Women Rock Triathlon

Cyndie and I met at 1pm Friday for our drive up to Park City for packet pickup. This was Cyndie's first tri ever and my first tri with an open water swim.

Cyndie packs for the triathlon.

Picking up our packet was well organized and we breezed right through it. We showed our ID, got our free visor then we moved on to pick up our race number and timer to wear around our ankle. Then body marking, where they put our race number on both shoulders and one hand, followed by our age on our calf. That age on the calf comes in handy if you are wondering if you should exert extra energy to pass someone. It is a race!

After getting permanent marker on our bodies we picked up our free flip flops and headed out to drop off our bikes at Rockport State Park where they would be guarded for the night.

Marsha doing a final layout and gear check.

Once we got back to Park City we checked into our hotel The Yarrow and then went and had dinner at Main Street Pizza & Noodle in historic downtown Park City. We had a pasta and chicken dish - always hoping the night before a race that when eating something we've never had before it will agree with our stomach. Then it was back to the hotel to pack our gear for the triathlon. We finished about 8:30pm and watched part of a movie then lights out to get some sleep for our alarm at 4:45am.

All the gear laid out on the triathlon towel.

Don't we look wide awake and excited to be on the bus headed for Rockport at 5:50am? The buses even drove the spectators up to the park, so even little kids and babies had to be up early.

On the bus headed to the cold water. So happy about that.

Me getting my bike spot ready.

We got all our gear laid out and our wet suits on. It was actually nice to have them on because the morning air was cool. Soon ladies were heading for lake and we followed. They started this race in 4 waves and we had been assigned wave 4.

Dressed in wetsuit, ready to go.

We watched the other 3 waves start and soon it was our turn. I had put my Garmin underneath my swim cap to track our swim. From the shore the swim looked longer than .47 mile. The huge orange buoys looked way out there and pretty far apart. After shouting "Women Rock" we were off. The water was COLD. It was quite a shock to our chest and face.... not to mention the rest of our body as it came into the wetsuit for us to warm up. Right away both of us were having a hard time breathing and that continued for the entire swim. It just seemed like I could not get enough air in my lungs. Although the wetsuits helped us to float, they were quite restrictive to actually swim in. So the swim didn't go according to plan at all. We still did in a good time, but Cyndie used the backstroke quite a bit and I did some side stroke and gliding just to try to keep our faces out of the cold water. 
Finally after 27 minutes and some change the swim was over. We got out, put on some flip flops.....someone had taken Cyndie's and we headed to transition. At this point I realized all that flailing around in the water had caused some vertigo and even having worn the earplugs I was dizzy. So I was a lot slower than I had planned to be and Cyndie finished dressing first. She was waiting for me and I got her to leave me behind. I knew with the way I was feeling I would be a little slower on the bike getting started.
Finally, I was off on the bike. I was a little dizzy but I started off slow. I hadn't been able to fasten my watch on my fingers weren't working so good so I had it in my hand. This wasn't a good idea but I wasn't thinking real good. The course was very hilly, but each climb was small and the downhills were nice. The road in the park had a lane blocked off for us but out on the highway we had to watch for traffic. The shoulder was very narrow and it some places almost non-existant. Luckily, for a holiday weekend it was early in the morning so traffic was light.
Right at the beginning I had problems with my bike number and the way they had it attach it to the bike with these wire ties. The ties made four cuts on my legs. So blood on my number and my bike. Finally I came to the turn around point since the bike course was an out and back. It was here I stopped, put on my watch and had a drink of water. I felt much better and went faster on the ride back.
In the mean time Cyndie had some tails to tell about her bike ride. A competitor was drafting her on the bike. Since she wears a rear view mirror on her sunglasses, she knew how close and how long the girl was there. She wouldn't quit so Cyndie finally slowed down so much the girl had to pass. Then that girl rode up and started doing it to the girl in front of Cyndie. Having seen enough Cyndie rode up and said "isn't this drafting?" Needless to say the "drafter" took off.
Transition from the bike to the run went much smoother, and quickly I was done and off on the run. I ran most of the way, taking few walk breaks. The course was mostly trail running which I am not use to. Neither is Cyndie, and I learned later that she fell twice during the run. It was very hilly and the rocks on the trail were what caused her to fall. The only positive thing about the trail course was that it was shady. There were two girls stationed at the half way point to turn us and a ring a cow bell. The run was an out and back also.
Because Cyndie finished before me she was able to take these pictures of me coming into the finish line.

Running to the finish line.

Coming over the finish line. Go Sharks!

After the race - water, a bandaid for my leg, visit with Cyndie, a egg bagel sandwich and fruit, exchange my shirt, and we packed up our stuff and we were late to the awards. So we missed finding out we had each won an award. Here we are below, I took 3rd place in age group 55-59 and Cyndie 3rd in her division Athena 40-99.

Marsha:

NO FN LN ALL DIVPL SWIM RATE T1 BIKE RATE T2 RUN RATE TIME 220 Becky Yih 77 1/4 25:14 17.8 3:20 42:36 15.5 1:53 40:39 13:12 1:53:42 217 Debra Williams 102 2/4 31:12 14.4 6:00 47:47 13.8 2:00 36:30 11:51 2:03:28 218 Marsha Monson 107 3/4 27:22 16.4 5:04 55:04 12 2:11 38:35 12:32 2:08:14 219 Marianne Duckworth 126 4/4 38:01 11.8 4:36 1:00:20 10.9 3:10 51:42 16:47 2:37:47

These statistics show our swim, bike and run times.

You can also see how our transition time went.

Good thing Cyndie left me behind.

 Cyndie:

NO FN LN ALL  DIVPL SWIM RATE T1 BIKE RATE T2 RUN RATE TIME 234 Tessie Palczynski 11 1/6 17:03 26.4 2:20 38:05 17.3 1:16 28:30 9:15 1:27:12 235 Arrianna Rogers 82 2/6 27:59 16.1 4:52 45:02 14.6 2:14 35:04 11:24 1:55:09 233 Cyndie Nell 96 3/6 27:20 16.5 4:40 45:04 14.6 2:13 41:27 13:28 2:00:43 236 Sherri Tomlinson 99 4/6 28:03 16 4:58 49:26 13.3 1:57 38:19 12:27 2:02:42 231 Deborah Kaleikini 108 5/6 36:25 12.4 4:45 47:11 14 1:41 38:19 12:27 2:08:18 232 Anita Norris 116 6/6 25:16 17.8 4:26 50:40 13 1:50 51:24 16:42 2:13:34 Here we are with our plaques. We rock two 3rd places in Women Rock Triathlon.