Not Just Running Any More

 Speaking of running! 

I did a triathlon this year! 

The swim was HARD. I didn’t train enough in open water. 

It was a 750 meter swim in a lake, followed by a 16 mile bike ride and then a 5k run. 

I hadn’t gotten to train as much as I’d wanted to - between travel nursing and having an 8 month old at the time, I was busy. 

I bought a wetsuit and everything! Actually 3 wetsuits. I trained in the first one and a week before the race, the zipper broke. So I ordered another one but got nervous it wouldn’t fit so I ordered a backup and raced in the backup. Geez.

I could just hear you saying “you look so official!” Once I had all my gear on.

My bike looked really official too - I bought a specialized road bike with all the bells and whistles about a week before the race.  I had been training on a mountain bike, so the road bike made an astronomical difference in my speed and comfort. 

During the swim, a sweet old guy volunteer in a kayak followed along making sure I was okay. I was struggling from about halfway through, and he had done a few triathlons himself so he knew exactly how to encourage me. At the end, he accidentally flipped his kayak into the water! He was okay though, just a little embarrassed. I tracked him down to thank him again after the race was finished.

The whole thing took me like 2 hours and change to finish, which is a very slow time. But to me it felt quick! During the run I spotted a couple lake cabins and actually ended up booking one that day to stay in the next weekend. Dreher island has really nice full lakefront cabins for about the price of a hotel room per night, definitely check that out.

It was such a milestone to finish a triathlon. It’s been a goal since I was in highschool and a couple Bethel people had done them - I never thought I’d be hardcore enough to do one myself. I am proud that I did it.