Triathlon Time

This past weekend was the "big" moment - my first triathlon ! As usual it always seems like these big races  spring up so fast. Of course, this last week I had been nervous that I would start having funny dreams about it (you know, that I'd be swimming with my running shoes on, weird stuff like that). I actually never had a dream about it until the night before. And then of course the night before I was pretty restless.

A few hiccups the day of - beginning with the good ol' alarm! Yep, it never went off. Thankfully Josh woke up at least at the time we were suppose to leave....(as in, at least not when the race was due to start!) But, as you can imagine it left a first time traithlon-er quite frazzled. We still had kids to get around, last minute packing and a trip to the coffee shop on the way to get my mojo (because, at 5am, my mojo definitely comes in cups and carbs!) So yeah. Panic set in right away. Not a great start to the day.

BUT...thankfully I got my mojo and we still made it to the aquatic center in mostly plenty of time. I had time to get my transition station situated and mingle a bit before it was time to gather round.

 

 

Transition area

My parents, younger sister and Josh and the kiddos came to watch. They were pleased to have bleacher seating at the pool. Announcements and such began at 6:30am, so it was an early morning! At 7am we began the swim portion of the race (400m). The pool lanes were different than what I've been used to - I've been practicing in 25m lane pools, where as ours was 50m long (each). So, we basically had to go down, under the lane line, and up, then over, then down, over, up, etc for a total of eight lanes. What I also appreciated is that they gave us each an idea of what time (down to the second!) that we would be getting in the water to start. So, for example, the time I was given was 7:53:40AM. Almost an hour past the start. It turned out the youngest people went at the end, while the oldest, relay people, elites, etc went before.

What was also neat (intimidating, but cool) was that they had Misty Hyman (Olympic gold medalist) lead us out into the swim.

Eventually organizers came down the line of swimmers and told us NOT to run coming out of the pool. They didn't have anything laying down on the concrete, so a few early swimmers had taken quite the spill heading out :( Some swimmers dove in to start, others sat in and pushed off...we had a man sitting there who would tell us when to go. Every ten seconds another swimmer began.

Me sliding into the water, getting ready to go. And hey - looking at the clock I actually started early!

That would be me, there in the middle with my arm up. Yes, I did the backstroke. And the sidestroke.  Freestyle, though primarily used by everyone, I discovered is not my strong suit. But, despite actually what many people thought, there was a good handful of people who did backstroke, even breaststroke. I was pleased. I also stayed pretty close to the lane lines - at least then other swimmers could pass and I thought there would be less of chance of me getting kicked/hit, or getting a bunch of water splashed in my face. That seemed to work pretty well :)

Here's what I like to call the (and pardon my language) "bada$$" picture. I'm there in the middle, having just taken off, (I like the water effect), I think the ladies on the right are probably just waiting to go under the lane line but the others seem to be...just chilling. We were allowed to rest if we needed (and according to my family, there was a bunch of people, especially towards the end that stopped at the end of each lane). Nope, not me. I did the full duration without stopping unless I was going under a line. Though...they didn't really have flag markers to let me know where I was in the pool exactly so every now and then I'd stop, turn around to see how far yet I had to go.

Which brings me to the last swimming picture...getting out. Yay for these guys that stood there hoisting us all!

 Only athletes are allowed in the transition area during the race, so there aren't any other pictures of me in there. I wasn't in too much of a rush. In general, I set pretty low standards for it being my first triathlon. 1st - finish the race. 2nd - come out not injured. 3rd- not come in last place. 4th- enjoy myself. I did all those things. I was more of the pass-ee, than the pass-er, which was totally fine by me. In fact, the second leg of the bike (we basically just did one 4mi loop twice) I was pretty much by myself, with maybe a few somewhere behind me. It was mostly a flat loop (including one huge downhill) but did have two hills/inclines. I saw a few people get off their bike. The transition itself was fine. There wasn't any confusion with where my bike or stuff was, everything was there that I needed.

I was, however, suppose to attach my bib then before I went out for the last part, which was the 2.4mi run. Sort of forgot. With running being my strongest suit of the three sports, I think I was focused on getting out and trying to play a little bit of catch up (in other words, trying to meet goal #3).

The boys eagerly waiting for me to come to the Finish. Despite being up at 5am, they did really well.

Here I come!

For the most part the run consisted of being along a canal, on dirt. I was glad I brought something to drink with! Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to bring music, which turned out to be a bummer. I did need that last little bit of energy. We finished down on a soccer field.

Don't think I mentioned this was "Tri 4 A Cure" , benefiting breast cancer research. Only a women's race. Totally love that.

Following the race, we gathered up my stuff and met up with my older sister and her husband as well as Josh's parents for brunch. It was time to celebrate (and eat and drink!)

A friend of mine is asst. General Manager of the restaurant we went to - so nice of him to give us complementary champagne!

Food pictures! Pretzel bread with sausage and cheese appetizer

Their famous "has its own Facebook page" chopped salad

Spicy tuna

Great time there.

One last story...hiccup of the day...we got home after brunch (and okay, after a stop to get celebratory cupcakes as well). I was about to step foot in the shower when I heard a noise/buzz. Go over to what I thought was "my" pink drawstring bag (all athletes got a drawstring bag at our bib pickup expo the day before)...turns out I had someone else's bag o' athlete gear, and their iPhone 6! Yikes. Needless to say, got in contact with the owner, and, embarrassingly, threw clothes on quick (without le shower) and met up with them at a sports store halfway between our homes to do the exchange. Was very grateful they were nice to me...for I have no clue how I went home with it. I "thought" I was throwing stuff into "my" pink bag at the end but obviously...wasn't paying too hard attention.

So there you have it! Complete detail. I was sore afterwards, back all the way down. But surprisingly, now the day afterwards, I'm not all that bad. I thought perhaps I'd have a hard time just trying to walk or something today but I'm overall doing alright.

As far as the future...I'm not sure. I'm not anxious to get back on the training wagon next week, or next month. I think I would do this again, just not sure if it'll be this year or not. Pleased with how it turned out! And thanks to many of you for your encouragement and support!