Tri it

I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, nervous that I would be late for the race.  I quickly showered, then woke my two oldest kids, got them dressed and in the car.  Then we were off for the hour drive to Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.  We made it on time, only to find that where we had to park was still nearly a mile and a half from the start.  And since there was no way they were gonna walk that far quickly, I had to push the girls in the stroller. 

This was a lot of work, but fortunately, I wasn't there to run.  We were all spectators, ready to watch my wife and their mother compete in something I've never attempted.  This was her first triathlon. 

Christine decided a few months ago that one of her goals for this year would be to finish a triathlon.  She has been working out like a fiend for nearly a year, and is in really good shape, but the triathlon was to be a way to quantify her conditioning.  It would put a tangible accomplishment to all the time she was spending in the gym. 

She is always making allowances for my running schedule, and it was nice for me to be able to return the favor as she followed a strict training schedule leading up to the race.  And, despite her fitness, it was a challenge.

Christine has run a couple of marathons, and she has gotten to be a stronger runner over the last year or so.  But cycling was relatively foreign territory.  She has a bike, but there was no air in the tires as of a couple months ago.  And swimming.  Well, let's just say she could keep herself from drowning, but not much else.

So she had a lot of work to do in the pool, and very little time to do it.  She also borrowed a racing bike from a friend, and managed to ride it once before the race.  So her preparation was lacking, but she made up for it with enthusiasm.

Our friend and neighbor Megan Winton decided to do the race with Christine.  It was her first triathlon also, but she was a competitive swimmer in school, and is also a pretty strong runner.  The race they chose seemed perfect.  The Trek Women's Triathlon series race in Wisconsin was on a nice course, and the spirit of sisterhood seemed to take precedence over fierce competition.

But as she waited for her wave to begin the race, Christine says she was tempted to bail out because of her fear of the swim across the lake.  It was a sprint triathlon, which means the swim was a half mile, the bike 12 miles and the run a 5k.  The last two seem relatively easy, but even for an average swimmer like me, a half mile across a lake seems long.

And it proved to be a challenge for Christine.  She took about 21 minutes to complete the swim, which ranked in the bottom ten percent of all the swimmers, and was more than 8 minutes behind Megan.  But she survived, and was smiling when she emerged and ran through the transition area to her bike.

And then she started to get comfortable.  Despite having little chance to get used to the bike, she discovered how much quicker a racing bike is than the hybrid bike she has at home.  She told me she got used to the bike about halfway through the race and started to let it fly.  She managed to make up most of the eight minutes she lost to Megan on the swim, because Megan was not on a racing bike.  They were less than a minute apart in the transition area as they started to run.  Christine's bike ride ranked her in the top 15% for that segment of the race.

I was most curious to see the running segment, because that's what I'm most familiar with.  I was wondering how Christine would run after finishing the swim and bike.  A week earlier, she and I ran a race in Elmhurst called the 4 on the 3rd.  She was disappointed in that race, finishing with a pace of 8:43/mile.  I mention that because it makes her 5k run in the triathlon all the more impressive.  She ran 25 minutes, or about 8:30 pace for the 3.1 miles in this race, despite the fatigue factor from the other two race segments.  She ranked 188th overall for this segment of the race, and she even caught Megan. 

They both had huge smiles on their faces after crossing the finish line. They both finished in the top 20 percent overall, and perhaps more importantly, set a great example for their kids.  I know our daughters were excited to wear their mom's medal after the race.
On the drive home, they were already planning on their strategy for next year's triathlon.  Christine vows to work on her swimming, and Megan vows to get a new bike.  And I vow to be back as a spectator.  I never knew how much fun it could be!

See you on the roads....
 
 

 

Comments

[Brooke]

Great story John and congrats to Christine. PlEasant prarie is a wonderful course and a wonderful women's event. I have done 6 tris and this course is by far my favorite. It is also nice to have the outlet malls close by for some pre/post race shopping