The Adventures of Dr. Super Babe

What an awesome race today's triathlon was!

After signing up for this triathlon very last minute, as you might remember from my previous post, I really wondered whether my sanity had left me briefly, especially since I have a half marathon coming up in 3 weeks from today and this was supposed to be my "rest" week.  But I figured, this would be my chance to redeem myself about the swim portion of the triathlon, since I had freaked out completely at the beginning of the swim of the last triathlon I did a couple of weeks ago.

I knew I was not going to do much better in the bike portion because, well, I haven't actually been on a long bike ride since that last triathlon, except for riding around with the child in our neighborhood on Monday afternoon after I picked up my bike from the bike store where they had installed the car seat; the child loved it!!!  And considering I went on a 6-mi run yesterday and this triathlon included a 4-mi run, I knew my legs would be slightly tired and I probably wouldn't run as fast either, but that didn't matter.  As long as I could swim the whole swim portion without stopping and gasping for air, I would feel I had a great race.

So after prepping up last night and packing all the necessary gear (which was a lot faster this time!), we went to bed relatively early, and it would have been a great night of sleep had I not woken up at 3 am with a stuffy nose.  But oh well.  I got up at 6 am, drank some water, and had a hard-boiled egg, and basically just walked around and got ready.  My Man and the child woke up later and we were all in the car and out of the house at 6:50 am.  The race started at 8 am, at a place where we hadn't been before and which was about 25 minutes away, so we figured we should give ourselves some extra time just in case.  I'm glad we did that.  The drive to the park was uneventful, we got there with plenty of time, and this time I decided to actually go for a short swim in the lake where we would be swimming just to get used to it and not freak out at the beginning.  That was definitely a good thing to do.
They had planned for 4 start waves with 3-minutes in between them: men 39 and under, men 40 and older, women 39 and under, and women 39 and older.  The swim course was in the shape of an M, so there was some concern about people swimming into each other, so they decided to give the 2nd wave a little more time in between them and the first wave.  Then, since there weren't many women 40 and older doing the race, they asked if we minded all the women starting together, which we didn't.  While we waited, we actually saw the first guy out of the water, a 14-yr old kid who I have since learned didn't finish the race because he fell on his back at some point.  Sad.

We went in about 13-14 minutes after the original start time, and I actually swam the whole thing.  I started with slower strokes, and once I reached the first turning point, I started picking up the pace.  It made my very happy to pass other swimmers, especially since, as you can tell from this video, I was pretty much at the very end of the pack at the start (yes, I'm still very afraid of being kicked on the face!).  The whole time I was swimming, I felt like I was in the lake where they did the Goblet of Fire competition in Harry Potter; you could totally see the weeds and plants under the water!  It was bizarre... but cool.

I got out of the water, ran up the hill to the transition area, and got ready to go on the bike ride, and even though the voices inside my head told me not to have the energy gel, I did, hoping the last triathlon's migraine was just a fluke.  I should have listened.  But don't let me get ahead of myself; the bike portion was a long loop around the park, and it was actually really pretty and very enjoyable despite the many rolling hills it had.  I passed only 2 people I think, and only 1 person passed me; all in road bikes (not only did I have my mountain bike, it now has a rack in the back for the child's seat!).  I made sure to drink plenty of water while I was biking, too, and when I finished the bike I felt great, so I thought the migraine gods had spared me this one time.  I was wrong.
My second transition time was super quick (only 33 seconds!), and I saw my Man and the child as I started the run, which was really hilly, especially at the beginning.  At about mile 1 I started seeing that awful spot that usually precedes my migraines and I wasn't happy, but I kept running.  My legs were really tired, and I was pretty sure I was doing more like 9:30 min/miles, especially since at that point in the race (and because there weren't many people doing the race in the first place), I had no frame of reference to see if I was doing well or not.  The worst part of the aura happened around mile 2, and by mile 3 the aura spot was big enough that I could at least see in front of me well (but not so much to the side).  I managed to keep running and actually finished strong, and it so made me happy to hear them say my name as I turned before the finish line, where my Man and the child were waiting for me proudly.

