Triathamom!

So Altra was a sponsor of Triathamom, a women's only pool tri in Herriman, which means my husband had to be out there.  They were really kid friendly with a carnival like atmosphere (bouncy houses, face painting, sign making, balloons, popcorn - all free!) so I knew we could bring the kids.  And what does that mean for me?  An hour to work out!  : D  Seems silly that I just can't find the time lately to work out, but between normal mom stuff, going to school (taking a Pathophysiology class as the last class I can take before starting a nursing program that I just want to keep the possibility open for.  I'm not sure if I'll do it, I'm not sure how I would with my more important family, but it's at least a year down the road, so we'll just take it as it comes), working all day Thursdays and being tired being pregnant, I just haven't gotten up early recently and Jer is always working these days, so I don't often get an escape from morning to night.  I have and will have have to utilize the Chariot more I think.

Anyway.....sorry for the ramble.  I knew I could leave the kids with him (typical expos no way), and it was a beginner oriented race so I wouldn't feel any pressure going slower to accommodate this little baby on board.  So a few days before, I signed up - so my style.  Really hoping I can sign up for some A races for next year well in advance as a good commitment.
I tested the bike handling skills out Friday afternoon since honestly I haven't been on it in weeks, and it went great!  Still felt just fine on it. We headed to my mother-in-law's house to crash with the kids that night since she lives about a mile away from the race, and I'd have to go earlier than they would.  So alarm clock went off and my only negative thought for the day was 'oh man it's early, I don't have to do this race, what was I thinking??'  I tell ya, getting up early pregnant is not my forte.  Got everything ready after my usual pre race breakfast and headed out.  As soon as I sat on the bike I thought, 'oh no!'  I could barely sit on the seat, seriously.  I seem to have issues with tenderness down there while pregnant when I ride a lot, and yeah, I guess I forgot that when riding Friday.  I was really stressed about the bike portion of the race, because I litterally could not sit on that seat riding to the race.  Decided to just go with what I planned on attire wise and let the endorphins help as my wise husband suggested.  After I planted my bike I wanted to help out my good friend and race director Aly, so I wandered around transition answering questions.  I love doing that, and there were plenty of questions to be had.  It was really great to see so many women (close to 400 I think) out doing this triathlon that you probably wouldn't expect.

So it was finally go time, wandered into the pool, snuck into a bathroom I probably wasn't supposed to use, and lined up.  It was so nice to have Jer and my youngest Kaitlyn come over for the start.  Such good spectators.
 Swim was fine, I didn't intend to go first, but the lady I was talking to that went behind me was nervous to go first I think.  So off I went....and so did she a second later  :)  She rode my feet the whole time which kind of stunk, and when we got out of the water she said 'oh was I supposed to wait till they told me to go?'  Well yeah (guess they didn't know her number, each person was supposed to tell them that before they started), but that's ok.  She didn't tap my feet or anything, was just that close the whole time.  No harm no foul.

Other than my hand in front of my belly I really like this pic.  Totally worth the $6

We got into T1 and I had a light jacket sitting out ready, but it was already way too warm even when I was wet so I just pulled on my lovely matching pink tri skirt so not everyone had to see my butt and off I went.  Had to go around the mats again after laying my bike down though because it didn't beep the first time.  Cost me 10-15 seconds and I wasn't rude, but wasn't the most gracious/patient, which I feel bad about.  I can get kind of into it/emotional when racing.  I try very hard to be enthusiastic and appreciative of volunteers always saying thank you, so I feel bad I got a little upset telling them it was important they send people out the right way.  Luckily I got to talk to the guy after and apologize.

So as soon as I started riding I notice a pace car in front of me. Fun!  I've never had a pace car experience, usually because I'm either not in the lead or it's a dual gender race and the men get them.  I was happy to see them though as it made me feel a little more secure and visible out on the road.  Now is not the time to get in a wreck.  And yeah, it was just fun :)  Was a little more out of breath than I would've liked the first half, and was concerned a bit about the big hill at half way, but fortunately that one was acutally easier than the preceding several miles leading up to it.  Yeah I had to stand, but it wasn't bad at all.  And then it was all downhill from there.  The winds were nice as was the traffic and it was a great smooth 4 miles back into T2.  Thank you pace car!

T2 was fine.  The run was a little lonely.  There was no one out on the course, volunteers included, I guess I beat them there.  Aly passed me with about a mile to go asking if I needed an aid station as she was driving to set it up :)  No worries, I was fine.  Anyway, the course was marked well, but there was about a mile section where I just hoped I was going the right way.  I've had dreams about getting lost on a race course, not fun.  Just another less that you should study every race course map, I glanced, but that's it.  Kept my pace reasonable, was definately less out of breath on the run than bike.  Finished into a fun arch of colored balloons and headed toward the food :)

Check it out, 6:20-6:30.  My 10 seconds of fame!  : D

So that was that.  The kids and husband missed me (he underestimated me I think), but not a big deal.  There was great fruit and bagels and drinks afterward that I definately enjoyed.  Rested for about 10 minutes then scooped the kids up and headed to a church kids program practice where I had to be because I play the piano.  yeah, talk about rushed.  Confession - I litterally threw on a skirt and shirt on over my swim suit.  Afterwards we headed back to pick Jer up and the race was still going so that was fun to be around it a bit.  I think they did a great job with organization.  The swim is really the onlything I can see being changed for next year (more divided by time), and I hear they're already on it.  It was a fun boutiquey atmosphere, and I LOVED the great stuff for the kids.  It was also neat to see all the different women come in and finish and hear some about them as they finished.

Fun!

