River Rampage 2013

I completed my first Olympic Triathlon in August of 2010. It was an amazing experience and I was ready to do it again. This time Christina would be in town from the East Coast and Cyndi had concocted a plan for a Girls Weekend/Triathlon trip to Green River for the River Rampage. We even convinced Mom to sign up and we brought Dad along to celebrate his 60th birthday and provide racer support.

You know you are going to have fun when you put four sisters, in wetsuits, together in a hotel room. I think the pictures tell it best.

Friday night we went a little crazy. I'm sure the endless swarms of gnats weren't helping, or the Mexican food, or the after dark drive of the bike course. Cyndi and I (the ones doing the Olympic distance) were worried for our lives.

We were up bright and early Saturday morning. We set out our gear and got checked in.

We suited up and headed to the start...to do some ninja yoga with a new friend, Jessica.

The one-mile swim downstream in the Green River was wild. Open water swimming is always an adventure - getting hit with random, flailing appendages; losing focus in the brown, murky water; the occasional handful of rocks on the down stroke; and rapid breathing from the adrenaline of it all. I did, however, love the current. That was a total plus!

Cyndi totally rocked the swim with all her early morning training and jumped out of the water at 16 minutes and 44 seconds. I wasn't far behind with a time of 17:15 (1st place in my age division!).

My first transition was a four minute long doosey - it takes a lot of time to peel off a wet suit and wash your feet then get knee-high compression socks, padded cycling shorts, and shoes onto a very wet being.

And don't forget the time for photo-ops.

Next I was off on the bike. This is, by far, my favorite part of any triathlon. I love being able to chase people down (that hardly ever happens on the run) and there is something about exercising while sitting down that just speaks to me. (And thanks Danny for lending me your road bike! It was awesome!)

I totally rocked those 25 miles on the bike and finished in 1:17:09  - which was again 1st in my age division and 8th for females overall.

Starting on a two lap course to cover 6.2 miles, my only goal was not to walk. I was surprised to find out afterward that I was running at at 10:30 pace because I was certain it was only the presence of a higher swing phase that distinguished me between walking and running.

Fortunately the gnats were at a minimum and the golf course sprinklers helped keep the heat at bay.

After running for 1:04:50 I crossed the finish line at 2:46:05.

Mom, Christina, and Kathryn had already finished the Sprint distance and they were waiting with Dad at the finish line. Cyndi still had several miles to go on her run, so somewhere along the way I hooked up with her and walked/jogged with her almost to the finish where I bowed out to watch her prancercise across the line.

I got 4th in my age division. (I would have gotten 1st if I had registered in the Athena Category....1st out of 1 that is.) Kathryn got 2nd in her age division with a Sprint time of 1:40:44.  Mom rocked it at 2:14:07 and Stee came in at 1:46:16. Cyndi finished her first Olympic Distance at 3:17:43.

What a great race! When can we do it again?