Today was the day! Today, I finally got to compete solo in Watertown\’s mini triathlon. I\’ve been wanting to get into triathlons for a while now, and this one was short enough that I knew it would be a good fit for my first one. I was super, super nervous, but it was actually really fun, and I\’m so glad I did it!
Obviously, the swim part is my strongest part of the tri. Unfortunately, it\’s the shortest part, too! It was only a 400 meter swim, which is practically nothing compared to what I\’m used to swimming in a workout. BUT I was able to get a good lead on some of the ladies. I know must of the other people I talked to at the race hated the swim part, and had wished that it was even shorter than it already was. But not me! I wish it would have lasted much longer!
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After the swim, came the 14 mile bike ride. This one I had to put some work into beforehand, because I am not very good at biking. My dad found my sister\’s old bike out in the Morton building, and he cleaned it up and got it all ready to use so I could practice the route a few times before the race. It\’s tough on my legs, but I could definitely feel myself getting faster each time I did it. I was also a little worried biking today, because last weekend I went for one more loop around the lake before the race, and I had a tire blow out. I was worried I\’d be getting stuck somewhere! Luckily, there were no incidents and I was able to get it done in under an hour – which for me is pretty darn good!
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I think the part I was really dreading the most was the running part of the tri. It was only a 5k, which isn\’t a HUGE distance – I\’ve done three half marathons after all! But it was after swimming AND biking, and I knew it was going to be hot. I was certain I was going to be struggling. Lucky for me, I have one super awesome dad who jumped into the run with me to push me through! I didn\’t get any pics of us running together, but I was glad he ran with me. It helped to have someone push me through that hard part at the end. And despite my knee giving me some trouble after coming off the bike, the run surprisingly felt pretty good. I forgot to start my watch for the entire race (rookie mistake) so I\’m not totally sure what my 5k time was, but my dad said I was holding a sub nine minute mile pace, so I\’m pretty happy with it!
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Overall, I think the race was a success and I am very glad I did it! I\’m going to have to keep my eye out for some more races like this, because it was pretty fun. I am one tired girl right now, but it was worth it. I think I earned a long nap today!
Hope everyone is out enjoying the beautiful weather we are having!
Until next time! 🙂
Megan Reiffenberger