More on My Triathlon Bucket List

This weekend was WIBA (Wisconsin Iron Brick Adventure) that my Evotri team puts on. Steve and I have made it out every year since its inception in 2006. We missed last year because Henry was all of a couple of weeks old. We had really hoped to make it out this year to see everybody again, but we decided at the last minute that Henry just wouldn't tolerate the weekend. He did really well camping with my family last weekend, but the last third of the 3 hour car ride was challenging for all of us. A 4 hour car ride would really be pushing it, and none of the grandmas are anxious to take him overnight yet. Next year we'll be there with bells on. It's one of my favorite summer events. I love love love getting out to train on the course, and it is so much fun to talk triathlon for 3 days. I enjoy seeing old faces, meeting new ones, and offering my 2 cents on IM Moo when I can. If any of you are ever up for a great weekend of training (even if you're not training for Ironman), check it out!

Instead of running on State Street in Madison today, I laced up my shoes and headed down to the river by my house. Marathon training officially starts next weekend, so I'm trying to get my distance training back.  I thought something felt a little off when I started up, but I brushed it off that I hadn't been in this pair of shoes for a week. Two miles in, I felt a little rubbing on one of my feet which is weird since these shoes rarely cause chafing. At the turn around point, I took off my shoe to see if my sock was bunched funny. That's when I noticed that I forgot to put the insoles back into my shoes after last weekend's wet run. That's right. I ran 8 miles today that without insoles in my shoes. Oops. Chalk it up to being excited to check off a few miles sans stroller. It's a good thing I don't tend to get injured, and it's a good thing that my feet are toughened up. I made it home with only a tiny blister.

I raced Buffalo Sprint Triathlon 3 weeks ago, but with work and being gone nearly every weekend since, I never got to put up a race report. It was another race on my summer bucket list, and I was excited to check it out since so many people had great things to say about it. My overall impression was that it was a VERY well organized, fun race. Their website was very thorough, and it made getting there and parking super easy. The course was beautiful, and the post race food was delish. One of the highlights for me was being able to race with Abbe. Exactly a year before, Abbe and I ran the Grand Old Day 5K together:

This was the first race we'd been in together since then. We snapped this photo before the start:

Two thinner, fitter mamas!

So how did the race go? Well, it went OK. Henry had slept so much better this time around, so I was feeling better at the start. I finished the 1/4 mile swim in 8:46, had a T1 time of 2:25, and then flatted on the bike. It was the first race where I didn't come fully prepared to change a tube on the bike, and you can bet it was my last. Tech support on the course was great though, and despite it taking 8 minutes to change my 808 tube (which I actually think is pretty good), I finished the bike in 50:29 - a 15.8 mph average. I blew through T2 in 1:51, had a 25:36 3 mile run (avg of 8:32), and finished in a total time of 1:29:06.  I finished 183/422 females and 39/76 in my AG - not horrible considering the flat. One of my biggest worries since starting to race with my super awesome Zipp wheels is changing a flat during a race, and even though I had a little help, it really wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I think I could do it again pretty easily. Here's one last photo of me heading to the finish:

Next up for me is Waseca Sprint at the end of July and then St. Paul Triathlon in August. These are two more races that I've always wanted to do but was too busy training for or racing longer ones. I am excited to get in some more speed (I'm still waiting for it to come back postpartum) and to check out a few fun courses. Then of course it'll be October before I know it, and with it will come my 13th Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Hopefully this 13 will be a lucky one, not an unlucky one.

Finally, I'll leave you with a photo from Henry's first birthday nearly 2 weeks ago. Poor little dude got his mama's sweet tooth: