I DID IT!!

I'm a triathlete! This morning I completed my first triathlon, Tri for the Cure, A Women's Triathlon at Cherry Creek Reservoir. Eric volunteered as a safety boater with his kayak, as he has been doing for 5 years.



Let me start by saying that I couldn't have asked for better weather. It was cloudy all morning, but never rained. So it was cool, but dry! Unbelievable! YAY!

I almost cried when I saw the encouraging notes Eric had taped to the crossbar on my bike. I felt so special!! That totally made my day. Unfortunately, the next thing I saw was my front tire, completely flat. We had arrived in enough time that I was able to locate another tube and get the tire fixed before the race began.

SWIM (1/2 mile): In my training, the swim was my easiest event, but in the race it was my hardest. The open water itself didn't bother me, but there were just so many people in it!! Every time I started to get into a rhythm, I'd kick someone or they'd kick me, or I'd get a mouthful of water. I can't say I enjoyed this portion of the race, except for the part where I got to say hi to Eric who was out there in his kayak. (Perception: My swim time was actually just as good as my best time in the pool, but it sure felt longer!)

BIKE (12.4 miles): The bike portion ended up being my strongest event. Unlike in the water, here I was passing nearly everyone and feeling great! That is, until I got my second flat tire! This time the rear tire was flat. (I've been training on this bike for two weeks without a flat, and then two on the big day!) Earlier, about halfway through the course, I'd encountered another lady with a flat and, thinking I'd had my flat for the day, I gave her my repair kit and went on. My tire went out with roughly two miles to go. Another biker stopped to let me use her repair kit to put some air in the tire (I didn't feel like sitting there and taking the thing apart to find and patch the hole), but the air kept getting back out almost as fast as it went in. So, I slowed myself down significantly and rode it the rest of the way on the flat tire. But I'd lost 6 or 7 minutes just working with the repair kit, and who knows how many more by riding slowly the rest of the way. (Earlier, I'd maxed out at 28.6 mph, my fastest ever, on a downhill, of course.) This was really disappointing, but thank God I was nearly done with the bike portion anyhow.

RUN (3.1 miles): I've found a theme song for the run portion. You remember that song from The Music Man, "Pick a little, talk a little?" Well, the running song goes like this, "Run a little, walk a little, run a little, walk a little, drink, drink, drink, drink!" The entire first half of the run was steeply uphill. But, of course, that means that the 2nd half was completely downhill. And it's the only time all year that pedestrians are allowed on Cherry Creek Dam Road. :-)

I'll never forget passing that FINISH banner, and seeing my Eric standing right there at the finish line waiting for me. It was among the most difficult physical challenges I have ever faced - right up there with climbing the top 2000 feet of Mount Evans last summer.

Despite the flat tire, I did improve my ranking during the bike portion, and improved it even more in the run (which surprised me). I finished with a time of 2:13:13. This is even better than I expected to do without the setbacks on the bike course, so I'm really pleased.

Fotojack.com took pictures at the event, inc luding the finish line and some other strategic spots along the course. They haven't had time to upload all those photos yet, but I will try to share them with you when they become available.

For those who didn't know or don't remember, I ran in honor of my stepmom, Karen Veigel, who kicked breast cancer in the pants in April. The Tri for the Cure triathlon raised over $100,000 this year for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Thank you so much to everyone for your encouragement and for believing I could do it! You all made the experience even more special for me. :-)