Niki's Neverending Adventure

Hi friends!! I’ve had one busy and hectic weekend! But it was definitely a blast!!

On Saturday morning, I did the Annie Oakley Sprint Tri. It was my very first Tri, EVER, and I loved it!! The race was fabulous! Let’s start from the beginning…

My friend Jaime and I got to the race location around 6:30am. I was definitely nervous! I was unsure of where to go and what to do with all my stuff but everyone was really nice and directed me towards all the places I needed to go. After I got all my gear in place in the transition area, and all marked up, it was time for the guys to start their race. It was so nice to have them go first so I could figure out the course and how to maneuver through my transitions! My brother was working the race so it was nice to have a familiar face there too! My parents showed up just as the boys were starting their swim.

I was definitely less nervous after the guys went and I was ready to go!!

Standing by the transition area.

Finally it was almost time for the girls to start the swim! I put on my bright yellow swim cap and posed for some pics!

My parents and I.

Me and Jaime.

Getting in line to go!

The swim started off on a dock and they had us jumping in every 5 seconds. It was nice because you didn’t have a ton of people swimming on top of you at the beginning.

Me swimming at the start.

The swim wasn’t bad! I never got kicked and I felt good the entire time! I was even able to pull myself onto the dock after I finished. My brother said that only me and one other girl were able to pull themselves out of the water onto the dock!!

Swim time: 11:00

Then it was on to the 1st transition! I decided to just bike in my sports bra and shorts to save on some time. I was pretty quick on the transition time.

T1 time: 1:32

Then I was off on the bike!

The bike was pretty tough! My brother told me it was a flat course, but boy was he lying!! It was a SUPER hilly 11 miles!! To the point that a lot of people were walking their bikes up hills! I wasn’t about to get off my bike though and just powered through it!!

Bike time: 45:45

MPH: 14.4

Then I was back and heading to transition 2. This was another quick one. All I did was throw on my shirt and hat, get a quick sip of water, and grab my Garmin, and I was off again!

T2 time: 1:21

At the start of the run. The run was tough. It was a 2 mile trail run and I have NEVER run on trails! Definitely different than the pavement!! My calves were killing me until I got some Gatorade at the first water stop, then they felt a bit better after that. Think I was lacking some Potassium big time!! We heading into heavy woods after the first 0.5 mile or so and I was all alone. I thought I was lost at one point because there was no one in sight, so I stopped and waited until I saw someone to keep going! I wasn’t about to be lost in the woods! Lol. There were some pretty steep inclines that I basically could only walk up and some really steep downhill parts too, that I had to go really slow down. So all that made for a really slow run, but I had a blast in those woods! I just kept thinking about the Twilight movies and those vampires running through the woods! Haha!! I really felt good towards the end of my run but was definitely exhausted and ready to cross that finish line!!

Here I come! Down the home stretch!! I love how they call your name as you cross the finish line! Technology is so great!

Wohoo! I’m a Triathlete!!

Run time: 26:06

Total Tri time: 1:25:42

Age group: 9/17

I am super happy with my time!! My secret goal was 1:30 and I totally smashed that!! I couldn’t stop smiling after this race! I think I am officially in love with Triathlons! And a bit addicted to them! I found another one that I am planning on doing in 2 weeks!! It’s part of the Oxford Endurance Weekend and is called Tri Oxford! This one is a little different: 300 meter pool swim, 13 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. I can’t wait! But, I’m kinda sad the season is about over, just when I find my true racing love! Haha :)

Hope y’all enjoyed my recap!! Have a great night!!

Posted in: on Monday, August 2, 2010 at at 5:37 PM