And it was never a question of “am I capable?” But rather, would I actually enjoy this? Well, apparently so much so that I want more tri in my life, and I’m already aiming at the half ironman distance in Fall 2017.
The Guelph 1 Sprint Triathlon was both exhilarating and humbling. There were 29 people in my age/gender group (521 total competitors). And I finished 29th in the swim portion (guess that’s what happens when you go from never swimming to doing a triathlon in 5 weeks haha!) I finished 18th in my group, 411 overall, so I’m happy to have made up a bit for a slow swim. It wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as I’d imagined. I never felt panicked in the water and never had trouble sighting the buoys. I got boxed in near the end when a guy was breast-stroking in front of me and other swimmers were all around me. I didn’t quite have the knowledge or confidence to get around the guy in front me slowing it all down.
It was quite a long uphill sprint from the swim to the bike transition area. I wanted to walk so badly, but when you have tons of people watching you and everyone else is running, you don’t stop 🙂 I was on a borrowed bike being that I’m in Canada. It was a good bike, and I’m thankful to have even had one, but it lacked some oompf and I felt like I was working much harder than I’m used to. And this course had some pretty intense hills that I was thoroughly unprepared for. I obviously see some painful need for improvement!
My run was awesome though. My legs felt like bricks and the run course was very hilly as well, but I still had a time of 29 minutes. Considering this was my first time to experience all the transitions, that’s a great time for me. According to my stats I actually passed 46 people in the run, which I think is pretty awesome!
I don’t have this huge sense of accomplishment like I felt finishing the marathon, but this undoubtedly was some of the most fun I’ve ever had with a race. While out on the bike, the country roads and rolling corn fields beckoned to my heart. The skies are bigger here, and the white puffy clouds never end. It was a bliss you don’t have time to think about during a grueling marathon. More than ever I desire to be a stronger overall athlete. I’m ready to focus, get faster and get better. The ache for adventure and doing hard things only grows stronger and stronger.
