Just a Mom Who TRI's: Esprit de She Triathlon- Race Recap

This past weekend was the Esprit de She Triathlon in Tempe. While I originally signed up to race the Olympic distance, I ended up dropping down to the shorter distance of the Sprint. With the knee issues I was having I knew I would be taking it easy and going much slower on the run that I typically do. While that would have been ok in normal temperatures, it's already full blown summer in Phoenix. A high of 100 was predicted that day and the thought of taking longer on a race during that heat just didn't appeal to me!

Since this was a destination race, it meant a "girls weekend" was in store. We loaded 3 bikes and all our stuff in the back of Hillary's SUV. To my surprise everything fit.

It fits!

After a 2 hour drive and a quick stop at Triple Sports to get Hillary a wet-suit for the season, we finally made it to the hotel. Getting out of the car and feeling the blistering heat make me nervous, very nervous. I quickly checked the weather and of course the temperature was going to be just as hot for our race. We checked in at the Esprit de She expo. They had a great expo with all the big vendors and we were even allowed to check our bikes in to transition the night before. The bikes were racked and we could enjoy a nice evening of carbo loading.

Packing up

These were the tri tops they gave us as swag. I was impressed with the quality.

The next morning we woke and walked over to the race. It was wonderful not having to worry about bringing our bikes and being so close to Tempe Town Lake.

Nervous pre-race chit-chat about it already being 80 degrees (at 5:45 am).

We got to transition just 15 minutes before it closed (oops should have noted the night before). I felt rushed but was able to get everything set up just the way I like it. I felt bad because I really wanted to check my friends' transition areas for them since this was their first triathlon. Thankfully they did their homework and knew how to set them up.

Everything I need in one little area.

SWIM: Half a mile: (17.19)

The swim was a typical open water swim with a wave start. The water was perfect but I still wore my wetsuit. I can finally say: I am comfortable swimming in open water with a wetsuit. The horn went off and I made my way up towards the front of the pack right away. I was pushing it on the swim. It was my intention to push my self on both the swim and bike during this race. Normally I hold off if I know I am going to have a long day ahead of me. I caught up to one wave and then another. I didn't see that many purple caps and wondered if they were already done. As I climbed up the steps I got a little dizzy and felt the wetsuit strippers tugging at my suit. This was the first race I have done where they have volunteers get your suit off for you. They instructed me to sit on the ground so they could tug it off but I have a system and didn't want help. I probably sounded like a witch (with a b) because I yelled "no I got it!" and continued to run up to transition while still wearing my suit. Later I found out I was in the top 50 (out of 250) for the swim so you can bet I was proud of that time, especially when this was a weak area for me last year.

T1: 2:44 See it's under 3 minutes and I got the suit off myself? Really I have a system and I don't like to change it. I guess I am stubborn.

Bike: 12.4 miles (45:18)

The bike was fun. I pushed my cadence on this ride. I felt comfortable on the turns and liked my average speed I saw on my computer. The course was mostly flat which was nice. (I'll have my share of hills at my Half Ironman in October).

T2: 1:51 This transition went smoothly. I racked my bike, grabbed a drink, a GU, switched shoes and was off and running.

Run: 3.1 miles (36:45) The run was exactly as I expected. With the knee issues I am having I can run about 2 miles until it starts to hurt. It did exactly just that. I jog/walked the remainder of the distance and finished the race.

Total time: 1:43 (with personal records on the swim and bike legs)

After the race I met up with other friends while Christy and I waited for Hillary to finish. She did the Olympic distance so it look her longer. After she crossed the finish, we enjoyed the post-race mimosas they offered to all the racers.

Christy, me and Shaynee

All in all fantastic race. Very well organized and the little details like the great food, personalized bibs and numbers on the bike racks did not go unnoticed. We will certainly be back next year. I'm also really proud of my friends for doing this race. I know it was completely out of their comfort zone and I do love the fact that they did it and did well. Cheers!