6.23.03 ~ This year i turned 30 - and i competed in my first sprint triathlon. I spent about 5 months getting ready for it and it lasted for all of 1 hour, 52 minutes and 46 seconds. It was a cold rainy day and i had a great time. If i had pushed myself to the limit of what i could do, it wouldn't have been as fun. I went at my training pace and my proudest moment was making it to the finish line without drowning, crashing or falling down.

My swim was 22:15, my bike ride 55:32 and my run 34:59. The swim was the most grueling. The mob of people, the choppy water and constantly getting bumped or swallowing water on my inhales. I never was able to get a comfortable groove with it. The finish of that leg was bliss.



The transistions weren't bad - i had set everything up ahead of time and fortunately covered it up with my coat or it all would have been soaked - not that i wasn't soaked myself by the end of it. It rained non-stop on my bike ride and stopped when i was coming in the finish stretch of that.

So, what's next... a full distance triathlon of course!!! I am in full training mode for my event in the fall. Same location as the sprint so i will have some familiarity with the course which will be nice. I have one sprint triathlon to do before it, but that will help me with the transitions and doing more pushing of myself because i will be very comfortable with those distances.

Oh - to help me in my training, i joined a local half-marathon training program. So the goal for that is in November i will be running a half-marathon in the beautiful foothills of VA. My most recent long run was 7 miles - so i am getting there and i never figured i would ever be able to run that long. Life is full of suprises.

So for someone that couldn't even run a mile at the beginning of the year, by the end i will be running a half marathon. Wooohooo.

Hmmmm, for my 31st year i will see if i can do a half-Iron Triathlon. Happy swimming, biking, running.

Jeni

p.s. I hope you enjoy the pictures, they are absolutely terrible of me, but they are my proof. Thanks to my mother for taking them for me.