Triathlon Report

Kenice, Hollie and I participated in our first triathlon on the 29th of August. We did a 1/4 mile swim, a 10 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile run. Let me start off by saying that I did not train for this thing. I signed up for it 6 months in advance and kept thinking to myself, I have time, I have time. Well, time ran out and there I was totally unprepared. I was so worried after my alarm went off at 6:00 am. I thought to myself, "Do I really need to do this? Would it be that bad if I didn't go?" And many other thoughts that were not on the positive side. But alas, I did get up and started getting ready. I had no idea what to eat so the night before I got some powerade and an energy bar. I took one bite of the energy bar and dry heaved. It was so disgusting I had to force myself to choke it down. I got to the scera pool around 6:40 and found the bike my wonderful brother in law Adam let me borrow in the transition area. There were a ton of people and I started to get really nervous once I saw how a lot of them looked. I've never done a triathlon before so I really was not prepared with the proper equipment I later found out. They started the day with the children's race which my niece Hailey was in. She did awesome. Then they called for everyone to line up for the full race. You had to line up according to swim speed and the fastest went first. I immediately went to the very back of the line because as most of you know, I don't know how to swim well. The first people started and were absolutely cruising through the water so I really started to worry about totally embarassing myself. But about an hour and a half later, I entered the water and didn't really care at that point. It took me a considerable amount of time, but I finished. And thankfully, my sister in law Kenice stayed back farther than she should have, which helped me feel more comfortable and eased some of my troubles. And a huge thank you to the Whitaker families who cheered me on throughout the entire thing. I remember hearing Sarah yell, "Go Karen!" half way through the swim which helped my push through to the end. After the swim, I ran to my bike and threw on my clothes over my suit. I knew I had to ride hard to catch Kenice, so I did and caught her on the last hill about a mile before the finish. We dumped our bikes in the transition area and started the run. I was so grateful to catch Kenice for the run. Without her there I know I would not have kept going. I have never ran that distance without stopping my entire life so my one goal was to run the entire 5k without stopping. Kenice and I started and my legs were a little wobbly from the bike, but after the first mile we got in a groove and the rest was a blur. We ended up sprinting through the finish line completing our first ever triathlon! We did it! I knew I wasn't going to get a great time, and I didn't, but I finished and had a great time doing something challenging and fun with two of my sisters. By next year my goal is to learn how to swim so we can all enter the water at the same time and do it together. Thanks Kenice and Hollie. I can't wait til next year!

Here is me waiting at the beginning with the blue backpack

Kenice, Me and Hollie waiting for the swim. You can see the huge lineup of people in the background. It took forever to get in the water.

Me exiting the pool after my "swim"

Completing my first lap of the bike route

Kenice and I almost to the finish

Kenice and I sprinting through the finish line. Notice how happy we are to be finishing!

All the participants from left: Dave Whitaker, Kenice Whitaker, me, Hollie Hansen, and Hailey Whitaker down front. Dave did awesome by the way and finished 35th overall.