Buckle up, folks, this is going to take you the rest of the afternoon to read.
I competed in my first triathlon a little over a week ago. The day before the race was possibly the most nervous I've ever been, aside from my wedding day. I was so nervous, I was almost sick to my stomach. But oddly, when I got to the race on Saturday, I was totally fine. I knew what was going to happen, I knew what I had to do & I just went into action mode.
I competed in my first triathlon a little over a week ago. The day before the race was possibly the most nervous I've ever been, aside from my wedding day. I was so nervous, I was almost sick to my stomach. But oddly, when I got to the race on Saturday, I was totally fine. I knew what was going to happen, I knew what I had to do & I just went into action mode.
The race started at 7:00 & we had to be there at 6:00, so I got up at 4:30, guzzled some coffee, ate breakfast & hit the road. I had dropped my bike off the night before, so all I had to bring was myself & all my gear, which I had laid out & packed the night before. Smart.
Quick back-story on the swim. When I registered for the race, I stupidly put down 30 minutes as my estimated swim time (for 200 meters), so I got placed in the very back of the pack. The week of the race, I changed my swim time, but didn't make the cut-off, so I didn't get moved up like I should have. To put this in perspective, out of a little over 200 participants, I was number 197.
I'm amazingly a natural swimmer & got pretty fast between all the drills & practices I did. Unfortunately, I was unable to actually swim much in the race because I was surrounded by non-swimmers & pool walkers. No one was using the pool etiquette we had been taught. I couldn't get around anybody; no one would move. It was incredibly frustrating. But through all of this, I still managed to score a pretty sweet swim time: 5:56.
T1: 3:09
Out of the pool, & barefoot, I had to run a pretty good uphill distance from the pool to my bike. I got to my bike, sat down, dried off my feet, put my socks & shoes on, put my helmet & sunglasses on & took off. I thought I did all of this pretty fast, but I didn't. My transition time was a full minute slower than all of my friends: 3:09.
5 mile bike ride: 20:52 (14.4 mph pace)
The bike was my weakest event. I really should have practiced riding more. Once I took off, I couldn't get my feet in the toe cages & lost a lot of time. I was riding as fast as I could, but my legs were screaming & I was trying not to completely wear them out as I still had to run after this. John said every time he saw me, I was in the wrong gear, so that probably didn't help.
When I got to the first turn around, it was a sharper turn than I had practiced & I didn't make it. I jumped the curb, went up into the grass, then fell trying to get back down on the course. So again, I spent way too much time trying to get my feet back into the stupid toe cages. Apparently I was taking so long to come back around that John thought I was hurt, so he was trying to find me on the course, when I came pedaling back by, assuredly in the wrong gear. The second lap was totally fine. I made the turn & was able to pick up some speed. But! The volunteer who was supposed to flag me off the course & back into the transition area was talking to someone & didn't flag me, so I kept going & rode a whole extra half lap trying to get back to the finish. Ugh. Bike time: 20:52.
T2: 1:20
All I had to do in this transition was put my bike back on the rack, throw my helmet down, strap on my race number belt & take off running. Much faster: 1:20.
2k mile run: 11:23
This was my strongest event of the three. Being a runner obviously helped, but so did all that brick practice. I knew what to expect & I pushed through. Most of the women around me were walking, but there was one woman ahead of me plowing through & I kept up with her. We ran two laps around a trail & then down Maryland Farms Way to the finish. When I got off the trail & back to the street, I sprinted to the finish. I couldn't feel my legs, but I felt strong & I was definitely faster than everyone around me at that point. Run time: 11:23.
Total time: 43:40
As soon as we crossed the finish, volunteers handed us a bottle of water in a Girls Tri It On Finisher coozie & a flower, then we were escorted to a tent with bagels, bananas, etc. It was nice. I chugged as much water as I could get my hands on & ate a banana & I was fine. I could tell I was starting to get sunburned, but what else is new. My overall time was 43:40. I placed 41st in my age group.
I had a blast doing this & it's just about the proudest I've ever been of myself. I definitely plan on doing more. In fact, I'm already planning on doing the Cedars Of Lebanon triathlon on May 19th (who's with me?).
Indulge my inner Oprah as I take a moment to get sappy & gush over how awesome my friends, family & training partners are. Y'all, this race was EARLY, & you still came & cheered me on. And! You made signs! Thank you. Thank you to everyone who knew I was doing this & sent me texts, emails, FB comments, Instagram comments, etc. It really meant a lot that so many people acknowledged this huge, ridiculous thing I did. HUGE thanks to my dad, Jenn, Jonell & Julie who helped me in the pool. I assuredly would have drowned without all of your help (& by "drowned", I mean pool walked since apparently that's allowed?!).
Lastly, I want to thank everyone who rallied around me last week when I went a little bit cra after the race. Long story short - a run volunteer messed up & none of us ran the correct course, so at first, we didn't have run times, which resulted in an incomplete overall/finish time. I got inconsolably worked up over this & spiraled into a scary, neurotic place where I refused to acknowledge any level of achievement on my part. Dark days. Thank you to Heidi, MHG, Marne, Jonell & basically everyone who saw me last week & talked me down off the ledge. I'm totes fine now & have gone back to strutting around like the badass triathlete that I am. I have the best friends in the world. Thank you!
I had a blast doing this & it's just about the proudest I've ever been of myself. I definitely plan on doing more. In fact, I'm already planning on doing the Cedars Of Lebanon triathlon on May 19th (who's with me?).
Indulge my inner Oprah as I take a moment to get sappy & gush over how awesome my friends, family & training partners are. Y'all, this race was EARLY, & you still came & cheered me on. And! You made signs! Thank you. Thank you to everyone who knew I was doing this & sent me texts, emails, FB comments, Instagram comments, etc. It really meant a lot that so many people acknowledged this huge, ridiculous thing I did. HUGE thanks to my dad, Jenn, Jonell & Julie who helped me in the pool. I assuredly would have drowned without all of your help (& by "drowned", I mean pool walked since apparently that's allowed?!).
Lastly, I want to thank everyone who rallied around me last week when I went a little bit cra after the race. Long story short - a run volunteer messed up & none of us ran the correct course, so at first, we didn't have run times, which resulted in an incomplete overall/finish time. I got inconsolably worked up over this & spiraled into a scary, neurotic place where I refused to acknowledge any level of achievement on my part. Dark days. Thank you to Heidi, MHG, Marne, Jonell & basically everyone who saw me last week & talked me down off the ledge. I'm totes fine now & have gone back to strutting around like the badass triathlete that I am. I have the best friends in the world. Thank you!
4 comments:
Your AWESOME! So glad you were one of my coaches through the Potato to Tomato training! you are an inspiration!!! YOU GO GIRL!!
the first time i went out on my road bike, i pretty much had a panic attack b/c i couldn't deal with the toe cages. we went back home and rollum put the regular pedals back on it (which i still have! i should probably give the toe clips/straps another shot now). we went back to square one, because we realized i didn't even know how to properly start/stop, and as soon as i felt solid with that, i felt way more comfortable. he made me read this page & watch the video: http://sheldonbrown.com/starting.html apparently this guy's site has a lot of great info. anyway, sorry to hear of some of your woes. seems like you learned a lot of valuable lessons for next time and it's awesome you want to keep doing them. YAY!
Awww, thank you, Cat!! And right back at you. YOU are awesome!
Katie -- thanks! Hopefully we can ride together soon!
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