So, yesterday was my 4th and final Tri of my Spring season. I went into it a little burnt out, looking for it to be over. I was spoiled with the other Tri’s with shorter runs and bike courses. This was your typical reverse Sprint – 5 k run, 14 mile bike, and 400 yrd swim. I was thinking I am going to be so tired after the 5k, how am I going to get 14 miles done. I was wishing I had signed up for the Mini Sprint, which was half of everything…
I got up at 4:30am so I could bike over and be there for 5am. Packet pick-up was scheduled from 4:30 – 5, but the race wasn’t scheduled to start until 6:30am. The weather was beautiful – didn’t even need a sweatshirt. I placed my blinking red light on my backpack and put a headlight on the front and I was off. My sister was already checked in and racked. I did the same… and we waited. There was a kids Tri first, so ours did not go off until around 7:30. To my surprise, my husband and girls were there for me at the start with a sign that read ‘Go Mom Go’. They usually don’t come to events because 1) they are early and 2) usually on the other side of the valley. It was great to see them and it gave me a boost.
There were only 170 participants across the Sprint, Mini, Duathalon, and Kids Tri, so I knew the field was small. Not many plus sized athletes, so I knew I would probably be last. But that is OK. As long as I finished, that was all that matter. After the 1st mile, I could hear 1 runner behind me. I did my best to stay ahead, but I was soon passed. On the second loop, I saw in the distance 1 runner. A man who actually started 5 mins before the women took off. I was encouraged. I thought, ‘I can catch up to him’. And I did. He was in his 70’s and a little overweight. He said to me, ‘I thought I was last’. I passed him and I said ‘Well you are now’ with a smile. Then I said, ‘It doesn’t matter if you are last, just that you finish!’. He said, ‘You are absolutely right!’
So I finished the 5k and got on my bike and started out on the 14 miles. The course was nice and flat and recently paved. I saw my ‘last man’ friend every now and then and we waved encouragement. By the time I got to the pool, I made up some time on the other women, one being my sister. She had just finished doing the 1st 200yrds and was jumping in for the 2nd loop when I was jumping in for the first. Small pool, so have to do it twice. By the time I was starting my 2nd loop, ‘last man’ was jumping in. We had the pool all to ourselves, which I guess is an advantage to being last. Anyway, the water was nice and cool – refreshing after heating up from the run and bike, not to mention the climbing AZ temperature. I crossed the finish line to cheers of my family and the last remaining spectators. I took a shower at the Aquatic Center and then hopped on my bike back home. All in all, it was a great race! I was so happy that I did the full Sprint! Enjoyed the ‘high’ the rest of the day!
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