Daybreak Triathlon Race Report

I just want to start off by saying in 2016 I have now completed 6 triathlons! WOW! I am pretty ecstatic about that! And you know what is really crazy about it?! I'm loving it! 

The Daybreak sprint triathlon was on Saturday June 4, 2016. It was going to be Kim and I's 6th triathlon of 2016 and the first somewhat open water swim of the season. It was going to be in Daybreak lake which is a manmade lake/river. They don't allow swimming in Daybreak lake besides for the triathlon. Kim and I wanted to practice or at least get a feel for how the water would be so on the Friday before the race we went out to a little lake/pond called Blackridge reservoir in Herriman at about 8am.  

Not my pic just one I found on the internet so you can see what it looked like.

I wore just my tri suit and Kim wore shorts, a top and a wetsuit.

A tri suit is bascially a suit you can wear throughout all areas of a triathlon. It dries quickly, has a little bit of padding for the bike ride, etc. That way you don't have to change in between events.  I got mine for a really great deal up at the outlets in Park City. I love it! 

The water was freezing cold when we got in. We probably stood knee deep in the water for about 10 minutes just talking before we started swimming. It took us a minute to feel comfortable putting our head under water but after a few times it felt just fine. It started to warm up a bit as we began moving. We didn't want to completely exhaust ourselves *wink wink* since we had the race the next day so we just swam a little and then just floated and soaked in some sun. It was such a nice experience and I am so glad we took the time to do this before the race. 

RACE DAY:

Kim and I met at the transition area at about 645am.  We started getting our stuff set up and she said she had a flat tire on her bike and needed to pump it up. I helped her and then we took some pics, put on some sunscreen and I checked her tire again and it was completely flat again. She immediately called her husband to see if he could bring her his bike (but their garage was closed and she had the opener) or bring stuff to fix it. Everyone at the race was super helpful and tried to help. Her husband showed up just in time for us to head over to the swim start and he started working on the tire. 

SWIM: They did it by age groups and gender. We went out to a dock and hung onto the side until it was time to start.

I'm not in this picture FYI

We started one at time. The current is always tricky with open water swimming. You have to try and watch where you are going but not waste too much energy and try and swim with the current but also not let it drag you off course which it can very easily do. 

Daybreak Lake before the race. Absolutely gorgeous day!

I don't think I am in this picture but it's hard to tell. I was wearing a yellow swim cap which was for my age group.

Also, I (because I'm a genius) read online that if you put baby shampoo in your goggles it helps them not to fog up. I would highly recommend trying this before race day as with most everything. But noooooo I decided to trust the internet. Both Kim and I slathered our goggles with baby shampoo and as soon as we put our heads in the water our eyes felt like they were on FIRE! Other than that little hiccup the swim was awesome! It felt amazing. I can definitely notice a change in my swimming for the good. My stroke is way more powerful and I don't run out of breath nearly as quick. The swim was pretty much a straight course with a little turn towards the end. The swim was 750 meters just under a half of a mile, water temp was about 67°, time was 28 minutes and 15 seconds. I am really happy with that time! 

Transition 1: Kim and I got to our transition area and geared up for our bike ride including sunscreen because it was already getting hot.Good thing too there was ZERO shade on the bike ride. Kim's husband Chase had fixed Kim's tire or so we thought. 

What my transition area looks like. A few things I love to have are sunscreen, body glide (helps prevent chaffing), my race belt, face wipes (for post race it feels so nice) and for Open Water Swims a bucket of water to rinse feet off with before getting ready for the bike ride. I also always bring a second pair of goggles and nutrition i.e. water, Powerade, energy blocks. 

Bike: We weren't even a mile into the ride and one of the police officers on the route stated we should stop and check her tire. We did and it was completely flat again. GRRRR! Kim wanted me to keep going and not wait because she didn't know if she would be able to do the bike ride at all at this point. I went on ahead. A few minutes later I had just passed a smaller intersection where cops were directing traffic and I hear a CRASH! SCREECH! and then yelling right behind me. I looked back and a bike was on the ground. I thought about turning around but I could hear people yelling and there was a cop right there so I just kept going. It rattled my nerves a bit. I was using Ben's race bike rather than my hybrid bike which I have ridden a handful of times. I began peddling and my legs were on FIRE! Holy Moly! I just kept pushing and it was getting so hot. The route went West along a highway that of course wasn't closed for the race and there was no bike lane. It was also a steady but hellish uphill for the first half. It was hell. Trucks were driving past  at 60 MPH with long trailers it was not good. Then I was shifting and my gear came off. So I began walking. Someone stopped and helped me. I got on and rode again until the last huge chunk of  a hill and walked a bit until the turn around and then it was literally down hill from there. The whole way back I kept thinking "I bet everyone has left. I've been out here forever." I didn't have my phone or anything so I kind of panicked but then I was like no I'm fine just go. As I was walking up the transition area I noticed that people were walking away with their medals and such and I was like oh great. But then I saw Kim waving at me from the transition area and I was thought Ok we got this. The bike was 14.6 miles and my time was 1 hour 43 minutes. Not my best but I made it. It was definitely a struggle and not my favorite bike route. 

