Elysian Rookie Triathlon

It was no “rookie” tri. The bike ride may have been but not the other two events! So we woke up early Saturday morning for the hour drive to Elysian, MN for the 31st Annual Elysian Rookie Triathlon. It was very humid and it looked like rain was going to strike but fortunately it stayed away until after the race was over. We got there early and set up the bikes for Bradley and me. And walked to packet pick up. Our shirts are pretty cool so that’s awesome! We got our number written on our arms which didn’t really make sense for DJ since she had a bib but whatever.

The Swim

The race started with a .4 mile swim. Eric was our swimmer, doesn’t he look awesome in that red cap?

He did really well, granted a lot of people were faster than him but the fact he did it in 17 minutes is amazing. He thought it would take him a half hour. LOL! I think we did a lot more than .4 miles when we went lake swimming the other day! He was covered in weeds when he got out of the water.

The Bike

I took the timing chip and hopped on my bike for the 8 mile ride. A very short ride for a triathlon, they are usually around 12-16 miles but I’m not complaining! It was a great ride for me. I started out fast with a group of three guys. I hung around them for the first 2 miles. We were averaging around 18 mph which for me is fast. We got into the serious hills and they took off and I was left on my own. I kept saying to myself that I can do this, I can do this and I did it. Apparently the mental stuff works! I passed a bunch of people, including some that were walking their bikes up the hills. The worse part of the ride was the nice long downhill…to a stop and turn around. UGH! That meant I had to go up that nice long downhill with no momentum. Somewhere near the end of the ride my sunglasses fell off. I was going about 30mph at the time down a hill, I wasn’t about to stop for some sunglasses. We didn’t go back to get them either. :(  I pulled into the exchange area with a time of 30 minutes. I was so happy with my ride!

The Run

We got the timing chip on DJ for her 4 mile…I mean 5 mile run. Yep, they said it was supposed to be 4 miles but it really was 5! That is crazy! She finished in almost an hour which was her goal for the 4 mile run so she did really good! 

The Finish

Our overall time was 1:49:32.  Here is our team shot. Bradley and his brothers did it also and won 3rd place for all male relay. Good for them!