Wine and Puppy Breath: Lodi

This weekend I competed in my first ever triathlon! It was the Father's Day Triathlon at Rancho Seco park, and I signed up so I could support my dad during his first ever triathlon. It is not usual for people to sign up for a triathlon without training for it, but I figured that being 22 was enough to get me past the finish line. Well, I did make it past the finish line, but holy cr*p, triathlons are WAY more difficult than I thought! Regardless of how much this race kicked my butt, I can gladly say that I had an awesome time and may have found my new favorite hobby!

Here's a breakdown of the race:

Swim- As most of you know, I grew up swimming and playing water polo year around. Unfortunately I haven't been in the pool consistently in the past five years, and I feel like I have lost ALL of my swimming ability. Okay, maybe not all of it. I was the fourth out of the water in my wave (men and women included), but I was not too happy with my time. Did I really throw away 12 years of swimming?! Even if the swim was killing me, and my shoulders, I really did love it. The main reason I loved the swimming is because there were no black lines to mindlessly stare at! Actually, there was nothing to stare at! All I had to focus on was swimming directly at the target and not letting other people swim over the top of me. It was a lot like water polo swimming! After this race, I see a lot of open water swimming in my future. :)

Side note - Open water swimming is not as creepy as I thought. Even if I've watched many episodes of River Monsters! ;)

Bike - Ugh. Biking. The biking had to be the most frustrating part of the whole tri. For one, I took a little detour into a parking lot. Two, once I got back on track, I felt like I was being passed left and right! Who are these crazy bikers with their fancy gear and penis helmets? That's what my mom and I call those serious aerodynamic biking helmets. Anyways, I ended up losing a lot of time on the bike. I think I just need to train more and build up my leg muscle. We'll see how that goes... I don't carry a lot of muscle on my legs, or body for that matter.

Transitioning

Run - I've always had a love/hate relationship with running. I don't find running to be very fun, but I happen to be pretty good at it. Even when I'm not training for anything. So when I got off the bike, I was ready for revenge. I threw my helmet off and took off. Was I really able to run after that disappointing bike ride? Guess so! As I ran up the dirt trial, I actually started passing people. Being 22 has its benefits. Woo! I had to hold myself back from mockingly saying "Good Job" as I ran past the bikers that had previously passed me while saying those encouraging words. I'm kind of kidding. Those people are actually really nice, and I just get offended when people pass me.

I ended up making up a good amount of time and passed a couple people in my age group to get third place. Once again, I may not like running, but I am not too bad at it.

Too much hair!

Coming close to the finish line... keep going!

I make funny faces when I run. :p

Overall, I have to say that my first triathlon experience was beyond amazing! I got to get a great workout in, discover a new hobby, and be there to support a large portion of my family as that participated in the same event! There is no greater feeling than being around such a great group of people that support each other and build up each other's confidence in themselves. I have been on many competitive teams in my life, but I don't think I have seen as much support as I do with the Lodi Masters Triathletes. Members of this team are more concerned about changing lives and encouraging each other than they are about winning a race. The attitude of this whole team is truly contagious.

Also, while racing I was able to try this amazing sports drink called Fluid Performance. Usually I am not able to drink anything but water during physical activity, but this stuff was incredible! It is lightly (emphasis on lightly) flavored, so your stomach doesn't get upset, and it's packed with electrolytes. This is the best sports drink I've had. I'm buying this stuff asap!

Here's the link --> http://www.livefluid.com/

Here are some more pics from the day!