Run/Walk: Everyone hadn't left in case you were wondering. Kim and I decided to just walk/power walk the 5K. I'm glad we did. It actually wasn't too much of a difference in time from our previous triathlon 5Ks. Run/Walk was a 5K which is 3.1 miles and our time was 57 minutes. 

Finish Time: 3 hours 17 minutes. 

Not bad for the first open water swim of the season although I'm pretty sure it was the bike that really hurt my time. Ah well. I would do this triathlon again only if they completely changed the bike route. 

We finished! It was a gorgeous but scorching hot day!

Kim and I are planning on doing about 2 more triathlons this year. Hopefully one in July or August and then Bear Lake in September.

Icebreaker Sprint Triathlon-American Fork, Utah- Race Report

The Icebreaker sprint triathlon was yesterday. It went ok. Definitely the first race of the season for most ;) Friday my friend Kim and I drove to American Fork and picked up our packets...wish we would have remembered to ask them to do our body marking as well that day instead of waiting in line the next morning for it. Oh well. 

Saturday morning Ben and I left home about 8ish. We got there about 845ish. The race was supposed to start about 10am. Definitely a later starting race but because its so early in the year it would be way to cold to do it earlier. Parking wasn't bad at all. Met up with Kim and got our transition area set up. I keep forgetting to take a pick of my transition area. It seems to work really well. I put my helmet and sunglasses on my bike handlebars, I lay a towel or a mat down to put all my stuff on i.e. running shoes, nutrition, a towel etc. 

Kim and I chilling in the transition area before the race.

At about 915 there was a "pre-race" meeting. Probably the longest pre-race meeting I've ever been too. They told us on the bike course there was an area with a ton of pot holes and gravel (that they had tried to clean up earlier) Joy! Then they just kept talking I kid you not. I guess when you registered for the race you could have them say your name with a little something you wanted them to say so we had to wait for them to go through all of those. Don't get me wrong its great but I think there is a time and place for that and I don't feel like its at the pre-race meeting. 

Kim, Ben (who was an amazing support and spectator and photographer) and I headed to the pool. It was an indoor pool with a revolving door. Yup you read that right a revolving door that was the only way in and the only way out. It turned out to be quite an issue unfortunately. To help space out the swim so it wasn't a madhouse they had us line up according to swim time. (Don't worry they keep track of when you start so its not the same for everyone.) I'm so mad at myself for this part. I pretty much went to the end of the line and I really wish I hadn't. I'm not an amazing swimmer but I'm a good swimmer. It got crazy in the pool. You were supposed to do 6 lengths each in a different lane. People were walking, they were swimming on top of each other, running in to each other and just stopping at the wall. Thats all fine and dandy but have some courtesy for the other racers and try to get out of the way. Whatever. Its fine. I wish I would have gone closer to the front of the line because I swam the 6 lengths (300 meters) with no problem and the athletes more towards the front of the line it went so much smoother. All well. I learned. 

I just realized that this may be coming across as a really negative race report and I don't mean to do that at all. My hope is to maybe help others prepare for a triathlon and knowing what to expect os they don't run in to the same challenges. As well as to help me remember for future races my thoughts and feelings on the race. 

Can you see me.?I'm swimming towards the bottom right corner of the pic, green cap on, right arm out, head up. 

