Barron Lake Recap

Barron Lake is quite possibly one of my most favorite triathlon's that I have done! I did it last year and loved it and really debated dropping it this year. But I'm so happy I didn't drop it and went through with it! I had so much fun!

I got there first thing in the morning, earlier than necessary, but race nerves may have helped me drive a bit faster than necessary to get there! I went and picked up my packet, got marked and then set up my transition. I felt like I was missing something and set it up a couple different times but thankfully I wasn't missing anything! 

                                           

My friend and most of her whole family did the race together. It was so fun to see them all doing it together, last year was her first year and first tri and this year she brought her mom, dad, brother and sister to do it! We stood huddled together like nervous ducklings as the race director gave their informational talk. We said a quick prayer together and the OLY racers started lining up to enter the swim. 

My friends Kelly and Kati came to cheer us on! Neither of them were able to race due to not being 100% healthy so they said they would come to cheer! I told them if they came I wanted signs!! And being the BEST cheerleaders, team mates, and friends I could ask for, they came through!! Loved it!

And then it was our turn to get out in the water. It's an in water start, but it's so shallow we could walk all the way out between the second and third buoys!  I felt my nerves coming up more and more as the waves went off one by one ahead of us. I kept reminding myself that this is 200m, I can do much longer than 200m, I just need to get in and do it. 

And I did!

I felt like transition took forever, but the bike was good!  I didn't remember there being that many hills, and I haven't been on my bike since June and it showed... BIG TIME!! But I'm happy I was able to do as well as I did with zero training! 

see! I was going so fast I was a blur! 

The lack of biking showed on the run. Big time. My calves were cramping like woah. Woah woah woah! And even though it was a short and sweet run I could hardly keep moving forward!!!  But I came across the finish line with a respectable time and on my own two feet! 

And that was it! 

Comparing the last two years you can certainly see improvement, but I also see a lot of room for improvement! My friend Kim (in the jacket) took second!! in her age group, I am so proud of her! 

And just for fun... Me and Mabrey last year after Barraon Lake, and this year after Barron Lake!

Barron Lake

After my huge panic attack in the water at Tri Goddess Tri I was a little gun-shy about doing any more triathlons this summer.  I don't know why that one freak out got to me so badly, but it did.  I skipped the race that 90% of the rest of my tri club and friends did because I was so nervous about the swim.  But then I realized I was actually bummed to miss it. So, I faced my nerves and got back in the water and started swimming again.  And it's been good! Really good!

I told Jorden after TGT that I wouldn't be doing any more races, other than running with myTeam Triumph, between then and Chicago. I think Jorden was relieved because that meant less money leaving our bank account each month!

So a couple weeks ago the discussion came up between our Tri Club about two triathlons at the end of August, both of which are on the same day.  I have done both and so I weighed in on which race I liked better.  A couple of my really good friends went ahead and registered for the one I had loved last year, a super sprint (200m swim, 12 mile bike, 1.6 run), instead of the other, a sprint (500m swim, 20k bike, 3.1 run).  I stuck to my "I'm not doing any more races" platform but said I'd be there to cheer them on.

But of course I started thinking about it, and the itch set it.  I knew I was swimming well (for me), I knew I really did want to do it, but I just wasn't 100% sold that I should do it.

Fast forward to last weekend.

I'm at the bridal shower of my really good friend and I'm sitting next to a girl who I knew from the pharmacy department at our hospital, but I couldn't tell you anything else about her.  Two of the girls who were at the shower were marked and wearing their Steelhead armbands because they were racing the next day.  The girl from pharmacy asked about what race they were doing and so the topic of triathlons came up! She, the girl from pharmacy, told us about how last year she had decided that since she was turning 30 she wanted to do a triathlon to mark the year so she could remember it.

She proceeded to tell us about how much she loved it and would really like to do some more.  My friends laughed saying that if she spent any time around us I would convince her to do more since I'm the one always convincing everyone to sign up for more races!

She laughed and said that she was just so inspired by everyone and was surprised at how nice people were. She said "I was riding my mountain bike along and this girl came up and passed me on her bike and said to me "Keep it up! you're doing great!" and after she passed me her shirt said "You just got passed by a pregnant triathlete!" It was so cool to see someone out there doing it while they were pregnant and she was so nice and it made me want to do better!"

I nearly choked on my drink because THAT WAS ME!!