I got my finishers medal and a container with chocolate milk (one of the race's sponsors) and even though I normally would never drink milk after a workout, I decided to give it a shot because of the caffeine in the chocolate (if any!), to see if it could help with the migraine.  It must have, because I didn't really get a full-blown migraine headache or belly ache after that, so it was all good.  We hung out for a little while in a shaded area talking to my Man's coworker who lured me into doing this race (he claimed it was payback for me luring him into doing the one 3 weeks ago!), and then as we decided to leave, I thought I'd go check the results they had posted.
Imagine my surprise when I saw that I had won my age group!  Granted, there were only 4 of us in the group but still!!!  I was thrilled!!!  Official results have been posted and here are mine:

600-m swim: 18:47 min (that is a 50:23 min/mi pace; compared to a 55:36 min/mi in the 750-m swim in the last triathlon)
13-mi bike: 51:55 min (that is a 15 mi/h pace in 20.92 km; compared to a 15.8 mi/h in the 20-km bike ride in the last triathlon)
4-mi run: 33:32 min (that is a 8:23 min/mi pace in 6.43 km; compared to 8:16 min/mi in the 5-km run in the last triathlon)

I also finished 74/102 overall and 20/38 all female participants.  Overall?  Not feeling too shabby, I gotta say!  And other than the rolling hills in the bike and run courses, I actually really enjoyed the race.  Lots of great volunteers and very friendly participants!  It'll be fun to do it again next year!  

The previous part of the week was actually busy but not too badly.  On Tuesday we got to have dinner with one of our friends who moved to Madison, WI back in May.  That was fun.  I had a couple of busy days at work (and still coming!), but was happy that my Man didn't have to stay late at work doing experiments as originally planned.  And yesterday we actually went to our first Roller Derby match!  We didn't stay for the whole thing, but we did enjoy the skating, and I must confess the thought of joining a Roller Derby team crossed my mind a couple of times... what?!  The shorts and stockings (and helmets) looked really cool!!!

I was also very happy to not get a migraine after my workouts (which made today's migraine even more annoying!).  The training for the half marathon is going great I think, here is this past week's schedule:

Monday: 4-mi afternoon run (because I was too tired to wake up at my usual 5:40 am!).
Tuesday:  25-min (1000-m) swim. 
Wednesday: Great Flexibility Yoga workout with Rodney Yee. 
Thursday: 5-mi run. 
Friday: 30-min (1250-m) swim. 
Saturday: 6.15-mi run. 
Sunday: Another great triathlon described above!

Tomorrow is definitely a yoga day!

Anyway.  After the race we went to have a yummy breakfast, then came home and chilled for a while before spending a fun afternoon at the Aquatic Center with a friend.  The boy loved it; he's so not scared of the water it's actually a bit frightening!  But he had a great time... we all did!  The boy called it a day an hour ago and I think my Man and I aren't far behind!  It's been an fun and exhausting weekend!

If you know me, you have probably heard me go on and on about how I refuse to color my hair despite the white starting to take over (as the lady at the Mexican Consulate nicely pointed out back in June when I went to renew my Mexican passport).  I normally tell people that as long as I am healthy and in good shape, I don't care about the gray hairs.  And for the most part, I think I honestly stand by that statement.  Lately, however, as I seem to get more annoyed by the unruly white hairs, I've noticed I'm more motivated than ever to keep training for something.

Sure, it could be the fact that I've been so good this year about staying in shape, and that it took so much effort to get in decent shape for the triathlon I did earlier this month; and while I'm sure it would be easier to just get my hair colored, I figured out in the long run it's probably cheaper to just keep signing up for races.  They are fun, they make me feel part of the community of folks who enjoy exercising, and hopefully the child will grow up used to seeing his mother (and hopefully his father!) take part in races, so I want to believe it's a win-win situation for everybody.

