The Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon Recap!

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A day that I anticipated for months finally came. The Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon was on September 26th, and I plus 3 friends completed the event! This was my second sprint triathlon, but since it’s been 9 years and I’ve borne 3 children since that time, this very much felt like a brand new experience.

The weather was absolutely perfect the weekend of the race, and that was truly a gift since all “legs” of the event were outside. Bad weather can really kill the vibe of an outdoor race so the perfect blue skies were very appreciated.

A sprint triathlon is a mini or shorter triathlon that contains all the traditional parts of that kind of race. It was a swim, bike, and run. The distances of each of those legs were short, which is why it’s called a sprint triathlon. The word “sprint” confuses people sometimes because they imagine it’s a speed race, like a “run as fast as you can kind of sprint”, but like any event like this, you can take it as fast or slow as you personally desire.

The swim was 225 yards, the bike was 8 miles, and the run was 2 miles. I love sprint triathlons because each part of the race is short enough that you feel like “I can do this” and it’s over so quickly.

I peer pressured my friends Kathleen and Anna to join me, and then Kathleen did the same with her friend Dana. So, the four of us all signed up and eagerly waited for race day to arrive.

Personally, after having the Peloton for about 1.5 years, I knew I would be able to excel at the bike portion. I was not confident with swimming freestyle and felt indifferent about the run. Mentally, I was most nervous about the swimming, and I knew as soon as that part was over I could enjoy the event more. This ended up being very true as I really did not perform well for the swim portion. My nerves took over and I felt breathless as soon as I jumped in the pool, which made it very hard to swim!

In transition, I took some deep breaths to calm down and was able to regain my composure enough to walk my bike to the start line, hop on, and hit the road. I was so happy to be out of the water and doing a form of exercise that I was comfortable and confident in.

I took the bike portion as hard and fast as I could. I am really happy with my time given the sheer volume of hills and turns on the bike course. You would not believe how steep some of the hills were on the course, it was brutal.

The bike course ended back in the transition area, and that is where I saw Justin, David, and Luke! They came to cheer me on, which was so sweet. Emily, my daughter, was happily playing at a park with my parents on the morning of the race.

I hopped off the bike and intended on changing shoes, but I was feeling really good so I just took a swig of Propel, threw on my running hat, and started on my run.

It took about a half-mile to get my legs back to feeling more normal since getting off the bike. I was feeling pretty depleted during the run, but I got it done and was so happy to cross the finish line!

Overall, I feel really great about how the race went, except the swim, and I am so glad I signed up and pushed myself to do this!

This was my first Ramblin’ Rose triathlon. The race I did 9 years ago was through a different organization and was men and women. Sunday’s race and all Ramblin’ Rose events are women only, which was a nice element as a beginner.

The entire experience was smooth, the race ran perfectly, and I felt very prepped and aware of what to expect thanks to the people running the event. The participants of the race were so encouraging and supportive too, so that was a really wonderful addition.

This sprint triathlon was challenging and it pushed me to dig deep to finish strong. I would highly, highly recommend signing up for an event like this if you even have a tiny bit of desire. You can do this!

Q & A from Instagram:

One. Why did you sign up for this? I wanted a challenge and wanted to do something that would push me and also utilize all this bike training I’ve been doing on the Peloton.

Two. What did you wear? I wore my Spanx bike shorts, a Lululemon sports bra, and a Triathlon tank. I wore Nike Phantom sneakers (these) and intended on changing into my Miler’s for the run portion because I thought my feet would be wet, but I ended up feeling fine and just ran in my Nike’s.

Three. Did you change or just do the bike and run portion in wet clothes? I just wore my sports bra and bike shorts for the swim. My Tri tank was draped over my bike handlebars waiting for me, with the bib pinned onto it. So after the swim, I jogged over to the transition area (where my stuff was), and towel dried. Then, I pulled my tank on, put on my socks, shoes, and helmet, and hit the road. My clothes were a bit damp, but not dripping wet.

Four. Would you sign up for another one? Absolutely yes, but I think I may do a duathlon instead of a triathlon to omit the swim portion!

Five. Is the swim in a pool or a lake? For this event, it was in a pool. I don’t think I could do a triathlon with a lake or ocean swim. I would have to really improve my swimming abilities.

Six. Did you follow a training program? No, I regularly ride the Peloton or run outside for exercise, so I just maintained that. I swam a few times but wish I had trained more for that. I’m sure there are training programs available but I did not use them.

Seven. How did you feel the rest of the day after the race? I was absolutely exhausted! But I was also really happy.

You can head back 9 years and read my recap of that triathlon here.

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Becky Bass says · 09.27.21

Congratulations!

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Carol says · 09.27.21

Congratulations!!! You should be very proud of yourself. Job well done.

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judi says · 09.27.21

Congrats! Kudos to you!

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Mary says · 09.27.21

Congratulations!! Great job!

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Donnell Bourgoyne says · 09.27.21

How amazing! So inspiring! I always enjoy your blog!
Thank you!

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Kathy says · 09.27.21

Congratulations Kate! You should be very proud of yourself!!

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Sherry says · 09.28.21

Congratulations !!! I’m sure that feels so good to have accomplished this. A friend of mine did one of these several years ago, she really enjoyed the experience. Way to go Kate !

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Hannah says · 09.28.21

Congratulations and well done! This is inspiring – I am currently pregnant but looking for something to inspire my postpartum workouts, this made me look up triathlons in my area!

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Geraldine says · 09.28.21

Awesome!!! Kudos to you! Don’t let the swim psych you out – keep on working on it, and it will get easier. You never know – it might end up becoming your strongest event!

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erika papp says · 10.04.21

Congrats on the race, what kind of bike did you use? A few years ago I did a duathlon but was disappointed with the bike portion as I was using a hybrid bike and It really made a difference compared to other racers. (I won’t deny that I had a bell on my bike also that my son added before I left for race)…

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