Matt Mabry has a bucket list.
He recently completed an item on it —a triathlon.
Mabry competed in the Tri the Illini on Sept. 30.
The Tri the Illini is a sprint triathlon that consisted of a 300-meter pool swim in a 50-meter outdoor pool, a fast and flat 14-mile bike ride and a 5k run through the UIUC campus. It started and ended at the Activities and Recreation Center on the University of Illinois’ campus where the swim took place.
“I finally got myself a used bike and decided the Tri the Illini triathlon would be the perfect first step,” Mabry said.
Mabry has been running for a few years so he continued running and added in biking in order to prepare for the triathlon. He found swimming more difficult and ended up taking lessons at the Urbana Aquatic Center.
Mabry’s family, wife Tammie, daughter Sam and son Charlie, cheered him on during the race.
“At first I think they thought I was crazy,” Mabry said. “I think they still do, but I was pretty serious about the training so they all got on board the crazy train.”
For her part, Tammie said she was impressed with her husband.
“It has amazed me to watch the hours of training he’s gotten in around all the rest of what he does for us,” she said.
Despite his many hours of training, Matt still found the swimming challenging.
“I had the least amount of training and really realized I am a terrible swimmer,” he said. “So more lessons for me this fall.”
Matt finished with an overall time of 1:23:18.8. He finished the swim in 8:52.3. The bike portion was completed in 47:41.7 and the run portion was finished in 23:35:4
Matt said the entire experience was almost perfect. There was great weather, the race was well organized and had terrific volunteers.
“It was a great first triathlon experience,” he said.
Matt plans on competing in more triathlons and hopes to compete in longer distance races as well.
He gave himself a week after the race to re-group but is now focusing on his next goal—the Illini Marathon where he plans on doing the 5K and the half marathon. He is also continuing to train for future triathlons.
“I am still biking and I am planning to really add some quality swims in this fall and winter,” he said.