Why do I ramble about this?  Because today, after talking to one of my Man's coworkers (the same one I sort of lured into doing the triathlon earlier this month), I decided to sign up for a triathlon... this Sunday.  That's right.  I'll be doing this triathlon, which includes a 600-m swim (so, 150 m less than the previous one), a 13-mi bike ride (1 mi longer than the previous one), and a 4-mi run (0.8 mi longer than the previous one).  And even though I had already signed up for a Turkey Trot in Charlotte, NC this year (a 5-mi run that my Man and I will be doing while pushing the child - gotta get some stroller running training going after the half in 3 weeks!), clearly it is not enough to just have that to keep focused in the next months, so I also decided to sign up for another half marathon in April of next year.  I know, I know, many things can happen between now and then, but assuming life goes on, that will certainly keep me motivated to keep up the good work I've done until now through the winter months, which are always tough.

Anyway.  Yes, I'm crazy, have we not met before?

Other than this, the last week and a half has been good and somewhat relaxing, especially compared to the whirlwind couple of weeks/months that preceded it!  It doesn't mean that it was all fun... I assure it wasn't, especially Tuesday and Thursday mornings when I got awful migraines after exercising.  The one on Tuesday was especially bad considering I still threw up 3 times, had an awful headache, and basically passed out for 6 hours and when I woke up I still had remnants of a headache... and all of this after having taken my medicine as soon as I got the aura!  So on Thursday, when I got the aura again, exactly 1 hour after finishing my exercise (as is usually the case in my exercise-related migraines), I was terrified about getting another awful headache, so I skipped my medicine and basically just dealt with the headache, which thankfully wasn't as bad.

Yes, I suffer from classic migraines.  The way they work out for me is that I usually get the aura, which prevents me from focusing (and not fun when I'm driving!), then when I can see ok again, I get a headache that sometimes goes away if I throw up.  If they last more than 4 hours I really want to chop my head off!  Growing up, I knew my mom and one of my sisters would get them, but as far as I remember, they would get the "common migraine" (which is not accompanied by the aura) and their headaches would last longer and they were super sensitive to light.  So when I was 18 and at some point dealing with some stressful times in college and then got the aura and then my stomach started hurting, I was pretty sure I had appendicitis or something.  After visiting a neurologist, I was diagnosed with migraines (and also with being very smart, which I kindly asked the doctor to convey to my parents, as I had failed a class that semester).  Mind you, this was 18 years ago, so there wasn't as much information available as there is now.  When I started my PhD, I was swimming three times a week, and at some point I started getting them after swimming, so I stopped.  I also attempted to get back into Tae Kwon Do so that I could hopefully get my black belt, but after a month of classes three times a week and getting a migraine right after each and every class, I also decided to stop.  When I started getting them after running sometime around 2002-2003, I decided I was not going to stop running, so went to see a doctor again.  That time they prescribed a medicine that I think was an antidepressant, which I know now are used as preventive medication, and I took it for a while and then stopped taking because I hadn't gotten migraines and didn't feel like being in a long-term medication.

I got them on and off the next couple of years, and in fact, the time we lived in Germany I don't remember getting many of them, and I didn't get any while I was pregnant.  I think I had 1 or 2 last year, but then I got 2 earlier this year, then another one during the triathlon a couple of weeks ago, and then those 2 last week.  I'm telling you - I was worried when I went on my long run on Saturday, but thankfully I felt fine afterward.  What caused them?  Who knows.  I've never been able to point them to a specific trigger, like food or something.  It could have been the delicious red plums I was eating last week (which are triggers for some), perhaps the lack of sleep or the stress, maybe the fact that I didn't drink enough water in the morning before exercising.  Who knows.  I'm back to keeping a journal and we'll see how it goes.

