She Sprints Triathlon, September 11, 2021

 Tri for the Cure was my first triathlon.  I did it when Carly was only 9 months old (2010) so it holds a special place in my heart.  I also ran it in 2015 and 2019.  It is a triathlon that raises money for breast cancer survivors.  This year, it got bought out by SheSprints and has a new name.

I have been consistently swimming in open water at least once a week all summer.  I am finally to the point where I can just jump in and go.  I have no anxiety anymore.  I do still hate getting kicked and hit by other swimmers, though.  That is why I initially thought that I would love to be in the elite wave of only 7 swimmers.  They weren’t getting kicked or hit.  My wave had about 25 people in it.  The swim course was not set up very well this year.  There were 3 buoys out in the water but there was no marker on the shore to show where we were supposed to finish.  I swam real good but got a little anxious when I was swimming to the shore because I couldn’t see if I was going the right way and there were no swimmers around me.  The water temperature was a real warm 76 degrees and was warmer than the air.

I felt real good on the bike.  I was able to shift correctly, which is the hardest part of the bike.  I tried to keep my cadence at 90 and that isn’t possible if you can’t shift before you get to hills.  Finally, no one passed me on the bike.  I always get passed on the bike.

The run was mostly through gravel dirt trails.  It went by pretty fast and I was happy with my performance.

Cherry Creek State Park is a pretty nice place for a triathlon and I love that it is so close to home.

I finished 1st in my age group and actually realized that my time was fast enough to be in the elite wave next time.  I hope the elite wave only has 7 swimmers in it next year too.