I DID IT!!!

I AM THE KING…I mean…QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!! I completed my first triathlon!! I AM A TRIATHLETE!!!!!YAHOO!!

I survived, but boy am I tired! One of the books I read talked about your body going through some weird stuff after, and I’m there. I am actually surprised I can form complete sentences right now! Think pregnancy brain x100, I just want to crash!!

To the specifics:

Woke up early (4:30 am!) I almost forgot to set my alarm last night though!! Ate a little breakfast, went and got gas and filled my bike tires some. Drove to the race site an hour away. The quiet time in the car alone was just what I needed before the race.

Got to the race site and since we registered early we were numbers 5, 6, & 7 respectively which equaled a prime spot in the transition area, right on the end!! So I set my gear up, met up with my friends and tried to remain calm, doing some stretching. At some point me and my cousin’s friend got in the water to warm up a little. I didn’t get to far and then I ran into some weeds, so I quickly turned around and headed back to the beach, wondering if I would be able to get over – mentally – the weeds!

We went back up on the grassy area, waiting for our group (heat) to be called and I hung out with Hubby and Punkin pie who had recently arrived. Before we knew it they called us up and we were waiting in the water!!

Yesterday we picked up our race packets and sat in on an informational meeting, giving us newbies tips for a good race. One of the tips was to not bother getting into the crush of people as we would get kicked in the face and possibly lose our goggles. So I waited a count of 5 to 10 and then started my swim. It was weird swimming in the open water as you couldn’t see more than a foot in front of you and certainly not the bottom. The other part that was tough was than no one swims straight, so even though we have buoys to gauge our progress, not everyone was looking at them as frequently as they should have. So I got cut off a couple of times as people would converge in front of me. By the turn around buoy I finally got my own clear spot and before I knew it, I was running out of the water and to the Transition area to get my bike! I didn’t have time to think about the depth of the lake or the weeds or even the fish swimming below me! I believe my time was around 13 minutes- not too bad, I even passed some people!

The Transition area was at the top of a hill, which was tough running up but I got there and everyone was cheering me on. I got all the required gear and I headed out on my bike. The bike course is tough because it has one huge hill- you need to go up heading out and coming back. The rest is challenging because it has rolling hills. I headed out and made it to the sprint turn around more quickly than I expected. I passed one person, who’s bike sounded like it needed some serious work, I was waiting for it to crumble beneath her! Anyhoo, on the way back you get tired because you have to go up all the hills you went down heading out. The last one is the worst and the one training ride we did there a month ago, I didn’t make it up and had to walk my bike up half way. This time I made it!!! The trick is not to look at the “mountain” you have to ascend, but just look a little in front of you, and keep pumping your legs. It almost killed me, but I DID IT!!!

It’s funny too, because the whole way most people are really encouraging, “great work, keep it up, you’re almost there, etc” but on that hill, everyone was silent- conserving oxygen and concentrating on getting up the hill. When I made it to the top I was like YAHOO , it’s all downhill from here!! And it was!

So I rode back into the park, racked my bike, grabbed my hat and headed out for the run. The run wasn’t horrible, I’ve been on worse. It was shaded, slight rolling hills, part on dirt road, part on pavement. I walked about half of it and then came in for a running finish!

I was so amazed that it went by so fast! The adreniline rush is amazing and I didn’t bonk until the car ride home. I cried when I saw my friends (who finished before me) and then when I saw hubby and punkin pie of course I cried again.

I was an amazing experience and I would do it again! In fact I am doing it again next week Sunday!! YIKES!! The I think I’ll take the rest of the summer off. Two is enough for me this year!

So overall, I am surprised and proud and amazed that I could do it and I am very proud to be able to call myself TRIATHLETE!!!