Anyway.  That's the migraine update.  I also went out to lunch with some lovely ladies from work on Wednesday.  Because of the migraine on Thursday, I went to sleep at the childish hour of 8 pm while my Man went out with our neighbor that evening.  On Friday evening, since my Man had to have dinner with some work folks, the child and I went to have dinner over with our neighbors, who were celebrating his brother's birthday.  Also, that day was the first time I heard the child say a full sentence in English.  What was it, you wonder?  It was "Morgan, don't open the door, open the gate, don't open the door".  Then he switched to Spanish while talking to me.  His babysitter and I were amazed (she was babysitting the other girl, who also lives in our neighborhood, and while out for a walk, they had stopped by to say hi).  I was truly amazed by how his little brain works and I'm so, so happy and thrilled that we decided to raise a bilingual child.  He'll be so grateful one day!

The weekend was actually pretty fun; Saturday we went on a shopping spree (I might have developed, in addition to all the running craze, an addiction to shoes in the last couple of months - I ended up with 2 pairs of boots and a pair of cute sandals!), which also included finally getting a seat for the child for my bike, and that evening I went out with my LUPEC friends for dinner and drinks.  That was fun.  Then on Sunday we went to the birthday party of our neighbors' son, and I loved seeing the child interact with other children.  Fun times overall.

On the training front, those migraines really sucked some life out of me, but nonetheless, I still was able to do my long run on Saturday at a pretty decent pace.  This is what last week's schedule looked like:

Monday: 4-mi run
Tuesday: 30-min (1250-m) swim followed up by a horrible migraine
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5-mi run followed by a not-so-horrible-but-still-annoying migraine
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 10.3-mi run that felt great!
Sunday: Rest


And that's it for now.  Will tell you about this week next time.  Until then, you can see some pictures of our latest adventures here in the "2012 - East Lansing (2)" album.  Enjoy!

P.s. Some of my friends pointed out that I'm too young to have a midlife crisis... However, one of my running buddies said that my signing up for another triathlon might be pointing out to a lapse in sanity.  Perhaps... but this time I really want to see if I do better in the swim... especially if I don't freak out in the first 5 minutes!  We'll see how it goes!  

What a week this was!!!  On Monday morning, we all went to drop off the child at daycare, then my Man dropped my brother and me off at the Amtrak station so we could get on a train headed to Chicago for 27 hours of fun.  I know, we're crazy, but better that than no hours at all!

The train ride was quite relaxing and I often wish we could travel by train more often, but I'm also glad that we can at least get to Chicago by train from East Lansing.  The trip is about 4 hours, so right after noon we were arriving at Chicago's Union Station, where we did a quick tour so that my brother could see the beautiful Great Hall, before walking all the way to Giordano's on Michigan Avenue.  I had only eaten there once about 10 years ago when I was visiting friends; in our most recent trips, we are usually in a hurry or just not willing to wait more than 10 minutes for a table (a toddler and a hangry mother will do that), so end up eating at less-touristy-popular places.  But since it was slightly after lunch hour and a weekday, we figured it wouldn't be terrible, and it wasn't; we only had to wait for about 10 minutes before getting a table and then about 40 minutes for our delicious pizza.  I still claim that one of the reasons these pizzas are so popular (Giordano's or Lou Malnati's, where we once waited over an hour!) is because they make you wait for so long that by the time they give you the food, anything will taste delicious because you're starving!  But that's just me, and the pizza we ordered was yummy.

After lunch, we headed to our hotel on Ohio Street just off of Michigan Avenue because I had a conference call from work starting at 3 pm, so I sent my brother to the Chicago Art Institute and told him I would meet him outside when my conference call was over.  I think he had a good time at the museum in the 2 hours that he spent there.  Once we were reunited, we walked to the Lake Michigan water front just east of Millenium Park, mesmerized by the amount of trash left by the recent festival.  We sat in a bench and relaxed while looking at all the boats anchored nearby, and then we met my cousin, who came to pick us up and take us to her house so we could visit with my uncle -my Mom's oldest brother- for a little while.  Then we went to Devon Avenue for a yummy Indian dinner and a delicious dessert from Tahoora.  Have I mentioned that I loved pistachio faloodas?  While there I also got some kalakand to bring back home.  And I wonder why I gained some weight while my brother was here... Sigh.  Anyway.  After dessert we walked around Devon Avenue for a while and then my cousin gave us a ride back to downtown so we could do some night-time strolling in the city.  The views of the buildings by the river and by Millenium and Grant Park were amazing.  I love Chicago (in the summer!).

