The Chronicles of the Once Unathletic Triathelete

After much hesitation and pressure, I have decided I might as well share my first triathalon experience.

I'll call this the Chronicles of the Once Unathletic Triathelete.

While many of you know this, some of you may not...Just about 7 months ago, I was an unathletic yogi who attended Dragonfly frequently, and enjoyed the classes and the heat, but if you asked me to run a mile, it would take about 14 minutes (if I was lucky) and I would walk after about .5 miles.

Most of the time I considered myself to just be "unathletic", and accepted that I would never have the endurance or drive to be a triathlete. In 2012, my partner (Craig S.) was an Ironman Louisville finisher. I thought this was amazing and inspiring, but even still, I thought "That would never be me, it's Craig's thing".

IM Louisville 2012

 

At this time we lived in a small town in Ohio, attended grad school, and had very few friends because they had all jet setted, while we remained with our noses in books in a town of 20,000 people. Training became Craig's outlet, mine was sleep. At this time, I was my highest weight ever, and my lowest self esteem ever.

Fast forward to June 2012, when we packed our bags to move to Madison, Wisconsin! This is when I joined Dragonfly Hot Yoga, and soon after met Amy. I immediately connected with her because she often discussed triathalons and I was learning the lingo from Craig, 2 months away from IM Louisville.

Amy invited Craig and I to attend the APG class at Dragonfly that winter, and we hesitantly attened. Afterward, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings with many of you. I remember everyone being so friendly, and Craig discussing training. Chris Lopez asked me, "so, what do you do?" and I responded, "yoga", and he immediately flipped the conversation from bikes, wet suits, and nutrition to something I could relate to. From that moment on, I started to feel that I was around people who were so encouraging and non-judgemental.

I went home that night and thought to myself, "I'm going to do a triathalon".

Several weeks passed, and I was secretly doing research, without ever mentioning it to anyone. Then, one evening, I told Craig, "I am going to do Door County Half Ironman in July".

Shocked, as I had never ran a 5K, Craig said "okay, let;s do it."

I still don't think he believed me (for about 5 months).

Fast forward to May-

APG mates' have become our Madison family. I had competed in my first 5K, 10K, half marathon, OWS, Key West Trip. I was 20 pounds lighter, my confidence has sky rocketed, and I felt like I was becoming more of a better person everyday.

The time had come to compete in my first tri...Lake Mills.

We arrived on race day, and I was nervous, yet excited. I through on my borrowed wet suit (thanks, Karla!), sprayed on some lube type substance that is an over priced WD-40 that swore it would help me pull that thing off faster, and headed to the water.

Everyone around me seemed so nervous. "Those are big waves", "They reversed the swim course", "Do you see all those people panicking in the water?".

 

 

For some reason, all that didn't matter to me. All I knew was that I was getting in that water! The horn went off, and myself and all the other novice women took off. I think I saw 5 women being pulled out of the water, and about 10 men. Mr. Lopez taught me when I began to panic, just to take deep breaths, and "don't kick so damn hard".

Exiting the Water

Surprisingly, I started passing people (how did that happen?), and made my way out of the water in just over 10 minutes.

I saw Emily Lopez, Craig, Amy, and The Serraults on my way to transition, threw off my wet suit, and away I went.

The bike was very cold and windy, but hey, I made it through. Little did I know, I have a big ring on my bike! So, I rode about 15.5mph all in the small ring. (Thanks Tracy and Jessi, next time tell me these things before the race :))

 

Starting the bike

I transitioned to the run, where I saw all my favorite people cheering me on.

I headed off on the run (where I felt like I was moving like a snail), and saw Mr. Lopez. He yelled, "You're my hero!" So, it gave me a little boost to the finish.

I crossed the finish line to receive hugs from everyone. Tears from Amy, hidden tears from Craig, and a 9:12 pace on the run.

 

Heading in to the finish!

 

Overall, I'll take a 1:46 for my first triathalon ever. Next up, Verona!

Thank you for making me stronger (mentally and physically), more light hearted, more confident, and a better friend/partner. I am happy to say I am no longer the slightly overweight girl who was on the sidelines cheering for her Ironman boyfriend.

Soon, Craig and I will be out there doing one together. I couldn't have done it without all of you! I look forward to many more races, workouts, parties, and continued friendships. For those of you I haven't had a chance to chat with yet, I'm excited to be apart of the crew.

Cheers to an awesome summer ahead of us-

Samantha

Just Keep Running: Madison Half Marathon

So, I have to admit, I am a little behind on my posts!

On May 26, I ran my first half marathon here in Madison.  I had spent the last 5 months working on my running endurance and speed.  My longest run before the event was 10 miles, and I went into the event feeling good about being able to complete 13.1 miles, but I didn't know how fast I would be able to do it. 

Last fall I was running a 14 minute mile.  That's right, you could walk faster than I could run.  I couldn't run more than about 1/2 a mile without feeling winded and cramped.  Over the course of running more frequently, I could sustain a 10:45 minute mile for the duration of 10 miles, although I was apprehensive I could do this on race day. 

With that being said, I wanted to give myself a half marathon goal time.  I told myself that if I ran the half marathon in less than 2 hours and 30 minutes, I would be happy. I told myself that if I could run my half marathon in less than 2 hours and 15 minutes, I would be ecstatic. 

On race day Craig and I made it downtown around 6:15am, to meet our APG crew.  I was very nervous yet excited.  We made our way down to the start, and off I went. 

APG Runners!

There were moments when I thought, oh I totally got this!  Then, moments would hit when I thought holy cow! Can I make it any further?  Craig and Amy Mosher- Garvey were there for me all along the way.  They gave me encouragement when I needed it, and pushed me through to Mile 10. 

The last 3 miles, I was on my own.  I knew I had begun to slow down, but I wanted to keep a steady pace.  I went a little fast out of the gate, so I was hopeful I had some flexibility to still meet my 2:15 goal. 

I ran the last few miles with a man from Milwaukee, and he helped pass the time when my toes weren't so happy.  Once I reached Capital Square, I got my medal and saw Craig glowing with pride.  It was an awesome moment.  I went from the girl who couldn't run .5 miles, to someone who just ran 13.1. 



Craig and I Post-Race

WAHOO!

Then, I went to the tent to get my official time...2 hours and 12 minutes!  I ran at a 10:08 min/mile pace! I am still in awe at how much once can accomplish with perseverance.  I am looking forward to this summer!

Cheers,

Samantha