It’s now Monday, a day after completing the 9th Annual Dunedin Rotary Triathlon at Honeymoon Island State Park. As I mentioned before, the last time I completed a triathlon was September 2005.
According to google, we had about 1.5 hour drive to Dunedin. We left our house around 4 am to make sure we would be there early to pick up the registration packet. I also liked getting there early to avoid all the traffic getting into the park. 🙂 Another benefit of getting there early is you get to see the course so you have an idea of how it will flow once the race begins.
About 800 people competed in the Triathlon this past Sunday. The event consisted of a 1/4 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. The organization of this event was amazing. Everyone knew what they were doing and the energy was contagious. If you’ve ever been to Honeymoon Island Beach, then you know there are a lot of “rocks”. I was very impressed with the race organizers who were yelling at us to keep “swimming” on our way out of the water and to use our hands so we wouldn’t cut our feet. Also, there were no rocks between the beach exit and the transition zone! Amazing job!
Personally, this was my best triathlon time 1:36:33. It was a longer bike run than my previous one, and I finished about 4 minutes faster. I can’t complain. My transition times need work for sure. The swimming portion will always be my weakness, but that’s ok. If I can survive that, I can certainly finish the other two.
The post race party was incredible. I couldn’t believe they had people at the finish line handing you an ice cold bottle of water! There was plenty of food to go around. Muffins, cookies, bagels, bananas, apples, pizza and beer! Unbelievable. But the best part was having my mom, brother and daughter there with me. My biggest supporter, my husband, stayed home with our youngest daughter. I can still hear my youngest daughter cheering for me as I walked into our home. I may not have been fast enough to place and win a medal, but the amount of love and encouragement I received from my family was priceless. 🙂
Congratulations, Xi! What a wonderful experience for you and what a wonderful role model for your daughters!
Thank you! I guess I’m just following my mom’s footsteps because she’s always been outdoorsy. I remember as a child we used to go on bike rides or walks to the beach all the time.
Congratulations! What a huge accomplishment and totally inspiring for your girls!
Thank you! I hope one day they’ll be interested in any sport and I can be there for them just like my mom has been there for me.
Yay! Congratulations!
Way to go! Im glad the weather cleared up so nicely for your race.
Congrats on your accomplishment.
Me too! I was so worried about the weather. The race directors decided to go with the “suck it up buttercup, you are a triathlete”, so that would have been really interesting.
CONGRATS!!! I didn’t know that race was on honeymoon island! I love that place – so beautiful and the perfect place for a tri. Way to rock it!
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