- February 27, 2009
- 11 Comments
- Health & Beauty
All Women's Triathlon – Trek Style
Raise your hand if you’ve done a triathlon? Any length…
O.K. Good. Very good!
Now, those of you who did not raise your hands (and I am speaking to the ladies), would you consider doing one if you knew it was only for women?
I heard that snicker. Yes you….shhhh. Stop. St… Yes. You. Could!!!
When my firstborn was an infant, I went to watch my friend compete in an all-women’s triathlon. I sat underneath a tree (it was cold and raining). As I sat nursing my newborn, I watched woman after woman cross the finish line. I saw women of ALL shapes… ALL sizes… ALL ages — Cross. The. Finish. Line.
I watched a 78 year-old woman cross that finish line as I sat under that tree, nursing my son. I thought, “Uhhh. If SHE can do it, I pretty much can’t come up with any justification not to be able to do it.” For some reason, “being a mom” was not enough reason for me to let myself out of that one. That was 1999… I was 26.
It took 2 years, but in 2001 I completed my first all-women’s triathlon. It changed my life. But not suddenly… slowly. It is still a process I am undergoing.
Since that first tri in August 2001 I have had 2 more children, have completed 5 more sprint triathlons, 1 Olympic distance triathlon as well as 4 half-marathons. Presently, I am training for a full marathon.
Don’t let those numbers overwhelm you. It has been 10 years (TEN years) since the first seed was planted in my life. Also, I have never finished in the top 3 or 5 or even 10… not even in my age group. People, the victory for me is to cross that finish line. I had never run before my first tri. Granted, I did have an advantage in that I was a swimmer as a child and teen (the swimming portion seems to be the biggest deterrent for many). However, the friend I went to watch back in 1999, learned to swim only 3 months before her event!
Ladies, we live in a wonderful time. There are so many opportunities for us to reach and dream and do things we never imagined we could do. I am not just talking about our professional lives, or politics, but our physical selves. Communities are bursting at the seams with programs and opportunities just for us. There has been a tremendous boom in the sport of triathlon – a boom that has made a way for women in all stages of life to accomplish something so life changing…
My story… my process… is much longer and more complicated that what I have briefly written here, but the summary remains true. My life is richer, healthier and better because an organization created a place I felt safe participating in – a sporting event focused on and built specifically for women. I would not have taken such a step of vunerability had my only option been a coed event. My body has never been something I have been comfortable with… but that one morning in 1999 changed how I felt about what I’d be willing to try.
Trek contacted me recently. They asked if I might be willing to spread the word about their Women’s Triathlon Series. You can read their press release here. Of course I want to share with my friends and readers about an opportunity to learn and grow and change! The Trek Women’s Triathlon will be in Seattle on July 5th, but this is not just one race (I prefer to call them “events”, less pressure that way), this is a series. You can go to the Trek Women’s Triathlon website to find other dates and locations, since I know not everyone who comes by this little spot lives near Seattle. I am still tending to my calendar, but perhaps I will see you in Seattle??? Do let me know…
Alrighty! Don’t wait too long! The first event in the series is in May! If you have any questions or feel that you could NEVER do a triathlon… ask me questions, pick my brain… Kathleen, between you and me we could possibly win over a solid crowd – don’t you think?
**********
Keep up on the ridiculous, the insightful, the always digressive…
Subscribe to my Jenny On The Spot RSS feed
Subscribe to Jenny On the Spot by Email
11 Responses to “All Women's Triathlon – Trek Style”
Use the Form Below to Leave a Reply
I’m doing the SheRox triathlon this August. =) I’m super nervous that I’ll die biking those 12 miles.
Jenny, I believe *you* could single-handedly change the world…I’m just along for the ride!
I HEART my Trek bike and Lance is a Trek fan too and I’m a fan of Lance (Armstrong) so you can see I would of course be a huge fan of a Trek Tri.
Women-only events rock…the energy is totally infectious and wonderful and it is THE best way to try something you thought you could never do. And succeed.
I think if I could just do the biking part (and the biking part consisted of a casual jaunt through pretty vistas and perhaps stopping for snow cone or gelato), I could do a triatholon. Of course, it would just be a oneatholon, I guess….
Anyway, seriously, you are inspiring. I see your Tweets about your runs and what you accomplish in the time you accomplish it in, and I ALWAYS think “I wish I could do that.” I’ll have to talk to my knees and see what they think.
