After a night of zero sleep, I wasn't feeling too ready for this race. I finally had to admit to myself, I was scared to swim a mile in open water. But I signed up, so I was getting in. When I saw my Mom, just before the start, I almost started crying! Fortunately I met an amazing woman while warming up. We had some good laughs which helped to ease the nerves. This is one of my reasons for loving triathlons. There is always some hilarious person at the start to help ease the nerves and remind me...this is fun!!!!
When the race started, I began my usual stroke and found myself...out of air!! I had a fleeting thought of just bagging the whole thing and then I remembered how stubborn I am and that I had no plans of quitting. So I decided to revert to plan B and change strokes until I could calm down and catch my air. After the first quarter mile, I was able to get into a rhythm and started the crawl again. Before I knew it, the swim was over and I was in the transition area. I remember Eric saying, "can't you smile". I though, oh you just wait honey!
I was off on my bike. I knew Papa G clicked of photo of me with a mouthful of food in my mouth. I later learned he thought this was quite funny. I actually love this part about cycling, how easy it is to eat and ride!!! The bike went really well. I enjoying the fact that I did lots simulated hill training this winter and loved the giant hill even more on the way down. I was going faster than I planned and didn't push it too much, ending up completing my bike portion in about 1:15.
I began my run, feeling pretty good. I actually thought I was running faster than I was, kind of like the way kids think they are jumping high in the air, only getting about 1/4" off the ground. I ended up averaging about a ten minute mile but was happy to feel strong the whole time and pass a few people in the process. I ended up across the finish line in 2:44:19, 8th in my age group (out of 11).
The best part of my day came next when Eric and my Mom finished their races. This was Eric's first triathlon and I was hoping he was out enjoying his experience. Since his race started a couple hours after mine, I was able to see his final transition and finish. I was delighted to see how strong he looked, coming in off his bike. He set off on his run and returned in about 30 minutes. This was fabulous as he recently worked up to running three consecutive miles in the past few weeks. It was adorable to see him cross the finish line with Payton who I'm sure thought she just finished a race herself!! Eric's goal was to finish the race in under two hours. His official time was 1:28:18. Very well done!! My mom had a great race too. She improved her transitions and finished a half hour faster than last years race. Way to go mom! You continually amaze me. Her finish photo made it to the front of the photo display. It's pretty darn cute when you are accompanied across the finish by two four-year olds and a two-year old.
We had an amazing weekend in Moses Lake. Even though our spare caught on fire on the truck on the way over and the awning to the trailer broke! Budu racing put on another fabulous event. We met some new friends who we hope to see at future races and had a great weekend of health!
And don't worry, I already have another race picked out for Eric. I mean, Eric is excited to enter another race!!
No comments:
Post a Comment