened my faith that my Father in Heaven knows me. Will I do another one?  We'll see how much sleep I get. :)

St George Triathlon- May 2012