So there is some pros and cons to an afternoon race...pro you dont have to get up and start at the crack of dawn, con you have to wait ALL DAY for the race!!!
In the morning my cousin made me a smoothie and her cousin Cheryl who was also racing arrived. Since she didnt go to the packet pick up or race briefing the day before she was going to go before the race.
My cousin Patty is the PERFECT person for me to travel with. Where I no longer plan or organize myself properly (curse of the single working mom) she is organized, plans, makes lists (for everyone in a 10 foot radius), and over-packs!!! So she was able to plan out our day so that Cheryl could get her race packet, briefing we could all get our transisiton set up. They were both doing the Olympic distance race .9 mile swim, 25 mile bike and 6 mile run which started at 3:30pm. My race was at 4:30pm and was half their distance, 750 yard swim, 10 mile bike, 3 mile run.
As we drove from our hotel which was directly next to the race start, up to the race finish area which was up a mountain!!! We drove the olympic course so that Cheryl had a chance to see it. Basically they did an extra 14 miles before heading up the 10 mile portion that would be my part. That part was literally all climb up the mountain 1800 feet to be exact. The more times we drove up and down past it the more fearful I became!!
We went up to Bootleg Canyon for Cheryl to pick up her packet and see if we could possibly set up our transition area for T2 (transistion 2 in tri-speak). There was some athletes up there that were doing the long course (half ironman distance), they broke the news to us that the swim portion of the race was canceled!!! What?!?!?!
I still dont know how I feel about this!!! The water was so cold I was dreading getting in the cold water but I also wanted to swim (I think). The thing is about this triathlon stuff is part of it is not knowing if you can do it or not until you try. I was not worried about the swim part, I was worried about the cold water. I knew that even if the distance was tough I could back float or back stroke or doggie paddle or whatever I needed to do...It is just getting how to get over the stinging painful cold water, and then the concern is once you get on the bike all wet warming up. Which is why it was cancelled, for safety reasons, it was 54 degrees and there was a chance that the wind and weather would not allow us to warm up. There would be a risk for hypothermia. Sorry people but safety first! No need to risk life and limb to prove anything!
So now I just had to bike and run, which would be fine if I wasnt so scared of that mountain!! I had not prepared for this at all (is how I felt), I mean I had only practiced on my bike that one time before Friday, and both times was an easy flat short ride!! AND both times I fell got banged up and bruised! I had never attempted a hill of any kind! I had not practiced with my gears, my clip shoes...nothing!!! The other thing that frightened me was if I had to stop at all cause if I stopped getting going again would be impossible (no everything scared me, falling, stopping, not finishing, quitting, crashing). I have taken a ton of spin classes but that is not practical practice! It helps with the endurance and muscle building but it is not the same. In spin you can easily take your gears off when it gets too hard AND you can stand up and bike to make it easier. I am no way able to stand up on my actual bike, I'm not steady enough yet to even try!!
I still had hours to fret and be nervous about all this!!!
We went to lunch at Subway and then went back to set up our T2 and go through the race briefing.
After that we headed down the mountain to get ready and wait for our race times to start. There was a long time to wait and it honestly did not take that long to set up. Everyone just kinda was hanging around chatting with other racers. Patty and Cheryl left an hour before me that was even difficult! That last hour turned into complete panic for me.
By the time it was time for me to take off I was paralysed with fear! I felt nauseous (although I did eat some Gu Chomps prior to take off-electrolyte replacements). I wanted to wait until the end of the line but they were sending everyone off in numerical order and when I tried to duck out of line the other racers wouldnt let me. I think everyone in a five foot radius was told I was scared!
Then it was time...I went across the mat, I struggled to clip in for a second then I did it! I pushed off and got on clipped in my other pedal and took off!!!! I had Patty help me get in an easy gear to start and wrote a cheat sheet on my hand to help me adjust them correctly. One of the race volunteers shouted at me "your in a tough gear young lady why dont you shift that for me". I glanced at my hand to see which way to go and did (he was right). So as I pedaled and got distance between me and the starting line this wave of confidence came over me. I realized oh my gosh I am doing this! The first part was up an incline then a short way was a little flat until we got out of the park, then it was all up hill!!!
As we went around a turn into the bike trail it was a tough ride it was a straight incline with a few turns, but no downhill or flat portions. As I was biking up the mountain I stayed very calm and I would look ahead what was coming, as I saw a steeper part I would glance at my hand and decide ahead of time what gear I needed to change. I kept track of how much room I had to change gears. It honestly was not as hard as I expected. I was doing a lot of self talking in my head. This is just like spin class, your doing great, this isnt even hard, also a lot of praying and praising God. I mean lets face it none of what I have done up to this point is without God's grace and strength!
As I was riding along I hear someone call my name! There was my cousin Patty she caught up with me and then passed me!!! She said only a few more miles. Well before the race I had chatted with the guy from the bike shop that was there supporting racers and he had said that the last 3 miles was the hardest. IT WAS!!! I just kept pedaling along and it was just steady hard work. Then I got to one part and I couldnt tell where I was going, it looked like a dead end, I thought I went the wrong way!!! I didnt see that there was a little turn out until it was too late. I had stopped and upclipped from my pedal. So now I had to walk up this little part of the hill cause there was no way to get going on the steep slope. Thank goodness it was only a short distance and then there was a little bit of a straight away I could get going again. I took the opportinuty to sip some water, again I am not comfortable on the bike to drink or eat on it yet. Something I need to learn cause the bike part is where you replenish yourself normally.
So after that it was almost even tougher ride to the finish, it was a narrow trail that winded and twisted and got steep at parts!! I knew I was getting close and I still was able to push myself when I needed it. What a great feeling!!! I was wondering how it was gonna be trying to run after this big hill.
I made it to the transistion area...AND....I stopped with out falling!!!!!! I couldnt really run with my bike shoes but made my way to my transistion set up. I got on my running shoes and took off running! I think the joy of finishing the bike part and knowing that 3 miles was all that seperated me from finishing I ran with a smile on my face the whole time. Not only that I smiled and encouraged just about everyone that passed by me!!! Most the people running the opposite direction were finishing the longer distance races and had just only mile to go. Easy for me to be smiling..huh? The run was pretty much all down hill the first mile and half meaning that the last 1.5 was all up hill. Now these hills were nothing compared to the ones we do in bootcamp or the ones we did in the half marathon. BUT after biking 10 miles uphill my legs were tired and most people were walking. When ever I get in this part of my run when I am tired and want to walk I hear my trainer Jason say "give it a little shuffle" and I do...I just keep moving my legs. Crossing the finish line on this race was so incredible. I think feeling like there is no way I can do it, that I am not ready, that I wont finish makes it so much more rewarding when I do!!!
My final race stats were great!!! I did the whole thing in 2 hrs 1 min the bike time was 1 hr 26 min the run time was 35 min (I ran a 11:30 min mile-my fastest race time ever!).
I tried to upload the photos from my trip and they wouldnt load on the blog the way I wanted...so a separate post with the pics from the whole weekend. Hoover Dam, Boulder City, Showdown at Sundown, and my stop in Vegas on the way home
