Last weekend, I decided to try something fun and compete in a triathlon, which is something I haven’t done since I was about 12 or 13! I drove out with my friend Marija, who also decided to give it a go, and we competed in Sooke at the Subaru International Triathlon. Since I’m currently training with LifeSport, a triathlon training company, I had no shortage of tips and racing advice right at my fingertips. Ironman also provided me with a $600 wetsuit, which had me looking like a pro and feeling like a fish. (because it’s all about how you look). I competed in the sprint distance which is a 500 meter swim, 26km bike and 5km run.

Since I’ve done extensive biking training in the past (up to 9 hours/day) and a lot of running, I was definitely not worried about these two events. So really, I knew the wildcard was down to the swimming. (and rightfully so haha)  I left the water as 18th female (and gasping for air…) and quickly ripped off my suit and threw on some shoes wearing only my swimsuit for the ride. Once I finally got some oxygen back into my body, after being at a severe shortage from my not-so-skillful swimming, I hopped onto my bike and let me legs take over. Luckily the course was quite hilly, which really worked to my advantage because most of my bike training is in hill climbing. I took 14 spots on the bike putting me into 4th for the run. Now if you’ve ever done a triathlon you will know what it feels like to start a run after some hard biking. It feels like your legs are made of led! Having said that, I knew this feeling would pass within a minute and pushed maximum right from the start. I really enjoyed every step of my run and was almost sad, but not quite, when it was over. It was very exhilarating crossing over the finish line and by this time I had passed two more girls placing me in second overall and wining the 20-29 category! My finish time was 1hr 24 mins. I placed 2nd out of 53 females and 12th out of 120 people including men. It was a wicked way to spend the weekend and so good to be out racing again!