Valley Girl Triathlon 2015: In the Books!

 Well, I did it!  I successfully completed my very first triathlon sprint!  1/3 mile swim, 12-mile bike ride, and 3 mile run.  I can hardly believe it still, even after the last two months of hard work I put in for it.  And I had the time of my life.  Crossing that finish line was the best feeling in the world.

I did no elite time, of course.  In fact, my bike time was what kept me from making a really good time, which I'm still just a *little* upset about.  The breakdown was 12:07 swim, 1:00:31 bike, and 28:25 run.  My first transition time was 6:42 and second was 3:05.  All for a total of 1:50:50.

But now I know what I need to work on.  I loved it.  Every minute of it, it was so exhilerating!  I'm finding myself ready to take on another.  Already looking to do an olympic triathlon next year, and I may possibly be doing another sprint here in a few weeks.

This week I'm mostly resting, with maybe some swimming since it will be less stressful on my body than running or biking.  I have been pushing it pretty hard, because I've been doing much longer runs within my triathlon training as I am hoping to do a half or full marathon in October (most likely just the half).  The last few days just before the triathlon I did begin to experience a very slight pain in my foot. I monitored if VERY closely, in fact I was texting my friends telling them that I might have to back out of the race.  I learned a lesson last year, a very hard one.  However on race day my foot felt better, although still a slight ache.  I went ahead with the race, knowing I would give myself a rest when it was done.

And I'm following through on that.  I honestly do not believe it is more than a pulled muscle or something very minor like that, but I am too scared to injure it further by pushing it.  Which is why I will most likely be only doing a half marathon, as the training will be much less intense.  I am certainly ready for a new challenge, but not to push myself beyond my limits.  I love being active too much to do that to myself and I want to take care of my body.

So today, I am just enjoying the satisfaction of finishing the race.  Working toward a goal and achieving it.  Not perfectly, but to the best of my ability and that's all I can really ask for.  I will enjoy my rest this week.

Summer is in full force here in Spokane!  With highs of 106 today  (and highs of 100 for most of the rest of the week) I can honestly say that I have rarely experienced temperatures like this.  Not even in Florida.  Of course one must clarify that in Florida you deal with humidity which automatically means that even 85 degrees there feels worse than this.  But either way... this weather is absolutely brutal and today I will be staying inside as much as possible.  Yes, I have become one of those.  Thank goodness today happens to be a rest day in my training.

I forgot just how hard it is to exercise in the heat.  My friend Haley and I went for a run last night.  We decided to wait until after 8:00 in order to avoid the worst of the heat.  Yeah, it was still 99 when we started.  And for the first time in awhile, I hit a wall.  I'm talking slow... tired... and nauseated.  Amazingly I finished without walking but only because I was with someone else.  We both agreed it was a good idea we ran together!  Haley is training for a marathon and so I've done some of her long runs with her (she's still 15 weeks out so not too far up in the mileage).  I joked that maybe I should join her for the rest of her training... ha!  No, no marathons for this girl.  I think I might do the half marathon though.  We shall see.

Triathlon training is still going strong.  Only two more weeks to go!  I saw great progress this week with swimming.  I had been incredibly discouraged and felt like I wasn't going to be able to do the triathlon because of it.  I'm still pretty nervous about the swimming portion but not nearly as much as before.  I just need to make sure to get in a couple more good swims before the next two weeks is up.

Training has continued to be truly enjoyable.  I can't say it's always fun.  There are certainly days I just feel exhausted and unmotivated to do any of it.  But I am really loving the challenge and the sense of accomplishment when I finish a hard workout.  It's certainly been very therapeutic for me... taught me many things about my body, fueling it, and then taking care of it for recovery.

Anyway, besides that, I was able to make it out to Seattle this week to visit a friend who was there visiting some of his friends!  It was lots of fun and a very nice getaway.  Living out here, I do miss having old friends around, especially ones who somewhat understand what and where you come from. The Northwest and the South are two very different places, and often there are things about me that people out here just don't quite "get" as a result.

I'm right in the middle of 8 days off, enjoying my time.  I don't go back to work until Thursday, which I am most excited for!  Happy summer!