Ok so hopped out of the pool, went through the revolving door (disaster!) and ran across the parking lot and some grass to the transition area for transition 1. It was still pretty chilly and I was just wearing my tri suit so I put on capris and a jacket, ate a few chews put the rest in my pocket, helmet on and ran out of the transition area. It was going really well. Little hill and then what?! Oh no! Oh no no no. Huge humongous ridiculous why is it on the route hill! It was a hell hill. I kid you not. I wish it was a joke and we turned before the hill but no it wasn't a joke. They wanted us to go up the hill. I made it up about half way and my gears were being weird so I hopped off and ran my bike up the rest of the way. I was not the only way who made this decision. The asphalt pot hole road wasn't too bad but then there was this crazy downhill portion which was great to make up time lost on the hell hill but it was in the middle/alongside a pretty busy road and I kept panicking because of my crash last year and I kept braking every once in a while. The bike consisted of 2 loops. Yup you guessed it had to do the hell hill AGAIN! Son of a *&$%@ ! Also I was freezing on the bike! There was wind and luckily I had brought gloves but my tri suit was still a little wet and there were areas of my body that hurt because it was so cold. Ok finished the bike, portion, dropped my bike off and started the run. 

I'm the one in the front on the bike in pink!

I started running/walking/jogging. Heres a little something something for y'all to tri... bike 12 miles and then immediately hop off and start running. Do your legs feel like bricks? Weird feeling huh? I defiantly need to practice my transition from bike to run more often and hopefully get my legs used to it. Remember hell hill? Oh yes they made sure it was included on the run portion as well. Just one loop though. They are such sweethearts. I walked/jogged the majority of the run. I would say definitely my weakest area. It doesn't help that its the last portion of the triathlon either. I started warming up pretty much immediately on the run though which was nice. Oh and somehow between my tri suit and capris they weren't working well together and my capris came down around my knees! Wish I wouldn't have worn them but then I don't know if I would have been too cold?! I finished this baby strong though and sprinted through the finish line with Ben and Kim cheering me on. Ben handed me an orange slice immediately which was fantastic. Cleaned up all our stuff, took a pic and headed home to relax and decide which tri I'm signning up for next! :) I love triathlons. I think I'm going to stick to sprints for now though while I still have a ways to progress. I'm really hoping to see some progression in my overall time this season. I think the next one Kim and I will be doing is in May. Its the Women of Steel triathlon and its in Syracuse, Utah this year. 

Me sprinting to the finish.

Our medals with Vanilla Ice

Kim and I! 

My little certificate you can download online. I registered in the Athena category which means I weigh over 165 pounds. I looked at the overall times though of everyone and I was about average. There are so many factors that go into triathlon time though. How far away the transition area is away from the swim, if you are required to wear a wetsuit or not etc. Kim's time was 1:59! She was just a tad faster than me.

A few goals I'm going to work on this season. Running! Transitioning from biking to running. I am going to learn how to use Ben's serious road bike which I think will help improve my time. I love my bike and its a hybrid bike but I think for races I should probably use a road bike. And continuing to improve on my swimming technique. 

I would love to get my indoor swim tri time to 1:30 and my open water swim triathlon time to about 2 hours. You swim longer when its an open water swim and obviously its a bit more of a challenge. 

"Tri"ing in 2016

I have the triathlon bug thats for damn sure! I signed up for the indoor triathlon series at KOPFC. My long time friend Kim also signed up with me. If you sign up for all 3 you get some fun swag and you can also see your progression. Its a little bit of a different type of triathlon. One: Its all inside. Two: Its based on how far you go in a certain amount of time versus you have "x" distance to go and see how long it takes you. You swim for 15, Bike for 25 and run for 20. I've also been working on actually training. I've done a couple of wogs (walk/jogs) around the neighborhood as well as a couple of bike rides. I purchased a bike trainer but have not quite set it up yet...I have also been trying to go to a Masters Swim class at least once a week. It is super helpful. There is a swim coach there who helps you with your form and gives you drills. You are swimming for an hour! Its a great workout! 

Triathlon #1 in January results: 

Swam 22 25 meter lengths = 550 meters

Biked 8 miles

Wogged  1 1/4 miles

My dad was in town and came and watched/supported! Also check out my sweet headband!

Triathlon # 2 February results:

Swam 22 25 meter lengths = 550 meters

Biked 9.9 miles! 

Wogged  1 1/4 miles

We got matching shirts and everyone called us team Wonder Woman

Triathlon #3 March results:

Swam 23 25 meter lengths= 575 meters

Biked 9.4 miles

Wogged Just over 1 1/4 miles.

These mini triathlons are such a great way to start out the season. I love the way it is set up and it is very low key as well. Kim and I signed up for the Icebreaker on Saturday in American Fork. I'm hoping to do as many sprint triathlons this year as my bank account and body will allow. I am really hoping to continue training and hope to see improvement in my races overall.

