My 2nd Sprint Triathlon!

Well, the race went well! Overall, I beat my last time by over 1 minute. I was hoping to beat my last time by 3 minutes, but I did my best, so I can't be unhappy about that!

Billie and I were up at 4:15 for a 5am registration and 6am start time on Saturday. Side note: I feel so blessed to have a husband that supports whatever I love and is there to keep my time, take pictures, and cheer me on! And on our drive to the race, I got the most PRECIOUS video from my nieces and nephew saying they were cheering me on. I watched it about 10 times yesterday!

pre-race sunrise

post-race pic with my hubby

 So, here are the details. Plus the good, the bad, and the ugly! :)

1st leg: The 800 meter swim. I wasn't worried about the swim at all. (Which I thought I would never say!!!) For the past two months, I have just done 1 swim workout a week, but it's true that you can improve your swim so quickly. I just recently noticed that I could swim longer distances without switching strokes to catch my breath (meaning I can freestyle the whole distance and keep my breathing steady.)

Goggles and swim caps are just so darn flattering!

And it's true that slow and steady wins the race (or swim, at least.) :) Everyone around me took off fast, but I was 3rd out of the water in my heat. I felt great about it! I ended up beating my previous swim time by 2-3 minutes! (My total swim time was about 15 minutes.)

Running to my bike.

 2nd leg: The 13 mile bike. As you know, I was riding my friend's road bike. And I still can't decide what I thought about it. My bike time for 13 miles was about the same as my last race, which I did on my hyrbid bike. But also, it's not comparing apples to apples since the courses were entirely different. I don't necessarily feel like I rode faster. I may have gotten less fatigued though. Still can't decide!

Quick transition

Off I go.

 I got off the bike feeling good but dreading the last leg... the run.

3rd leg: The 5k run is just tough. I did a lot more "brick" workouts these last two months of training, which means swimming or biking then running immediately after. Running rested and running after another workout are completely different! But I'll confess that I don't think this run was ANY easier than my last race! In all honestly, I think I still haven't gotten used to running here. The elevation and the air are so different in Arizona. I don't know what the trick is! But I have a  lot of work to do on my running form and speed. Some runners were striding it out as they passed me and leaving me in the dust! :)  AND I almost stepped on a live snake. He slithered away into the grass with his neck and head turned backwards looking at me. EEEKKKK.

About to cross the finish line

Two of my good friends from work. They did AWESOME. 

Billie drove me to Bisbee for a "Mexican Mocha" from Bisbee Coffee Company as my "treat." Not so paleo, but I decided ahead of time that THAT was what I wanted. :) Oh man, and it was OH-SO-GOOD!!! The rest of the day was back to normal eating, but surprisingly, I just wasn't that hungry! But we had a great, restful rest of the Saturday.

How was your weekend??