wow! Try saying that fast! There’s a torrential downpour happening right now and I’m hanging in our living room (the hammock spot is currently getting soaked) enjoying the most amazing breeze I’ve felt in a long long time. It’s almost on the verge of a chilly breeze, which never happens on this beautiful island. I figure it’s a perfect time to catch you all up on my past race weekend (about 2 weeks ago) EEECK! Guess better late than sorry, eh?

The weekend of October 9-12 I participated in the Mujer Brava event. It was a three day event that consisted of one activity per day: swim, bike, and run, respectively. This is perfect for someone who may want to try out the triathlon events but maybe hasn’t quite worked up to doing all three at the same race or someone who would just want to do one or two events. I used to triathlons back in my formative years (read: before motherhood) and while I’m eager to get back to it, I knew that there’s no way I could do the swim portion. It was almost 1 Mile long and the longest I’ve ever done was 3/4 of a mile, with training. So I opted for the bike and the run. Hers a bit of flashback from past races. 

   

   
I unfortunately had a bad bad start to the bike: the night before I had a flat. After much patching it looked like things were looking up. No such luck. We were able to find a mechanic at the starting area who changed the tube and we kept out fingers crossed all was to go well. Again, no such luck. Around mile 7 of 25 I had another flat. Turns out I had a staple in my TIRE that was repeatedly puncturing my tube. After all that was taken care of, all was good. 

This bike event was probably one of the best moments I’ve experienced. There must’ve been over 300 women participating in the 4 different distances: 25, 45, 60, 80 miles. Each group went off at different times and then we all rendezvoused to bike the last 5 miles in together in a giant peloton. I got chills looking around me and seeing all these women together in our shirts taking over the streets of Old San Juan. There were people cheering for us on the sidewalks and outside on balconies and patios. The views alone of the city were breathtaking and then the comraderie was excellent. 

   

    
 
Then the run on Monday. I originally planned on the 10k but I just wasn’t feeling it so I opted for the 5k. I wanted to have fun and I knew trying for the 10 I’d hate it so I was pretty ok missing that goal. And it was one of the best runs I’ve done! The route took us along the waterfront of Old San Juan and we even took in the sunrise. How magical it was to see the whole waterfront light up with an amazing display of golden colors. It was breathtaking. 

 

   
Being it was the first year that they added the run they didn’t do placing a for each group but if they had, I would’ve placed 3rd! Yea! But I of course had to take advantage of the 1st place podium pic! 

Overall the two days were amazing, despite a few setbacks. It’s all a learning experience and I can’t wait till next year when I’ll do all three events. I think the biggest thing for me was that this was my first ‘race’ since moving to PR. And I’ve missed it. So I’m going to try extra hard to find more local races to participate in. Not only do I feel good because I am helping out good causes and charities but I also get a sense of achievement that you don’t get with just practice runs or bikes. I really do miss it. 

So on November 8 I have my half marathon and I’m sorry to report that I seem to have a strained hip flexor so the half is up in the air. I’ll be resting a few days and stretching and we’ll see how it goes. Fingers crossed the pain will subside and I’ll be staring down 13.1 miles in 13 days! 

Sorry for the photo blast but I like to document. 

Have a great day and here’s a few more 😉

 

     

Tagged: 10k, 5k, babiators, bike race, mujer brava, old san juan, Puerto Rico