On Sunday morning we had to wake up at the ungodly hour of 5 am in order to be on the road no later than 5:30 am and take my brother back to DTW to catch his flight to Monterrey.  The child woke up and was very excited when we told him we were going to the airport; I think the pool child suspected he would be the one getting on a plane... but alas it wasn't and he was disappointed.  We said good-bye to my brother, and then we stopped at an IHOP for breakfast on the way home... and basically just had a very relaxed day on Sunday.  It was much needed.

I really enjoyed having my brother around, as did my Man and the child.  And I know he also had a good time, what with the multiple travels and just hanging out with us... But it really had been a crazy couple of weeks/months basically since May, so I'm happy to welcome some peace into our routine, at least in the next couple of weeks, especially as I need to ramp up my running training for the upcoming half-marathon!  Here is last week's training schedule:

Monday: Morning flexibility yoga workout and "Rest" (as restful as walking around for hours in Chicago can be!)
Tuesday: "Rest" (again)
Wednesday: 5-mi run
Thursday: 30-min (1250-m) swim in the pool
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 9-mi run

This week flew by!  I love having visitors in town, but when we do, I really feel like time just slips through my hands!

On Tuesday afternoon my brother and I went to the lake for me to attempt my swim... That evening we went to have dinner before going to the movies to see the last Batman movie.  I loved it (and Christian Bale!), but I couldn't help but feel uneasy about people moving around in the theater as the movie was playing... Sigh.

I had planned to take my brother to tour downtown Lansing, including the beautiful Capitol building, but I ended up having to do some stuff for work on Wednesday afternoon, so we just stayed home until it was time to retrieve the child from daycare.  I also had my last Pilates class that evening - I really need to focus more on core work, I really enjoyed it!  On Thursday my brother met me and one of my friends at the ever yummy MSU Dairy Store, since they had the broccoli and cheddar cheese soup, which never disappoints.  After lunch, my brother and I went on a fun shopping spree before retrieving the child and picking up our share of vegetables from the Student Organic Farm.

Then on Friday, my brother and I went to Detroit for the day, mostly to tour the Detroit Institute of Arts, have a delicious lunch at Good Girls go to Paris next door, and then make a quick stop by the IKEA, so my brother could get some decorating and space-saving tips and ideas.  I miss Berlin every time I'm at an IKEA!  Anyway.  I really enjoyed the DIA; and I think my latest fascination are the sculptures that have veiled ladies; the detail is amazing!  Our trip was uneventful on the way back home, and we just stopped home to pick up my Man and the child and headed to have some sushi for dinner.  That was nice.

We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon in Saugatuck, but we forgot to bring the stroller, which proved to be not so much fun for us; though I suspect for the child, too.  He's just not ready yet for longish day trips without his carriage.  But we still managed to enjoy some of the cool stores, had a yummy lunch, drove by the lake shore, and then headed back via Grand Rapids, where we stopped to have some cool drinks with our friends there, whom we had not seen since June before all of us went on summer vacations.  Then we came back home and I started getting ready for my triathlon today (you can read all about that here!)

The triathlon this morning was lots of fun, then we came back home to rest... and we spent the afternoon at the Aquatic Center; the child definitely loves the water!!!

Training this past week was good, and it certainly helped improve my self-confidence in getting ready for the race:

Monday: 4.9 mi run.
Tuesday:  Biked 6-mi to the lake, swam about 850 yards in the lake, then biked 6-mi back home with my brother.
Wednesday: Pilates class.
Thursday: 40-min bike ride (in the trainer because it was too dark in the morning) and then a very speedy 3-mi run (sub 9 min/mile!)
Friday: 30-min (1200-m) swim in the pool
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Great Triathlon!!!

