Checked off the bucket list

Darrin Case

Bib #29

500 meter swim 11:01

1st transition 4:03

16 mile bike ride 1:00:26

miles per hour 15.9

2nd transition 2:54

3.2 mile run 30:07

miles per hour 10:03

Final time 1:48:29.0

60th male out of 88

Darcy Case

Bib # 28

500 meter swim 14:06

1st transition 3:48

16 mile bike ride 1:03:28

Miles per hour 15.1

2nd transition 2:23

3.2 mile run 30:27

Miles per hour 10:09

Final time 1:54:10.8

55th female out of 107

Our Fruita friends that finished the tri

Ever since I watched Darrin complete this last year (while I was 9 months pregnant) I have been planning 2010 when I would get to complete my first triathlon the Highline Hustle. The training started sometime in April. I would run 2 times a week, swim at the local high school one night a week, and then rode my bike when I got the chance. The biking didn't happen as much as I would have liked, but turned out fine.

There were 2 big difficulties during training. I remember the first time Amy and I went biking and then running we both felt like our legs were numb. We felt like we were barely moving. About a mile into the run she looked at her Garmin and saw that we were running an 8:30 mile, which is a really fast pace for us. I think it seemed particularly slow because we had gone so fast on the bike, who knows. I just know that I tried to make a mental note to pace myself after biking and then running.

The next challenge was the open water swim. We had been swimming for weeks at the high school and I felt like I had really improved and felt like a strong swimmer. The first time we did a lake swim, I seriously felt like I had never swam a day in my life. I think it was a lot of factors, but the biggest was I completely panicked. I couldn't see in the water (too murky), I felt so restricted (wearing a wetsuit) and it was cold and choppy. I did a few more lake swims and panicked less each time. The day of the real event I wore a different wet suit, one without sleeves, and it made all the difference.

The day of the event we woke up to rain. I was nervous, to bike in the rain. I don't feel like a great road biker anyway and then you add wet pavement to that I was sure there would be some sort of collision. I asked the bike shop guy, the day before when I heard rain was in the forecast, and he said just be cautious and avoid sand.

When the gun went off, I decided to stay in the back of the swimmers to avoid congestion, and this approach was great. The water was warm, compared to the rain and wind and so it was a welcomed event, hard, but welcomed.

Next came the bike ride. I felt pretty good till I saw lightening and hear thunder about 3 miles away, I was sure that someone was going to be hit, and for a few miles contemplated that a little too much! About halfway, I was so drenched and cold. I couldn't feel my feet. I couldn't wait to get off the bike and start running, just to warm up. The bike ride was the longest event and by far the coldest, and most challenging part of the tri.

The run came and I was fortunate to have met up with Michelle. This was a trail run and with the rain turned out to be pure mud. People were slipping and sliding all over the place, many people just walked through the worst stuff, because it was so muddy. I thought it was completely comical, I could just picture us all being featured on the next episode of WIPE OUT!

I loved the run. I warmed up, it felt good to move my body and I was surprised at the energy level I felt.

Overall it was amazing. I have been surprised that this week I have felt a void in my life now that we are done training. I guess I better look for the next event.

I keep joking that Darrin's triathlon that day didn't end till about an hour after mine, because when we got out to the car we found all our cars stuck in the mud. He was the hero of the day though, he helped push out about 8 cars (including ours) and here's how he looked when he was done.