Oh hey! I did a triathlon!
Two weeks ago I participated in my first triathlon! My sister and I packed up my bike and hiked up to Wittenberg, Wis., for the Rockin’ the Farm Triathlon. Wittenberg is a very small town east of Wausau. The triathlon was held at Gotrocks Farm, which was a cool ‘venue’ for it since we were triathaloning all over a beautiful piece of property.
I was dreading the swim. That’s usually the scariest part of the triathlon and I didn’t know if I’d be ready for it. We rushed into the water as the gun went off and I let me adrenaline take over! I poked my head out of the lake to sight ahead of me, and realized there wasn’t a soul in sight! I was leading the pack! I hopped out of the water first and threw my bike clothes on to start the mountain bike.
That was rough. My bike needed air and a seat raise … and as I hiked up the hills on the thing I barely made progress. I was slowly dying and I questioned if I’d be able to even finish with this thing. Fortunately, I sped down the hill back to the transition station and ditched the dumb bike in a hurry, and ran off to try and make up lost ground!
I like to think I have a competitive edge when it comes to the last legs of races. I start slow and steadily up my pace until the finish. This proved to be useful because I caught up to those who had passed me on my bike and rounded the corner to the finish within my goal time … yes! I ended up placing fourth overall, two minutes behind third place! Whew!
On Sunday, Team Muddy Middle Agers and a Dirty Kid reunited (with a few extra) for the annual Edge of the Ledge obstacle race! IT WAS A BLAST. When else do you get to get completely covered in mud?
Since we’ve had such wet weather and it rained the night before the race, the entire course was mud. We were slippin’ and slidin’ up and down hills, squishing and sticking in mud as we ran the longer lengths. The mud made it much more demanding than the year before when everything stayed pretty dry. But–the extra challenge was welcomed by our team as we embraced the extra stick and finished in fourth place! Most members of the team now look forward to racing the Tough Mudder in September … bring it on!
-Courtney
Courtney Cerniglia is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point majoring in business administration and Spanish.