And now that this is done, I'll keep the training for the half marathon coming up in a couple of weeks!!!

I really can't believe we only have 1 week left with my brother here; we've had lots of fun having him here and showing him around, and I think he's had a good time, too, though he's probably not ready to have children any time soon, ha!  Anyway, he and I are headed to Chicago for a couple of days tomorrow, so that should be fun.  Until then, you can see some pictures of our latest adventures in the "2012 - East Lansing" and "Michigan 2012" albums here.  Enjoy!

Back in April, when I started training for this race, August seemed like a long time away, but the day for the Spartan Sprint Triathlon finally arrived today!  I might have mentioned this before, but I was really looking forward this event because about 11 years ago I did an off-road triathlon and I was the last person to get out of the water (I finished 107/111), so I was hoping to revindicate myself.  People would tell me that my goal should be to finish but that's a moot point; if I register for a race it is because I am planning to finish it!  Instead, I need to have extra goals, and for this one, it was to not be the last person coming out of the water!

Last night I spent some time making sure I packed everything I might need for the race; this was actually easy thanks to the internet, where you can find lots of triathlon packing lists.  I put everything in a bucket, as I had read it was a good idea to carry your stuff in one and then you could use it to sit on while putting your shoes on.  That was a fantastic thing to have taken!  I also took a bottle of water to rinse my feet, which was much needed considering I cut myself in the sole of my left foot during the swim portion of the triathlon; having antibiotic ointment was also good for this.  Anyway.  Things were left packed and ready to go and I also left my hard boiled egg ready to be eaten early in the morning.  I went to bed slightly worried about the potential rain and wind they were forecasting for the morning, but hoped for the best.

The alarm went off at 5:50 am and I spent some time in the bed just waking up; by 6:15 am I had eaten my egg and drank some water, then I got my triathlon suit on and got things packed in the car before mounting my bike.  By 6:50 am me and my awesome support group (my Man, the child, and my brother) were on the road to Lake Lansing South, the park where the triathlon would be taking place.  It did rain during the night, and even though it was really overcast, there were no drops of rain to be seen in the morning, which was good.

I got checked in and we spent some time hanging out in the grass by the lake, also catching up with one of my Man's coworkers whom I usually see at the gym early when I go for my swim workouts.  Apparently he's done a couple of triathlons in the past and in the last week thought it'd be fun to do this one; he tried registering late for the event but hey had capped it at 250 participants and only had 40 first-come-first-serve spots for today, so he got there super early and was able to get in.

They had 3 groups of folks: Collegiate, Public Men, and Public Women (the public category also included high-school kids), starting in waves at 8:00, 8:05, and 8:10 am.  Because I have a fear of getting kicked in the face, I tried to stay behind most of the women's group as we saw the other 2 groups take off.  It was fun interacting with the other women waiting to get started; it's always interesting to me to hear what other people worry about before a race.  Some of the women there were mostly worried about the swimming part (myself included), but there were also several who were worried about the running (not me; I was pretty confident about that one!).  Anyway.  The swimming course was shaped like a triangle, with a long leg out to the middle of the lake, then 2 shorter ones back to the shore.  They had placed kayakers along the course to aid the swimmers, which came in handy later on.

Unfortunately I didn't include much of lake swimming during my training; in fact, I only went swimming in the lake once before the race, and with the excitement of the race and everything, I started off too quickly, and at about 50 yards after starting, I was already exhausted and panicking.  There were lots of people around me, I couldn't really see where I was going, and I was just not pacing myself very well, then I would look ahead and see the buoy where we were supposed to turn and it would still look far, far away!  At some point I really questioned whether or not I was going to be able to finish the swimming portion.  For a little bit, and to catch my breath, I doggie-paddled and did the side and breast stroke.  So much for feeling like Michael Phelps (who is amazing, may I add!)...

