August 30, 2009

August 30, 2009:

My First Triathlon

On August 23, 2009, I ran my first triathlon, the NYRR Sprint Tri in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Granted, it was no Iron Man, but it was tough nonetheless. 300 meters swimming, 10 miles on bike, and 5K (3.1 miles) running. I met my goal and completed it in less than 1 hour and 15 minutes, and I placed 92 out of 500, or 11th place in the 35-40 years old category. So I've been going around saying I placed 11th in the triathlon, which is sort of true!

The experience was amazing. I never had such a rush of endorphins in my life, and I swear for the last half mile I was just saying to myself "Oh, you can't stop me...I can do anything...get out of my way!...if I can do this, what can't I do?...I'm amazing!" If you have it in you to train for a few months, I highly recommend competing in a sprint triathlon. Next summer (2010) I'm going to try an Olympic triathlon (about twice as long) and maybe in 2011 I'll do a half-Iron Man. Who knows...maybe there's an Iron Man in my future.

An early start, and getting my number...

Stretching and swimming...

Biking and running...

The big finish and the high afterward.

Thanks to Taylor for supporting me, putting up with me all through training, waking up very early on this particular Saturday, and taking great photos.