1st Race of 2007

March 17, 2007 Whitworth College "Triath-Lite"



This was the first local Triathlon of 2007 - my Triathlon Club, Tri Fusion had 23 members who participated..............our club members won the Top 10 places!



My 1st Race of 2007

Saturday March 17th, was my 1st race of the 2007 Triathlon season. It was a mini sprint at Whitworth College, put on by the students on their campus. The race was:
-400 meter swim (8 laps in their college pool)
-12 mile bike (13 laps around their campus)
-3k run (a random trail that went all over)

To be honest I wasn’t too excited about doing the race! I’m not sure why, maybe because it was the first of the season, maybe because it was a sprint, maybe because the swim was in a pool, maybe because it was suppose to rain? I’m really not sure but I forced my coach to make the decision for me, of choosing between doing a 3 hour bike ride or the sprint triathlon race. Left to my own I would have probably chosen the long ride.

That is a good reason to have a coach! Because he has a plan for my Race Season which involves 3 factors: improving my fitness level, keeping me injury free and getting me to the start line of my scheduled races! Part of his major focus in coaching me is to prepare me have a successful season! His plan is purely optimistic, goal oriented and strategically planned to prepare me to be the best me I can be! He doesn’t factor in any of the fears, negative self talk, doubts, anxieties or insecurities floating around in my head that might cause me to procrastinate getting started or being apathetic about a particular race. Thank God for my coach, he believes in me even when I don’t believe in myself & knows what is best for me in the journey to achieve my goals for the season!

I signed up for the race, did some self talk, telling myself, get into this Kathi, your coach says this will be a good way to get in a swim test because you will never push yourself as hard in a training session as you will in a race. And also this will be a great opportunity to get the cob webs out of the “transitions, T1 & T2) which is the process of hooking all 3 of these sports together that make it a “Triathlon”!

I decided to pack my gear Friday night, went to bed pretty much without any anxiety and had a pretty good night sleep. I did awake around 4am however to pee, and looked outside and saw that we were totally fogged in. When I got up around 6:30am the fog was still thick and the temperature was 32 degrees! I was so dreading being wet and cold.

I loaded my car and drove to the race sight alone, moving slow and feeling this big sense of dread and wondering what the heck was I thinking! As soon as I checked in and received my race number, my adrenaline began to pump. As I saw familiar faces at check in, I began to get excited with the anticipation of what lay ahead.

I spent the next hour getting the course all figured out and getting my transition gear all set up. Saying hello to several of my fellow Triathletes started to get me excited and willing to get pumped up for the race. By the time the race started I was totally excited and ready to see what I could do.

I had a great race, and was able to obtained a new PR in the swim, I did my first sub 7 minute 400 meters!




I enjoyed racing my new bike for the first time, my transitions went really well and I felt great on the run! Sure it was cold, but with the added insulation of adrenaline, I hardly noticed!



Congrats to my friend Jessi who won 1st place in the women's open division...YEA!...... as for me, I ended up winning 3rd place in the women’s open division, which was thrilling to me. The race was a great reward for all the hard winter training I did! Last year I did not train through the winter and lost a significant amount of fitness. I can tell a huge difference in my fitness level this early in the season. I look forward to seeing how my 2007 season goes. I am hoping for a string of new PR’s!


Major Kuddos to my coach (Roger Thompson) who won 1st place in the men's open division. Nice "new" bike Rog, it looks really FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I appreciate his encouragement in getting me to the starting line, it was a great experience, a good confidence booster and a very encouraging start to my 2007 race season.

P.S. My apologies to Jeff M. for not inviting you to my 1st race to cheer me on....it was my loss!