Making Memories: Kokopelli Triathlon

This last weekend I had the chance to compete in the Kokopelli Triathlon down in Hurricane. Now last year around this time, Allie finished her first full marathon. I was so proud of her and excited to see her accomplish a new milestone in her running and something she loves to do. Colson was also only a few months old and I felt like I wanted to do something so that he could look up to me someday and see that I could set goals and do things I set my mind to as well. (I know, I'm kind of vain like that right?) I wanted to set an example for him as well. So in my crazy mindset, I went and signed up for two events. The first, if you recall, was the 10k I did at Bear Lake in June. You already heard about that one though. (If you didn't just read back a few posts, you'll find it pretty easy.) I wanted to do the 10k because it was a distance I had never done running before. It was going to be something I had to work a little harder towards than anything else I had done. In my searching for events to do however, I stumbled across this wonderful little event at Sand Hollow. The Kokopelli Tri. Now this was the perfect event. It gave us a really good reason to go visit Ben's family in Hurricane. And I loved the triathlon I did 3 years ago. I love swimming so much and biking is pretty fun too. It's the running that isn't my favorite. (So why in the world did I sign up for a 10k? Your guess is as good as mine. I enjoyed it and actually learned to like running a little bit from it so it wasn't all bad I guess.) So clearly, I decided to do both events. The only thing different about this triathlon from the other one I had already done was the length of the swim. This one was a 750 meter swim, 12.4 mile bike, and 5k run. The swim in my first tri was only 300 yards. Quite a difference. Despite my love of swimming, the distance worried me a bit, not to mention that it was in a lake, not a pool. But I absolutely loved this race. I was a little nervous going into it, but quickly met others who felt the same as me waiting to start and relaxed a little with them. I was so intimidated by all the people I saw wearing wetsuits and more competitive triathlon suits. I just had my normal racing swim suit, nothing special. But the water was perfect. As soon as I jumped in, my nervousness turned into excitement. I couldn't wait to get started. I think I could have stayed in the water all day if I hadn't had to bike and run to finish the race ha ha. It felt so good. The hardest part about the swim was staying on track. You could hardly see anything in the water even with goggles so I had to stop to get my bearings every now and again. Not too big a deal. Then it was on to the bike. Also not too bad except for this monster of a hill in the middle of it. I'll admit I had to walk up it for a little bit. (I didn't train for the biking at all this time around.) But equally as hard as going up that hill was turning around to come down it. I do not like to go super fast while biking. Especially on a road bike. The tires are so thin and I feel like every little bump is going to send me crashing. So I was pretty much riding the breaks the whole time down this hill. But it was so steep that it seemed like all my weight was going right into my hands on the breaks so I could barely hold on. But clearly, I survived. The run started out seeming like the easiest 5k I had ever run. Thanks to training for the 10k earlier this summer, I was better prepared for this than I was 3 years ago. Last time I could barely walk after doing the bike, but this year I could run right at the start. The first 2 miles was really easy. It was the last bit on the run that was really hard. I think the last half mile was all uphill. After all that I had already done, I was feeling beat. But I kept going and managed to run the whole way again without stopping to walk or rest. I was so proud of myself. (Remember, I'm vain.) I finished the whole course in 2:15:06. I decided that Allie and Josh can stick with their half marathons and marathons, but I am going to be a triathlon competitor. I loved it. I would totally do another one in a heartbeat. I had such a good time and of course it was great to find Ben, Colson, Brenda, and Rebi all cheering for me at the end. I was glad to meet some new people and make a new friend from this experience and learn that I can have a good time doing something that actually includes running. I want to work on being more active and healthy and I think looking forward to doing something like this can help me. Now I have a start point and hopefully through the years I can do even better. I might not get to do tons of them, but I want to work hard to improve each time now. That's the point of life right. To try our best and then work to make our best better. I can't be more pleased than giving my best.