A Triathlon? Me???

Now for those who do not know me, the mere thought of me contemplating a triathlon is more humerous than words can portray.

The fact that I actually did one at the weekend???
Unbelievable!

...and yet, it is true!

Amazing, unreal, mental, exhilarating, painful, challenging, insane, silly, and downright irresponsible are all words that come to mind.

Why would an otherwise happy, content, sit-at-home type of gal who much prefers to paint and drink wine with her girlfriends, and maybe go for the odd dance, decide to go all out and compete in one of the most demading of sports that exist today?

Because this year I turned 40!

... and quite frankly, that just makes it sound even MORE irresponsible, hehe

Well, perhaps, triathlon is not exactly true - more a mini event, but still!
A 300metre swim in a freezing lake at 8.00am, followed by a 10 kilometer bike ride up and down hills, and a 5 kilometer run around the blue lake of Rotorua (which is more a cross-country track that a running track) is hardly 'mini' in my book (maybe mini-mad, but definitely not mini!)

And furthermore, I was not alone in my madness! I was merely one of two thousand women who decided this would be a wonderful way to spend a Sunday morning!
Imagine, that; two thousand women motivated enough to get off their various sized bottoms and train for this event.
And various sizes they were, also various ages - in fact, all types of women were there; old, young, large, small, fit, average, health freaks, and post couch potato types. All competing in this great event held in Rotorua, New Zealand, and hosted by Kellogs Special K.

For all of us crazy enough to get involved, there was lots of training that went into it beforehand;
for me it involved meeting at 6.00am with my other mental buddies, Monique and Zoe, to run, walk, swim and/or cycle before work, and completing the everyday tasks of the various hectic lifestyles we all lead.
However,I must admit to not training for a whole month before the event due to an injury. I thought that the injury would keep me from competing, and was more upset by this than I would have imagined.
But with the event looming, I decided to throw caution to the wind and, as Nike promotes, 'just do it'.

And what a feeling to finish the event!
Running down the final stretch, with total strangers cheering and shouting your name.
Then, onto the red carpet, where you can see the flags flying and the cheers are deafening in their enthusiasm and encouragement!

Fantastic!

Definitely worth all the effort that we put into it.
The feeling was just so powerful, it bordered on emotional.
It seems Nike is right! (hehe)

and my finishing times?
swim - 15.06
cycle - 16.12
run - 51.43
TOTAL - 1 hour 23 minutes and 1 second!

So,
Thanks Monique for suggesting this madness in the first place.
Thanks Zoe for being so motivational in your own journey to fitness.
Thanks to my wonderful partner for all the support and belief in me, and fixing my bike up.
Thanks to my osteopath for working so dilligently on my injury and fixing me up.
Thanks to all my women friends who encouraged me with my madness.
And thanks to Kellogs Special K for thinking of this event in the first place.

That was the last event for this year, but Kellogs organise around 9 per year, from January through to April, at differnet sites around New Zealand.

If you are interested in finding out more for yourself, just click >HERE< to go to their site.

As for me ... Would I do it again?

You bet!

Gotta beat that personal time and keep gettin' better!
It's just more fun that the couch!!

so, until next time...

love and light

Stace

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