Turteman Triathlon Race Report - 8 weeks postpartum

Derek and I have discussed this race so many times when I was pregnant with Keaton, that it was driving Derek crazy. He finally said “Kort, you know your body better than anyone and if you feel you are ready, do it”. Going into the race I knew my training wasn't where I wanted it to be - especially the run. I was able to bike a lot when I was pregnant and that seemed to come back pretty quickly, but on the run I just still feel out of shape and don't have that kick I used to have. I feel good running aerobically for an hour, but bring speed work into it I am pooped out!
My mom was in town visiting this weekend, with her two sisters and my uncle. I was so thankful my mom volunteered to watch Keaton and Owen because I really need Derek there to help me just calm my nerves and give me some advice. My uncle also came to the race and he was excited to watch his first triathlon.

I didn't need an alarm clock because Keaton always wakes up around 4:30/5:00 to eat so we got out of the house right on time. As I was racking my bike, my good friend Suzie Finger arrived and it was so nice to be able to talk with her about the race. We then got into talking about how much I eat because with nursing you burn about 500-600 calories a day and then with training I can't seem to eat enough!

I knew I had to plan my warm up strategically because I would have to go back to the van around 7:00 and pump before the race because 1) I had to keep up my supply and 2)I didn't want to be carrying around extra pounds at the end of the race!!!

The swim start was pretty interesting because the lake is really shallow and there were so many spots where you would sink into the mud. We could barley walk or stand, much less dolphin dive or run. All of the folks in the first wave were laughing about the situation as we were getting ready to start! The water was so warm and it wasn’t wetsuit legal, but I was so happy when Kevin at Gear West contacted me Friday that someone had returned a Blue Seventy swim-skin in my size. THANK YOU GEAR WEST because I was the first women out of the water and that has NEVER happened. I’m not sure what happened, but I think the lake conditions slowed everyone down. Here is a picture that Catherine's husband - Terrence took of me coming out of the water.

I know that Catherine Lee is a good swimmer and sure enough she was right behind me out of the water. I had a hard time getting the swim-skin off because I was thinking it was a wetsuit and was trying to pull up on the zipper and then I had never raced with my new helmet, so I was having trouble getting that on. Catherine gained almost 15 seconds on me in transition and we left to go out on the bike course pretty much together. We went back and forth a couple of times on the bike, but then I gained a very slim lead coming into the final stretch. I was pushing pretty hard on the bike, but not racing for so long was catching up to me and I had to upchuck a couple of times - most likely from drinking so much lake water! As I came into T2 I knew I needed to gain some time on Catherine because she is a great runner. Jerry McNeil was having a heyday with Catherine and I being so close to each other and I had never been in a situation where I had someone so close to me throughout the race - I am usually trying to run people down. The run was about 5 miles long but it seemed like a lot longer when you know someone is hot on your heels. There were so many times I would look down at my watch and say to myself "OK, when my watch hits 1:35 I’ll run faster", and when that time would come, I would say “OK, when my watch hits 1:36, I’ll run faster!” Finally, I knew that the finish line was only about a quarter of a mile away and I just took off, but I think I faded right before the finish line. Derek has videotape of me approaching the finish line and I look like I wasn't even moving! It felt great to come back to the sport and actually win my first race - I knew I would be competitive going into it and there were some great girls out there pushing me that is for sure! I don’t think I could have put forth that kind of effort without Catherine pushing me throughout the race. Congratulations to Catherine as she went on to win at Lake Marion the next day - there is no way I could have done that!
I was so happy to be back out there doing what I really love, but there is no way I could do that without the support of my family. Some people may think I am selfish or doing this too soon, but this actually makes me a better mom and wife. Just to add, the volunteers at Turtleman were amazing. Than you so much - without you there wouldn't be triathlons!