OOhhhh….I’ll do a oneatholon with gelato!!! It’s not that I don’t think that I could do a triathalon if I really wanted to….I just don’t think I’m needing that level of punishment in my life. But, you Jenny, you ROCK! I do envy the feeling of empowerment you must have after…..for that feeling I just remember the 2 times I pushed babies out of my yaya without drugs. That’s good enough for me. Sorry for the visual.
i love this post. love it. for so many reasons. i did my first half marathon, i was 40 and it was such a feeling of accomplishments. my daughters are 4 and 2 and I love them realizing that exercise is a part of my life. I have always wanted to do a sprint tri, and this year I signed up for the danskin tri and i am so pumped up for it. i am so glad to know that other companies are trying to support women and this sport. tell trek they need to host one in NJ !!!!! i will twitter your post
Hey there, I found your blog from a google key word alert. What a nice surprise! We’re certainly on the same page. Triathlon is a great sport for all ages and abilities. I write encouragement for triathletes on my blog. It frustrates me when so many men and women see triathlon as something out of reach! You guys, you can all do this! Surprise yourself, it will change your life!
Sara
Ok my Darling, we non-tri’s have questions, questions and more questions. We sit here and read your glory, we are inspired, we feel the love. joy and succes, (pain, agony and dive into despair-but mostly the love). Yet sit we continue. It is overwhelming. Break it down for us will ya please
Pretty please w/ sugar on top. The running we mostly got, your past posts are invaluable for the ‘getting’ of running but can we walk during the Tri or will we be ‘disqualified’? Run over? Snickered at? Rocks thrown our way? Do we walk on the side so as not to impede real runners? If we fall over will someone come to our rescue or should we use our last breath to duck and cover?
but what about the other readers/lurkes/commenters/public sitting on their booties dreaming to “be like Jennyonthespot” one day. What are your questions? What is holding you back?
Expand on the swimming. The Trek Tri states this swim is for “those who can swim a half mile”. How far is that in laps in a pool. (for my sake, really clarify ‘”laps’ is that down & back or one way?) Then how many more laps do you need to have under your belt when switching to “open water w/ limited visibility”. If we decide during the tri that drowning really is our only option to finish will the fish get us or is there a boat that is willing to haul our booties out? Do we swim on the side so the real swimmers don’t clock us? Does this add more distance?
General: Can we team up and do only portions under one number? One do the swim, another the run, yet another the bike?
Biking-well I”m a cyclist so I have no questions here. That is my love
Jenny I think I just made you our personal trainer…mayhap I shoulda asked you personally first before I post this. Better yet I shoulda blogged it on my own blog. To give you an ‘out’, these need not be answered. They can be all rhetorical M’kay
No pressure, you do not have to answer any of them, well until I corner you at the coffee shop anyway…
I’ve been feeling really good that I’ve been getting back into running now that I am 40, with a newborn. I used to be a competitive runner, but stopped running when pregnant with my 17 year-old because the doctor told me it was dangerous for the baby. Since then, every time I try to take up running again, my knees doth protest very loudly. I think I’ve found a course my knees can handle now. I also think using my Bob stroller is forcing me to run in a better position. So I’m finally building mileage. This post really inspired me – I live in Sammamish so I’m close, July is enough time to get up to 3.1 miles, I can already bike 12 miles, but the swimming…800 meters is 32 pool lengths if I am correct? I don’t know if I can do that. And the wording on the site sounds a bit vague about whether or not I would be saved if I can’t…I think greensullivan brings up some valid concerns about becoming fish food and what not (which is not one of my life’s goals).
I’m 54 and have one sprint triathlon under my belt; 2007 Danskin in Seattle. I’m signed up for Trek and SheRox this summer 2009 and am excited about both. No question crossing the finish line with all those other wonderful women changed my life. I agree. This is an event that is do-able even for those who have never “done” before (that was me…I knew nothing about swimming efficiently, had never run more than a half mile in my life and as for the bike?, maybe 5 miles at a time long years ago). Getting in shape and working towards that goal of finishing did something fundamental to my brain; it’s never been quite the same since. I too would love to encourage all those who have never given a TRI a try.
I’m just hoping to get out of my pajamas today. Wow!
I have been overweight my whole life and will be participating in my first spring triathlon “event” this summer in Denver. I’m so excited/nervous. I’ll be looking for more next year.