Progress not Perfection

Getting fit in 2016!

I know I know. Every year I'm like "I'm going to lose weight blah blah blah". So anyways I finally feel like I'm in a good position to really get there this year. With the holidays over with I feel like things are calming down and I can really focus. With that being said I don't know how often I am going to do an update whether it be weekly, monthly or just randomly. I had a really awesome first week. I lost 2.8 lbs! I only worked out maybe like twice?! (I'm hoping to start fitting working out to my schedule because not only do I want to lose weight but I want to be fit ya know?) My goal is really to lose 10lbs a month which is reasonable. That should put me at my goal weight in about August. Yes i have about 70lbs to lose. I'm using myfitnesspal because I know how it works, they pretty much have every food in their database and I'm just use to it. It works for me. I follow a fitness trainer on Facebook and she said that she usually sets her settings to be about 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat so thats what I have mine at right now. Man do I NOT get enough protein. That is a huge goal for me! More protein for sure!  I love that I can manipulate myfitnesspal to these settings. So this is what my goals look like for now. 

Calories

1330

Carbohydrates 133 g

40 %

Fat 30 g

20 %

Protein 133 g

40 %

A few things about myfitnesspal that I've learned is that I have my Fitbit synced to it so depending on how many steps I take it may adjust my calorie intake because of the calories burned from walking. I love that I can see how many calories it did adjust so I know if I want to use those or not. I don't always. Same with when I enter my workouts it gives me "X" amount of calories I can add to my diet. I don't usually use those calories maybe once or twice a week and even then I don't use all of them. Also, I am going to take off my Fitbit when exercising because I think it would be sort of double tracking to where it. Plus if my arms move a lot the Fitbit thinks I'm getting steps when I'm not. It's funny like that. 

Another big thing for me this week is I got my hair cut and my nails done. It felt really good. I just needed a minute to really take care of myself. Once I felt good about myself it motivated me to want to continue to be fit. I know a lot of people use those things as rewards for losing a certain amount of weight or what not but I needed to feel good about myself now so that I wanted to continue to feel better.

When we lived in North Dakota I would go to classes at the gym they were part of LesMills. I loved them!!! They had weightlifting, cycling, kickboxing etc. Loved Loved Loved them. I was pretty bummed when I tried to find some in Salt Lake and none were to be found. I started doing research online and found out you can stream them on demand. I started my free trial today and I LOVED IT! I may end up paying the $10 a month so I can have access to them. 

The photos from the week below:

Left photo: Me super sweaty after 30 minutes of bodycombat! (There was punching and kcicking and I loved it!) I think I have an inner boxer in me. No joke!

Middle photo: A new found favorite breakfast food. Kodiak cakes whole grain flap jack with raspberry jam and banana and 2 slices of thick cut bacon. If you haven't tried Kodiak cakes I would highly recommend them. They have a good amount of protein and taste delicous. They have 3 different options to make them to depending on how much protein you want in them. 

Right photo: me taking a before pic to look at and compare with. 

Update on 2015

I wanted to do a little update on where we/I are on the “goals” for 2015.

Health

I’m about 10lbs behind on my weight loss. As of today I’m at 227. Something is better than nothing right? I have consistently tracked my foods on myfitnesspal for almost 2 months until I came down with this nasty cold. Also, the scale isn’t everything. I wish I had some before and after pics but I didn’t really plan that out. Many people at my work have told me how great I look and asked how much I’ve lost so something’s working right? I have also been going to the onsite gym during my lunch breaks at work and then trying to also do a workout when I get home.

I went to an ENT and got my sinuses taken care of. Basically, it’s a whole bunch of things. Some of my sinuses grew the wrong way and there is a lot of inflammation from that and from allergies. Treatment: nasal spray anti-inflammatory and allergy meds.

I also went to the podiatrist to have my feet checked out. The top of my right foot has been hurting for the past 6 months or so and the past 2 months it’s been really bad. I would feel like it was on fire after taking duke for a walk. After many tests and x-rays the doc is pretty confident it’s a stress fracture. They are hard to see and thus hard to diagnose. So as of yesterday I’m in a post-op boot for then next 2-3 weeks pretty much 24/7 until the pain is completely gone. So no running/zumba anything of that nature for the next few weeks. Swimming and cycling here I come!

I was actively working on my flexibility for a week or two so I need to get back into that. I’ve only done yoga like once so maybe that’s something else I can do on my time in the boot.

