The Wurst Tri Ever

In the pool, ready for the swim!

Heading out of Transition #1 and off to the 14 mile bike ride.

Tim in Transition #2 after the bike getting ready for the run.Tim heading out for the 3.4 mile run.Me heading out for the run.

Yay, almost done! Time to run!


Tim coming across the finish line. Yay Tim!




This was pretty tricky here-this looks like it's the end, the finish line is to my left, but no, there was still a 1/2 mile loop around the finish!




First time triathletes-in our "super suits". We got one piece tri suits for the big day. They are not very appealing and chubsters like me, but they sure do work well!

We did it! Tim and I completed our first ever Triathlon! And it was not the "worst" tri ever as the title would lead you to believe-it was great! The tri was held in New Braunfels which is home to the annual German Wurst Fest where beer flows like water and kiolbassa and kraut are on every corner and that is why it was named the Wurst tri ever. We started off the day arriving in New Braunfels at 6 am to get our transition area set up and our bodies marked with our numbers. The boys spent the night with my folks, but got to the race site a little bit before it started so that we could give hugs and kisses and the boys could see the big start! The swim was a 400 meter swim which we swam in a 50 meter pool, so they had to do a time trial start, starting an athlete every 10 sec. There was about 300 participants and the idea was you were supposed to start according to your number, but that didn't really happen, people just kinda bunched together and started when they wanted to. I convinced Tim to shuffle up towards the front, so we got started relatively quickly. The swim was a little chaotic to me and I kept getting kicked by breast strokers and lollygagers and the end of each lane, so it really threw off my rhythm and made me a bit slower on the swim. Once he remembered to put on his goggles (about 25 meters into the swim!! He was a nervous wreck!), Tim did well on his swim, finishing in 10:34 and I finished in 11:26. Then we had a little jog over to the transition area and it was time for the bike. I was psyched for the bike ride! We had ridden the course the weekend before, so I knew what to expect and of the 3 disciplines, riding is my thing. They also were giving out the King and Queen of the hill distinction for the fastest one to climb the very first hill of the ride-about an 11% incline! People were strugglin! Me on the other hand danced right up it! I wanted that Queen of the hill so bad! Plus Tim has had us riding so many hills this summer, that this was pretty normal! Unfortunately I didn't get Queen of the hill, but I did come in 3rd for the females! Waahhhooo! I cruised thru the 14 mile ride and it felt great! I finished up in about 48:19 (average speed of 18.6 mph) and Tim finished up the ride in 49:28 (average speed of 18.1 mph), which means I beat Tim in the ride! Heehee!!! We then made it thru the transition pretty quickly and then on to the 3.4 mile run. The run went well. I wanted to walk many times, but didn't let myself. I even made it up the one killer hill while running-although it probably didn't look much like I was running though, more like shuffling up the hill! Haha! I finished up the run in 30:34 and Tim finished up in 24:11. Not too shabby for our first tri! I ended up placing 4th in my age group and 18th overall for the females. Tim finished 10th for his age group and 56th overall for the men. We can't wait to do another one! Unfortunately we waited to do our first one at the end of the season, so we will have to wait until next season to do another. Fortunately though living in Texas, the season starts a bit earlier. Next up though is the MS 150 October 9th and 10th-150 mile bike ride!