Done and done... my first TRIATHALON. It was an awesome experience. I am so glad I chose to do the Danskin Women's triathalon for my first. So much enthusiasm. So many women. So much "girl power."
The weekend meant driving to Austin (three hours from Houston) post work on Friday. Tomás, "the saint" (when Brad, my cousin in law, did an ULTRA MARATHON...100 MILES, he referred to his wife as "the saint" in his entire email he sent out to friends and family) loaded up my camry with my bike and we got on the road.
The very generous JVs in Austin let us crash at their place for our first night. Monroe was a wonderful host and didn't mind that we came, talked a little but then crashed early (the rest of the JVs... including a bunch of my housemates were in San Antonio for a float-the-river and party weekend)!
Saturday morning we were up early to head to the Danskin Tri Expo to load ourselves up with free giveaways... but more importantly to learn about the course and rack my bike. The place was filled with athletes of all shapes, sizes and experience levels... all very excited but there was certainly a feeling of nervousness around. Tomás waited in line to get my timing chip, race number and info while I sat in on a course overview. This overview was pretty helpful... they went through and explained what the swim route looked like (a "U" shape with a different start and finish), the bike loop (filled with hills) and the run through a fields course... and how transitions might work (something I barely practiced... except for one good effort with roommates aid in which I ran from the shower in my swim stuff and practiced trying to get on my bike = hilarious). They chatted about pre-race jitters, the infamous sharp right turn on the bike (you come from going down hill, to slow to make a right turn that goes immediately uphill), morning of event etc.
Then came relaxing and visiting with my family. I had a great last meal with my Uncle Steve, Aunt Katy, Bridget, Eric, Meghan, Chris and Tomás at the melting pot. Meghan was another awesome host as we stayed in her sweet apartment in downtown Austin.
Race day began with a 4:30 wake up and we were out the door by 5:10. The parking lot opened at 5:30 and we were in a mile long car line at 5:37 waiting to get in. We parked, set up my transition area, got numbered (936), sunscreened, hydrated, did hand stands, a pre race run (short and bare footed since my shoes were already in my transition area), ate a few snacks and acquired the "pre-race jitters." Tomás, unfortunately had to deal with my less-then-peppy attitude.
Then the waves startes... the royal caps, the light blue caps, the hot pink caps... and so on... and then my wave... the YELLOW caps!
da swim:
- this was the start so I was REALLY nervous.
- I thought I would be most prepared/best at this event... WRONG. I was completely suprised at how much panic and anxiety I had gathered. I really struggled controling my breathing and making sure I was breathing right. I've heard horror stories of the swim starts.. people certainly weren't mean but there were always so many legs, splashes, arms and bodies around that it made it hard to stay calm and just breathe. I made it through.
- In the end it wasn't the distance... I can comfortably do 3 times that... I think it was just a half mile of pure chaos that my mind got the better of me...
- Towards the end I finally started to get the swim of it... and as I neared the end I started thinking through my transition and getting ready for the bike...
da bike:
- They say once you learn how to ride a bike, you always know. This category was a complete SURPRISE to me as I did MUCH better than I thought.
- Having dislocated my thumb in March leaving me in a brace and unable to bike on a road bike (or swim) I had done the LEAST training for cycling. BUT who knew that my LONG training days for the 100milers that me and my family did (JDRF century bike ride in Death Valley, CA) would see me through.
- I enjoyed the hills (this course is supposed to be notorious for rough bike hills) and loved the bike portion.
- I do however miss my WONDERFUL bike that is hanging in our garage in Milwaukee... Absence makes the heart grow fonder as I peddled past people on amazing/expensive/elaborate road/tri bikes with my 7 speed (I thought 10 was the lowest) mountain bike.
- I think you should ALL be very impressed at my MAX speed. I must have set some sort of record as my computer chip logged me in at 83.6 miles an hour (or maybe it was broken).
- I made my first friend, Angela, on the bike portion (hard to make friends when swimming)!
- When I came through for T2... by cheering squad had multiplied.... Tomás was joined by my roommate Alex and Austin JV, Elizabeth. They saw me through a quick transition and the way the course was set up got to see me right after mile one of the..
da run:
- So in high school I was cross country captain... but this portion of the Tri reminded me that this was probably due to Spirit and NOT raw running ability.
- I knew I wouldn't be STELLAR at this portion... and my prophecy was fulfilled. I was tired, but uber pumped to finish.
- The neat thing about the course and the run is the view of all the bikers doing the WORST HILL... the runners run down the worst hill we had previously struggled up... THUS this section is filled with cheers and chants from runners and bikers alike cheering each other along.
And then the neatest thing happened... I finished. I no longer needed to swim, bike and run... but rather I could walk, relax and chat.
I wanted to get pictures out with this BUT I think I caught a bit of a flu-bug from Decker Lake so haven't gotten around to getting that organized. Hopefully, more to come.
That's all she wrote.
