Triathlon in Boca Raton

I woke up at 5:45 this morning so that I could get to Spanish River Park in Boca Raton (1/2 hour south of here) in time to meet Gette and give support to Rosemary, who is participating in her first triathlon. She was ready for this after swimming, biking, and running for quite a while.

Last Sunday, the sea was calm and swimming was easy. This morning, the sea was a bit rough with warnings out for us casual swimmers. There were plenty of lifeguards on jet skis ready to help those in need, though, and that made us feel better. The swim was only (ha!) 1/4 mile so Gette and I could be at the finish line and see down the beach to the starting point. I hadn't seen Rosemary in her wetsuit before so I impressed myself that I recognized her running up the beach after the swim!

Next, they had to go to their bikes and change from their wetsuits to biking/running gear. The bike course included the main road into and out of the park (a portion of AIA) and was 10.3 miles. We thought they closed off the road and were surprised to see cars with the bikers. Gette and I were looking out for Rosemary but didn't see her so we went to the transition area to catch her ditching the bike and donning running shoes. I did see her cross the finish line but wasn't ready with the camera, so I have to be satisfied with capturing her moment of change.

After all that, she had to run a 5K race within the park over park roads with speed bumps in them! I found a strategic spot to wait for her near the finish and think I got a great shot of Rosemary rounding the last corner. She did great - 7th overall out of 14 participants in her age bracket! Remember, this was her first race and she didn't have all the fancy setup that others did - specialty bike shoes already on the pedals, special center handles on the bike so she could lean forward and be comfortable and who knows what else they do!

Apr 19, 2009

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