Esprit De She Tri(umph)!

My nails are all chipped, and the polish is gone. However, a week ago Sunday they looked the best they've looked in years (see way below!). That same Sunday I competed, using the term 'competed' very loosely, in the Esprit De She Triathlon in Naperville, Il. Be warned, I am about to gush about the race. I had a great time. A great day. Even a great swim. Fyi, I am also an ambassador for the race, but I would be gushing even if I wasn't. It was so fun I might even do another triathlon. Oh yeah, I said it. I'm already trolling Ebay for wetsuits.

Who's excited! Me, that's who!

 

This was my third triathlon. The last two were six/seven years ago, and the swim spooked me. It has taken me a long time to try it again. Being kicked and swam over took the joy out of it. The Esprit De She is an all women's event, like the two other triathlons I had done in the past. All women's events are about encouraging and supporting women. They are designed for joy and success. They have a girly, pampering feel, which is awesome when juxtaposed to a competitive event aimed to kick your butt, hard. I managed to rope my stepmom into doing the tri with me. I only finished about five minutes ahead of her overall. She's tough. How many people can ask their mom to race with them last minute? It's pretty cool.

Just chillin on a Sunday with my stepmom

Let the gushing begin...

10 things I loved about Esprit De She Triathlon Sunday:

1. I had a great swim. I borrowed my friend Maria's wetsuit. It helped me stay warm and float. The water at Centennial Beach was 70 degrees. By the look on my stepmom's face when she started, it was cold without a wetsuit. When I first got into the water, the usual happened. I got kicked. I kicked. I couldn't see. It was cold. The first section sucked. Then as I rounded the first turn, I had more space to swim freely, and I could see. At one point, I thought to myself, "I can swim." I am not going to say it was effortless, but I was swimming and enjoying it. At one point, another swimmer grabbed my big toe, and I giggled. On the last leg, I thought, "I wonder what's different. Well, I've run five marathons since my last tri. I may be stronger..." Yes, I could think while swimming. It was a good swim. I finished the swim in 17:25 minutes. Not bad, for me.

2. I finished the bike course happily in under an hour (56:14). I hadn't done more than six miles consecutively on my bike this season. I had done bricks of bike, run, bike, but I hadn't had time for just bike. I got passed a lot. I should have been riding a beach cruiser with a basket full of flowers, maybe even a puppy. I did get lots of compliments on my ruu-muu. Plenty of people got a chance to see it.

3. I rocked my run. When I left the second transition with a better feeling about what to do, I told myself, "You are a runner. Be a runner." It took me about a mile to feel my feet which meant I only had two miles to go. "Run." I passed a lot of gals on the run. "Keep it up, runner." It had gotten hot. "Be a runner." To my surprise, I finished the run in 30:10. Not bad after a bike and swim.

4. The shirt is super cute and functional. My stepmom wore the shirt for the race. Normally, I would be totally against wearing the shirt during the event, but the shirt was so functional. It lends itself to the tri. It was made by Moxie. My stepmom and I met one of the owners after the race. Their patterns are cute, colorful and lend themselves to a variety of body types.

5.  I got to stroll the packet pick up with no girlios. According to tri rules, I had to personally pick up my packet on Saturday. Saturdays are crazy for me. I was going to try to pick up my packet in between soccer games but my daughter left her ball at the field so I had to go after my games. I arrived at the pick up about half an hour before it closed. I talked to the vendors and sampled products. I took this picture with Always. It was lovely. For all my friends with food allergies, check out Zemas. Tasty stuff.

I always try something twice just to make sure I don't like it, especially food.

6. Great parking. This may seem little, but when I had to leave my house before 5 am, travel on mostly empty streets and watch the sun come up on the road, great parking puts the icing on the cake. The streets close to the beach were available and convenient.

7. The medal is adorable. Just look at it!

 

8. Manicure! As part of the post race party, manicurists from Lifetime Fitness did complimentary manicures. Chelsea, who did my nails, had been there since 7 am, and she said managers from three stores were there with her and others doing nails, braiding hair and giving massages. My nails are normally crappy. I do so many dishes it's just not worth it. It was a treat I (and my stepmom) haven't had in a long time.

9.The post race party was great, girly and unique. There were vendors, samples, massages, manicures, race results and even a place to plant seeds. My lime basil has germinated and is growing strong. There were even flowers to buy for race participants. All the money went to ovarian cancer research. In fact, the whole race supported ovarian cancer and that warmed my heart. My mom lost her battle against ovarian cancer.

Lime Basil

10. Hanging out with my college roommate for lunch! After the race, I changed my clothes, sprayed myself with something flowery scented and met my college roommate, Joy, for lunch in downtown Naperville. She is such a blessing. I loved catching up with her. I could have talked with her all afternoon. We practically did. It was fabulous day to end the day.

Here's the tri stats: Swim (17:25), T1 (5:34), Bike (56:14), T2 (4:03), Run (30:10), Time (1:53:24)

Fyi: Esprit de She is having another event, a 5K/10K, on July 18 in Chicago.

Did I mention that I had a great time?!