I did some lifting and now we have a gym membership at KOPFC and they have some pump classes that I’m excited to start going to.

Running is kind of not happening until these foot shenanigans get taken care of.

I think I have definitely cut down on caffeine and soda. Some days are better than others. I know for a fact I drink more tea and water and I LOVE IT! I wish I could dedicate my paychecks to Teavana. Ha! Oh the life.

I always look up nutrition facts before we eat out now its just a habit.

We are getting a lot better at cooking more often at home. Some nights we have what we call them Harmon’s Dinners because we go to Harmon’s grocery store and pick out something’s to make and/or eat. We love it! We do that 1-2 times a week.

School

 Is going  flipping fantastic! I’m kicking serious butt and taking names ya know what I mean?! I study practically every day, I’ve got 82% or higher on my tests. I’m way ahead on my Biology assignments. AND…. It looks like I will be starting an 18 month BSN program January 2016!!!! YAHOOO!!!!

Personal/Spiritual

I’m so crazy organized it’s ridiculous.

We are trying to figure out travel plans. We did go stay at the Homestead over Valentines weekend and swam in the Crater so that was adventurous.

I haven’t really learned or improved a new skill or found my spiritual side or finished projects…yet.

I’ve probably only written in my journal once and haven’t done so well at the pictures either. (obviously from the lack of pics in this post hahaha)

Finance

Our credit cards are paid off!!! Thank you tax return!

Now we can focus on saving and paying off other debts to put ourselves in a good position to buy a house.

About 2 months in and I definitely think we/I are making some great progress I’m excited for what the year has to offer!

Reflecting on 2014...Ready for 2015

2014 was a whirlwind but I feel like we are in a good place and are getting ready to start new chapters of our life. 

In 2014:

We moved back to Utah from North Dakota. 

We lived with my cousin and his wife in Ogden for a bit and then moved to Salt Lake and moved back in with my parents. It is very helpful because instead of paying stupid apartment rent (sorry I hate that) we are able to save our money. 

I started working at Intermountain again and I am doing cash posting and I really enjoy it and the people I work with. Ben is working at Kleinfelder and they've actually kept him working through the winter which we have never had happen before he also really enjoys his job and is hoping to get some new certifications this year to help him move up in the company.

We consolidated and bought and new Jeep and traded in our truck, car, and motorcycle. 

We both did our first triathlon.

I figured out school and started working on my pre-reqs for nursing school again. 

On December 26th my last living grandparent my grandma Parry (my dads mom) passed away. She will be greatly missed. I feel at such peace with her passing though because she was in a lot of pain before she passed, she hadn't eaten for 3 weeks, and she wasn't very coherent. My grandpa passed away in 2008 sort of unexpectedly and she has missed him terribly. You will be missed grandma!

She tricked me and told me we were sticking out our tongues!

Grandpa and Grandma in 2002 at Jason and Karlie's wedding.

Love and miss you grandma! 

Here's a few other pics from the year.

Halloween at my work. Josslyn came trick or treating.

Ugly sweater contest at work.

2015

Here's a little thing a wrote up about some of my goals/plans for 2015.

And a little side note we are expecting the arrival of the first nephew on the parry side this month!

Health

By January 31^st: down 10 lbs (around 226)

By July 31^st: meet goal weight of 165

Go to dentist every 6 months. Physical in July. Get feet and sinuses taken care of .

Practice yoga 2x a week.

Work on flexibility.

LIFT!!! 3x a week!

You have to run 100 days until the end of 2015. 
4 SIMPLE RULES FOR THIS CHALLENGE:
#1 NEVER GO 3 DAYS WITHOUT RUNNING
#2 RUN AT LEAST 3 DAYS A WEEK
#3 NEVER MISS A MONDAY
#4 NEVER GIVE UP!

Cut down on caffeine and soda.

Drink more tea and water.
Plan before eating out. Research healthy options.

                                

Cook more often at home. 

School

Don’t procrastinate stay on top of assignments.

Actually study EVERY DAY!

Apply for Nursing School (Get GPA up above 3.0)

Personal/Spiritual

Get and stay organized.

Travel

Learn/improve a new skill.

Find my spiritual side; Find a religion or practice that works for me.

Finish projects.

Write in Journal at least once a week.

Take more pictures.

Finance

Pay of Credit cards

Be in good position to buy a house.

$SAVE$

Think before buying.

Keep track of spending.