Eventually I made it to the first buoy; by then, I had already started my getting-mad-at-myself mantra, so I was feeling a little more empowered.  The mantra is simple, actually, and it basically includes me telling myself that damn it, I trained for this so this is no time to wuss out, and that I can do much, much better than that!  I stopped for a little while holding on to the kayak to adjust my chip, which was a little loose, and then I paced myself and was actually able to swim more decently to the next buoy.  I made a right turn and then started heading back to the shore when, at some point, I realized I could actually walk in the water (which others were also doing), so I did for a while (and here is where I cut myself; who knows with what!) before getting back to swimming all the way back to where I could stand again.  At some point I turned back and saw plenty more people still in the water, so I knew I was going to do well in the race!  You can see a video of me finishing the swim part here.

My support group was waiting near the water exit and cheered for me as I headed out the transition area to get ready for the bike part of the race.  I did take a little while in that transition mostly because I had to clean my feet before putting my shoes on.  Right before the race, I had been given an energy gel, which I hadn't used in a while (basically since training for my marathon back in 2006), so I decided to take it as I started biking.  You can see a video of me starting the bike portion here.

The bike portion was basically 3 loops around the lake, and it was actually fairly easy, even in my mountain bike.  For the most part, I rode at the highest speed possible, which is not too high in the mountain bike (compared to a road bike), but it was ok.  I was slightly jealous of folks in road or triathlon bikes, but I still managed to pass several folks (some in road bikes).  Unfortunately, during the 2nd lap I started seeing the stupid migraine aura in my right eye, which didn't bring me joy... no, in fact it really pissed me off.  I mean, all this training to get a migraine during the race?  I don't think so.  So I kept pedaling harder and eventually I finished.  Thankfully I had my medicine with me, so I took it while I was at the transition area dropping off my bike and getting ready for the run and just hoped it would do its job quickly.

The transition from bike to run is not a fun one for the legs and feet, but I did ok (thank you, brick training!) and after a couple hundred yards, I was doing ok, still passing folks (which always feels nice!).  The run portion was a there-and-back course, so by the time I got the return point, I started running slightly faster.  Mind you, I was still amazed I had gone on a super speedy run earlier in the week, and I didn't imagine that I was going to run that fast after swimming and biking, but without my gps with me, I had no idea how fast I was going... I just went!  Eventually I made it back to the park, went in, and headed to the last stretch, where my Man, the child, and my brother were happily cheering for me as I crossed the finish line.  That felt awesome.

I was exhausted when I finished though, so I walked around and stretched for a little while until my breathing was back to normal... My brother hung out with me while my Man took the child to the play area so he could run around and have some fun.  Eventually they posted some initial results and I just couldn't believe my eyes; I had finished 5th in my age group with a finish time of 1:43:00 h!  Here is the breakdown:

750-m swim: 26:08 min (which I was sort of expecting)
20-km bike: 46:58 min (about right from my training)
5-km run: 25:38 min (I still can't believe it!!!  That's an 8:15 min/mile pace!!!!  3 seconds faster than my previous PR, and that's after swimming and biking!!!)

They still haven't posted the official results, but when they do, I'll add them here.

Anyway. After hanging out the park for a little while we left, came by the house to drop off the stuff, and headed out to the Fleetwood Diner for some post-race food, which was delicious.  And that's about it!  I really had a lot of fun today, and I must thank my awesome husband for taking care of our child and getting him ready in the mornings while I go out and train.  I really couldn't do any of this without his amazing support.

You can see some pictures of the race in the "Spartan Sprint 2012" album here.  Hope you enjoy them as much I enjoyed doing this race - I can't wait to do this again next year!!!

EDIT (8/8/12):  Official results are in.  I finished 101 out of 143 total public participants, and based on my calculations, I finished 28 out of 53 women (in the public category).  I also finished 4th in my age group, and I was definitely far from being the last person out of the water!!!