I ended up 2nd, by a second, at 20 weeks pregnant.  Sounds good to me!  Great way to celebrate half way through this pregnancy.  Jer thought I'd be upset about not winning by such a close margin, but eh, I didn't go to win, and know I could've made that second up easy so it's fine.  They didn't do awards which would have been fun with this belly of mine, but they wanted to keep it a non-competitive attitude.  The charm necklace is cute though.  Glad I did the race.  It helps to give me a little athletic reminder and uplift that I'm still in reasonable shape and will be back next year.  I am getting more and more excited to meet this baby and play in that phase again.  4 more months  :)

Saratoga Tri = great race!

Some have wondered why I race at all pregnant.  It's not like I go into it expecting a win or anything, why not just take a break right?  I've said it before, I'll say it again.  I really love triathlon and it's FUN, so why when I train for this stuff year in and year out and I know how to listen to my body, do I have to take a break from fun just because I'm pregnant?  I don't, I still need some fun  :)
So I did the Daybreak Tri about a week after we found out we were pregnant.  Yeah I was a little nervous, but my body knows how to do this stuff (race, it's not always the best at staying pregnant apparently), it was a sprint, and I really wanted to win that 3rd time.  It went great, no problems.  Then around 8 weeks I think I did the Women Rock tri mainly because it had a trail run - those don't exist in regular non-Xterra tri's, and it was great!  So much fun!  Then I took about 8 weeks off.  Some because my mind was going crazy with worry about this pregnancy lasting, and some just because life got in the way.  Well, we hit about 15 weeks I believe and I knew of this great little open water race and decided to jump in.  I finally felt pretty safe in the pregnancy, I know I can control my pacing and listen to my body and I just wanted to do it because triathlon is FUN and I missed it and the atmosphere and people, and it was probably about the last time I could fit into a larger wetsuit  :)

So I show up to register morning of after the race director said I would be fine to do so.  I figured it's a small race, every race this year has had way low numbers, I'll be fine.  Boy was I wrong!  This great little race with non-professional race directors, just average people that live in the area, had sold their race out with almost 300 people!  That's more than almost every race this whole year has had in a single distance, that's phenomenal for a race that doesn't get a lot of hype and isn't part of a series.  Oh and did I mention it was only $35?!  So anyway, I show up about 90 minutes before the start of the race and see a sign saying it's full.  I'm happy they sold it out, but I was SO bummed!  They said to stand in line and wait to see if anyone didn't show up as they were out of chips.  So wait I did with about 5 other people, and stressed, and stressed, and finally got in 10 minutes before the race started.  Can you say fastest most simple transition set up EVER!  Really shows you how little you need in transition.  I didn't want to get out of line so I wasn't even dressed in a race kit, let alone my wetsuit.  I threw everything in transition, ran to the bathrooms to change, ran my bag back to the car and threw my wetsuit on while running over to the start just in time to walk into the water with my wave, whew!

The swim - water felt SOOOO good!  Now this is Utah lake, a notoriously yucky/murky lake, but the beauty of where they held this race was it wasn't in the main boat ramp.  Yes I couldn't see my hand in front of me, but I never tasted boat fuel at all, didn't taste anything actually.  So the wave took off and we made our way about 100 yards and then were out of the sheltered area and found ourselves riding some pretty big waves!  Now not white capping ocean stuff obviously, I wouldn't call the water rough, just some big rolling wake.  I'm a swimmer and I know some struggled with it (I stopped to check on a few people), but I thought it was a blast!  Seriously!  Yeah I got a few face fulls of water, but I was laughing and smiling the whole way.  The size large sleeveless wetsuit I wore was perfect too.  Great swim!  They had great in water support too, very important.

Bike - wasn't sure how much time I'd spend in aero, actually figured I really wouldn't at all as it was gotten a bit uncomfortable, but I actually rode most the ride tucked in.  It just felt good and the roads were keen to it, fairly flat, nothing that I needed to stand for, and in good condition.  I felt better during it than expected and again, just smiled my way along.  The views riding along the lake were nice and traffic control was good.  No complaints here

Run - running out of T2, literally, 10 feet out of it some guy was like "come on, why can't I run?!"  He was so mad.  We were 10 feet out of transition and I let him know it.  I told him to calm down, we just turned a corner and left the transition area.  Just thought it was weird he'd declare it was a bad run already when we'd only taken a dozen steps.  Anyway, took off at what my body knows we race sprint/oly tri's at, I swear it just has a preprogrammed pace.  So I had to reign it in a bit, but not much.  I really expected and planned to run slower, but I felt just fine at probably 7:30 pace.  I watched my breathing and any discomfort anywhere and just smiled and ran and cheered for others and enjoyed the views again looking toward the lake.

Neat views all over the course and closed to traffic, yay!

Finished 4th woman overall, sounds good to me!  I'm not sure who took that worse, the men or the women  :)  So there you have it, a simple race report all about a great day.  I don't have any suggestions for the race directors at all, I am really super impressed!  Totally affordable race entry, open water swim with in water support, great road and closed bike course, and well supported run and just a really good course.  They had chip timing and tech shirts, a finish line banner thing, lots of volunteers, really great post race food with all kinds of fruits and bread and cookies and drinks, and get this, they had prize money not only for overall winners, but top 3 in every age group!  I walked away with $40 for winning my age group, that's more than I paid to race!  They didn't advertise it, I had no idea they were doing prize money, but I'm impressed.  Seriously, I can't say enough good things about this race, put it on your calender next year!  I was so pleased with my body too.  I really haven't been training much the last several months so just expected to go out and do it at a slower pace, but I listened to my body and it let me do more and go faster than I was expecting. Maybe it's the extra ATP (cellular energy) the baby is developing too  :)

Some 15 week belly shots.  Also notice the calm water in the middle pic post race, oh well, I enjoyed the waves