Harline Happenings: Triathamom 2012

I know it was forever ago but I wanted to document how my triathlon went. The Triathmom was on August 18th. I had not wanted to be pregnant for the triathlon but things didn't go as planned as I was 9 weeks pregnant (not complaining that I was pregnant however). This just made things way more difficult. I had been so sick the month leading up the triathlon that I had not been able to do any training. I am not kidding, I had done NOTHING!!!! I asked my doctor if it was okay that I still do the race and he was fine with it as long as I took it slow. I was really sick the two days before the race. I couldn't eat anything so on top of not feeling well I was really weak. I probably shouldn't have done the race but it was something that I really wanted to accomplish. I was doing the race with my friends Nikki, Codie, and Keelee. Brad's cousin Tashina was also doing the race but she was doing it with some other people as well. She was actually the one that convinced me to sign up in the first place then I did some recruiting of my own. We went the night before and got our packets, got our numbers stamped on, our timing chips, and any last minute details for the race.

We woke up bright and early and were to the Kearns Rec Center by about 6:00 am. I'm not a morning person to begin with so having to wake up that early as well as be exhausted and nauseous from being pregnant was an adventure. We got our stuff set up in the transition area and just waited for the race to begin. The order was swim (300 m), bike (12 mile), run (5k). The swimming was the part I was most nervous for. Which is completely silly considering I'm a swimmer. But because of this I hadn't really focused on training my swimming at all. But it turns out the swimming was the easiest part. My official overall time was 2:15:37. My swim took 11:49. People did not sign up correctly as to their level of swimming. So I got stuck behind really slow people. I literally was swimming with my head above water just doing a breaststroke kick. It was very frustrating!

After the swim I ran to the transition area and got ready for the bike ride. I took my time in the transition area. I know this really frustrated my dad but I was not feeling up to rushing. The bike ride was probably the worst part of the race. I literally thought I was going to die. My time for this leg was 1:04:51. Being hunched over was killing my stomach and made me feel even more sick. To make matters worse the bike route went right past my house. Both times I really just wanted to ride home and crawl into bed. I had never experienced a bike ride this awful in my life. I had done bike rides way longer than this and not even been out of breath. But with being pregnant and weak from being so sick I had no energy or strength. They put your age on your calf so you could see how old everyone is. Just imagine how I felt when a 69 year old lady passed me. Highlight of the day for sure!!! To make matters worse my chain fell off during the ride. I am so lucky I didn't crash because my feet were clipped into the pedals. I really lucked out. I had to hike my bike up a hill and luckily there was a support guy who was able to get my chain unjammed and put back on. It scratched my bike up really good because it somehow got way jammed in there. I couldn't have been happier when I was finished with the ride.

Last was the 5K. I was looking forward to this because I knew I could just walk this if I needed. And believe me at this point I needed to walk. My stomach was so crampy. It was really hurting. It wasn't like a side ache cramp either. It was because of the baby and things going on with that. I was actually really nervous that I done something serious. Thankfully Keelee was sweet and just stayed with me the entire 5K. I kept trying to run but it hurt way to bad. I was too scared to push myself. If I hadn't of been pregnant it would have been a completely different story. The 5K took me 54:59. Ridiculous!!!! But I really didn't care. As long as I finished I was happy. I was so excited when I came to the finish line. Cooper was there so I picked him up and carried him across with me. It was a big accomplishment for me.

I had so many people there routing me on. Of course everyone else had already finished so they were all there, my parents, Aspen, grandma and grandpa, Brad and Cooper. It felt good having so many people there just for me. They had some bagels and fruit at the end which was amazing. I was starving and desperately needed food at this point. We hung around for a little after the race and then headed home. I ate some lunch and laid down for a nap. I was exhausted. My stomach was crampy for the entire rest of the day. I was really nervous. Luckily the next day I woke up and the cramping had stopped. My body wasn't even achy or sore or anything. I was so glad that I accomplished my first triathlon. I was even more proud considering being pregnant and super sick. I will never do something like this again pregnant that is for sure. I haven't decided yet if I will do it again next year. Baby girl will be about 5 months old. But I didn't work out at all when I nursed with Cooper so we will have to see how things go with this baby.