2002 Photos

Whatever is, is right.

Alexander Pope

My Running Pages.
2001-2002 Journals	2003-2007 Training Journals	Photos	Other Stuff
2001 Training Journal	Jan-Sept 2003	1999 and 2001 Pictures	The 2001 Venice Trip!
January - March 2002	Sept - Dec 2003	2002 Pictures	Why Do I Run?
April and May 2002	Jan-Oct 2004	The Northside Trail	2002 Training Program
June and July 2002	The 2004 Timberman Tri!	2003 Pictures	The 2002 Greece Trip!
August 2002	2005 Journal		The 2003 UK-France Trip!
September 2002	2006 Journal		Triathlon Life Lessons
October 2002	2007 Journal		The 2004 Egypt Trip!
			The 2005 Triathlons (and Ironman)!
			The 2006 Triathlons

This is turning out to be quite the summer. Here are some photos chronicling the adventures.

The St. George Triathlon, July 27 2002

The morning of the St. George Triathlon.
I'm in the transition area about one hour before the race, deciding that it's probably a good time to see if I remember how to clip my cleats onto my bike pedals.

The good ol' Marinoni is racked and ready
to go on the left, I'm figuring out my bike shoes, and it's starting to rain.

I'm taking in all the details of the race
meeting just before our start. Suddenly, it hits me: this is serious. I'm actually about to do a triathlon (OK, so I'm a little slow.)

That's me, down there on the right,
sitting on the edge of the wharf with my feet in the water, going through terror and overwhelming nausea. How I ever got myself into the water I'll never know.

After swimming for a few minutes and relaxing
a little, we're off.

I chug by on my way to the exit in the final 200m
Actually, I'm wandering off course a lot by this point, so I'm peering over the waterline.

I climb the ramp and start running.
Strip the wetsuit as I go, try to look professional.

How far behind am I? Well,
there are no other bikes left in the transition area, for one. I've got the place all to myself as I struggle out of the wetsuit.

Rain!

Hobble to the bike exit with one shoe on,
the other cleated on the bike.

Now get that second shoe on.

C'mon, cleat! There's a hill right
in front of me and both shoes have to be in the pedals if I have any hope of climbing it and not falling off my bike in front of everyone.

Recognize this transition area? It's the
same one as before, only now it's full of bikes because almost everyone's back and miles ahead of me. I hobble down to my spot.

I'm outta here! I charge out of the
transition area, armed with a PowerBar (I'm SO hungry) and trying to re-discover my body from the waist down. Legs? Hello, legs? Helen to legs, do you copy?

Forty minutes later, I'm back. This
time I've made a friend on the way and we decide to waddle to the finish line together.

The Demi-Esprit Half-Ironman Triathlon, September 7 2002

The morning of the big day. Looking out to the basin to the ongoing full Ironman event.

The start and end of the hot, hot, hot and looooooonnng bike ride.

In and out of the second transition. I make the big mistake of drinking too much and can barely waddle out as my father points me in the right direction.

This is it! I manage somehow to run at something more than a shuffle! The truth is, I can barely feel my legs, but I'm about to finish one of the longest, hardest physical ordeals of my life.

My mother laughs as I collapse with a bottle of Coke in my hand. The second picture is with Stephanie, my running partner in the last half of the run.

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Last updated November 15, 2002 by Helen Rooney