That was how we announced to the world that I was pregnant last year!! I couldn't believe it! I was so flattered that I had motivated  her to do better and push harder! It was so cool!

She was so excited to and told me about how she has told "EVERYONE" this story and how she was going to tell everyone how she had met me! It was cute because she asked if we could do a selfie so she could show her husband. 

                                     

After meeting her and thinking about her story of how I motivated her and inspired her I felt like I needed to do Barron Lake again. I felt like it was meant to be! So, I did it!

I'm really excited to return to this super sprint and do it again! It was a really fun course and a lot of great support along the race. This time I won't be wearing such an awesome shirt, but it will bring a smile to my face knowing that this year I'll have the cutest 4 month old baby cheering me on, where as last year she was my little race buddy! 

So ready or not, here I come Barron Lake!! I should probably get out my bike and make sure I can do the distance... 

Tri Goddess Tri

Earlier today I completed my first Triathlon of the 2015 season!!  8 Weeks ago I had just had a c-section and gone into respiratory arrest and look at me now!!

So my whole pregnancy I tried to stay super active so that jumping back into training after having Mabrey would be a cinch.  For the most part it's been alright.  My endurance is crap, but that's to be expected. My pubic bone still really hurts while I run so I have to take the run a lot slower and walk a lot more than I would like, but it's all good because I'm out there. I'm moving. I'm breathing.

The day started off great. I was so excited about the swim because in my pool training swims I'd done the distance in 20ish minutes depending on the day. I knew that this would probably be a bit slower than that but I was so ready! Last year I did the whole swim breaststroke so this year I wanted to do the whole thing freestyle.

About 1/2 way between the first two buoys I lost my vision. I couldn't see the water, I couldn't see other swimmers, nothing.  I started treading water as that familiar panicked feeling overtook me. I went into a full flashback, I could see the doctors and the nurses...but not the swimmers around me. Someone or a couple someones stopped and asked me if I was okay and I couldn't answer them. I could hardly breath. My heart was pounding out.of.control.  My goggles were filling with tears.

Slowly my vision started to return and I saw that a kayak had paddled close to me. I was so tempted to head over to it, but I knew that if that kayaker saw my face they would pull me because I was SO panicked.

I gave myself a pep talk.  "Pull it together Kristin. You can do this distance.  You can MAKE it around the buoy. Start swimming or they are going to pull you. Start moving forward. You're okay. Keep going."

So I slowly made my way toward the buoy. I told myself I could rest at the buoy.  At the turn I flipped to my back and slowed my breathing and slowly started to backstroke.  I went so slowly. Tears just flowing. Hiccuping from crying. I was a mess.

I was finally able to flip onto my belly and go but I couldn't put my face in the water. Something about the darkness and KNOWING I couldn't breath under the water set me into panic. So again, I breast stroked the whole dang thing.

I got out of the water and huffed my way up to transition. There I was able to drink some water and eat a couple bites of granola bar as I got ready to bike.

The bike went great. I was slower than I wanted but again I just kept reminding myself that I was alive. I was breathing. I needed to Celebrate Every Breath!!  I was disappointed when I found my average speed was 14.5 mph, I had felt like I pushed myself so much harder than that!!

Transition 2 was slower. I had tried to dry myself off a touch even though it was raining. I don't know why. Then my shoe came untied just as I was ready to head out so I stopped to retie.

The run was a run/walk. My pubic bone was on fire.  But I kept going. I didn't stop. I pushed through to get to the end. I knew I was way past my time from last year and I was closing in on that two hour mark. I was so mad that I was going so slow!

As I got closer to the finish the tears started again. So many tears were shed over this course. So many. It was a bit ridiculous.

I came into the parking lot where I saw friends who had already finished and were cheering for me. I pushed through but the tears kept flowing. As soon as I came across the finish line my group came over and I lost it. I was a mess. After I explained what happened I took a few minutes to collect myself.  Then I rejoined our group to cheer the last few in.

I left the race feeling deflated. Feeling Mad. But thankful. 8 weeks ago I nearly died. And while this may not have been my best performance, I did it.


As for the results:

Swim : 29:54 (Goal time 20 minutes)
T1: 1:49 (Goal time 1:30)
Bike: 42:12 (Goal time 38 minutes)
T2: 1:57 (Goal time 1:30)
Run: 35:25 (Goal time 30 minutes)

Total time: 1:51:19