Park City Triathlon

At Thanksgiving I had mentioned to my sister Shannon that I have always wanted to do a triathlon. I don't remember if I said it out loud, but I also thought that it was probably too late, or at least in the very distant future (like when the kids were all gone from the house). At the time I told myself, "I have three kids and I am in terrible shape. I haven't really run since I've had kids, haven't biked since I got my driver's license and haven't gone to swim laps in about 3 years. There is NO WAY I could do a triathlon."


I had pretty much forgotten about it until Shannon called me a few weeks later and said that we were going to do the Park City Triathlon on June 18th. Tanner would be one by then, and it shouldn't be too hot. Plus it gave me plenty of time to train. She told me about a free website where I could get training plans.


I know that running would be the most difficult thing for me, so I started with that. We used the money that my Grandpa gave us for Christmas and bought a treadmill, and I went for it. It took me a long time, but I got to the point that I could run the 3 miles, then I started improving the speed that I could run it in. I picked up swimming again and, thankfully, it came right back. The biking was rough, but I was training with my mountain bike pulling the bike trailer with Tanner and Natalie in it. I soon realized that for the longer distance rides, that was not going to work. But somehow I fit in all the training I needed, and so FINALLY actually registered for the triathlon.

The race course was a tough one. 750 meter swim in Jordanelle Reservoir, then a 12.4 mile bike ride with an 800 ft. elevation change in the first 3 miles. The run was relatively flat. We had a few people tell us in the bathroom the morning of the race that we didn't pick a very good race for our first triathlon, but it was too late, we were committed.

I finished in 1:50:46, 28th woman to finish. My swim went awesome, despite the 58 degree water. I finished out of the water 10th overall with a time of 15:23 (which included taking off my wetsuit), and even beet Shannon. Transition 1 was terrible, and took me almost 5 minutes. Someone had knocked over my shoes, and I had to scramble to find one of my socks. The bike portion went OK and it took me 54:48. Transition 2 went well, but the run was awefull. it took me 34:59. I knew I was going slow when I was passed by a 72 year old man! My knee was killing me and I ended up walking for about 1/2 a mile in the middle. I was so frustrated because I know I could have run faster. But I met my goals and finished in the top ten in my age group. Sometimes I still can't believe that I actually did it. Thanks Shannon for giving me the push!

The "before" picture


Getting in the water (and yes, it was as cold as it looks)

Shannon leaving T1

Me leaving T1



Me riding up the 3 mile hill

Shannon on the home stretch of the run

Me after the finish



The "after" picture

If you want to look at race stats go http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=18271#racetop

My race bib # 319; Shannon's race bib # 313

to look at more pictures go http://www.zazoosh.com/members/viewGallery/4865