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Written by Herdis Astwood
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.jpg) So, as my mentor Carol from the Rocky Mountain Tri Club said, I am officially a Triathlete now! Jen (my sister-in-law) and I did the Tri for your cause yesterday at the Boulder Reservoir; which I ran for the Humane Society of the Boulder Valley. Jen’s 2nd and my first Tri; a sprint of 500 meter swim, 17 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. With showers of rain in the forecast I feared that my curse might be coming true (as the last 2 races (marathons) I have done with friends it has rained and my friends have threatened to never do a race with me again). But it didn’t! It was a beautiful day sunny probably in the high 60ies early 70ies, and pretty calm winds. Unfortunately the water temperature was only in the low 50ies which is why the race organizers have offered to turn the Tri into a duathlon. Jen and I decided to do it all. What do we have wet suits for and did all this training for!? We were starting with the 3rd wave, meaning that we are in our thirties (thanks for writing that in fat letters on our calf too)! There was only about 200 participants and so a lot of the feared getting kicked did not take place. Before our wave started we decided to get accustomed to the water …. and boy let me tell you it was cold. Another lady in the water pointed out, after I mentioned that my feet were really cold, that it is better to have them numb anyways! … and I did, my feet were numb until 1 mile into the run … yes, the run! - they remained frozen all the way through the bike ride until than! Now, I did have a neoprene hat, but that did littletoo keep my face from getting “brain-freeze”. When it was time for our wave -the pink hats, we got in the water waited for the signal and off we swam. I had a visibility of about 1-2 feet under water, so not too bad and the water didn’t taste that bad either, not that I tasted it on purpose. I forgot about my freezing feet and hands quiet fast. What I could not shake off was the problem breathing!!! I could not breath! Every time I put my head under water to free-style I had to stick it out of thundefinede water thinking I was gonna suffocate! This is nothing of what I experienced while training in a pool. I was not out of breath due to the exercise, in fact I barely did a few strokes! So I decided to do the breast stroke for a little (as I am pretty strong in it, not a problem). I could not submerge my head under water though or my feeling of suffocation came back. So I just decided to survive it and hang in there. I tried a few more times to freestyle without success and did a very non-aerodynamic breast-stroke all the way to the shore. Out of the water (I heard my hubby and a very awesome friend of mine Erin cheer me on but I could not make them out in the crowd) I made my way to transition, which the hardest part was the walking on the very rocky paved road- my feet really hurt and them being so cold did not help at all! I tried to get my wet suit off and get ready for the bike as fast as I could, but everything seemed like I was in slow motion. Wet suit off, sand off my feet, socks and shoes on helmet and gloves on … you get the idea… running out to where I am allowed to get on my bike and off I go. Why does it seem like I am driving with my parking break set? Really, I should be going faster than this? Gosh, my legs feel weird but it sure is good to be sitting. The bike course started with one big hill followed by what 2 weeks prior in the car when we were checking out the route, seemed like flat road but instead was just a very slight incline; enough to make you feel like you are slow and everything is so hard. There were a few more hills on the course, but the biking seemed to be getting easier as you spend more time on the bike. 1 mile into the bike ride I remembered that I left my bike pump in my car! Nice- hopefully I won’t meet any goat heads on this ride! About half way through the ride I thought how do people do an Iron man … and is this really the sport I want to pursue?! The entire bike ride and run I had that song “pump it” by the Black eyed Pea in my head. As I got back to transition ready to dismount before running in I again heard my hubby and friend … but could not make anyone out! Anyways, this transition was shorter just taking off some stuff and changing shoes. Off I go - wait , why are my feet still frozen? Wow, that is a weird sensation. This is the most dreaded part. After training for the marathon last year and now switching to Tri training I hate the running part. It is boring and now my legs feel so much heavier than ever before. Did I mention that I again feel like driving a car with the parking break set! Come on, it is only 3.1 miles that really is nothing! Why can’t I push myself more! The trail seemed endless. So, the times aren’t published yet but what I got from my stop watch it took me about 17min for the swim, 57min for the bike and 36min for the run! The main thing is, we did it! That feels really good! … and now all the doubts are gone to do it again- of course I will! Side note- Jen, being from CA earned herself the shirt saying “Sea level is for sissies”! Herdis Astwood
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