Triathlete Yet Again!

Today was the Woman Triathlon in Medical Lake. It was a hard day for me motivationally for sure. I had the flu on Thursday so that could have contributed to my heavier legs today. I have also really been trying to ride my new sleek tri bike and my parts were feeling it a bit today for sure!

A huge change from my first triathlon in July at the Valley Girl where it was easily 95 out; today it was a shocking 55 and raining! Needless to say I wasn't pumped to jump in the lake. I hated the moment where I had to take off my fleece sweats and top. As I wiped a tear and pounded my power gel we walked to the beach.

A dear friend, Rhonda, and I were deciding on our plan for swimming... we saw our idol, Jessi, go to the far right so we decided to line up in that vicinity as well. We were behind two Tri Fusion ladies for the start. Behind us on the hill we heard shouts of encouragement from our fan club...Trish and Jen! A huge thank you to these two ladies for coming out in the rain after mind you, a night of riding the bull after a friend's wedding! Anyway, back to the race. Marla- the race coordinator, told us 30 seconds... and go! We were off! Right into muck and seaweed. Not my favorite for sure! The water was cold. I had a hard time keeping my mojo even though I was saying, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." I made it to the first buoy feeling a little better, on the look out for Rhonda, who is a strong swimmer. Off to the 2nd buoy where I found a little more space for the stroke and around the last buoy for the home stretch. It felt long! I saw Rhonda get out of the water with another 30 feet or so remaining for me. Had a little left turn issue with the swim stroke then back on track to the beach. Boy was I dizzy getting out of the water. I'll have to figure out why that happens. Attempting to run, but went for a bit more of walk before picking up the pace and hearing my cheer squad...Joey, Tom, Mom, Trish and Jen. Joey was a hoot and I ran by and gave him a high five.

Rhonda was leaving on her bike as I entered by transition spot. I was cold trying to get into my shoes. I was talking out loud to myself trying to keep focused and fast. My cheer squad was there to see me exit for the street. During the first 1/2 mile my bike chain fell off. I quickly exited by bike and went into death con 101 bike chain frenzy. Luckily my chain had just fallen off on my last ride and I watched my niece and Loon Lake manager, Jolin, put it back on without a problem. A few choice words came could be heard by my fellow competitors but I was able to get it back on rather quickly. My legs felt tired for the first few miles. I was working really hard trying to keep my cadence up at 90 and not get passed by anyone!! The road was wet and possibly slick which was a little intimidating on my new sleek vessel but she handled beautifully. (minus the chain part!)
On the finish of the bike my cheer squad once again pumped me up and I headed into my transition area, Rhonda no where in sight! My socks were wet as I slid them into my running shoes. My fingers were cold as I laced my shoes, grabbed a slosh of water and a bit more gel and off I went! Joey and Tom cheered my on from the transition area.

My first 200 yards of the run were hell. I had a charley in the left calf that kept flaring up. Trish, Jen and mom yelled from a distant parking lot and I started to run again. Someone along the road said to pinch my lip, but I can't tell for sure if it helped my charley horse or not! As you can imagine I was bound and determined to find Rhonda. So once my legs were with me I tried to increase my stride, as learned from Brian Roberts at my tri camp this winter. My cheer squad drove to at least 3 different spots to cheer me. This was my soul light, it was awesome! Mom told me Rhonda wasn't too far in front of me and I turned er' up a notch. Joey asked me if I was going to be running all day, I told him it felt like it! I finally saw Rhonda at about the 2 mile mark. She was running! This is my friend who has a bad knee, doesn't run and look at this woman! So, I had to once again, crank it up a notch. Once getting to Rhonda with a just under a mile left I wasn't sure if I was spent or not. We walked a bit catching our breath and then went for it the last 1/4 mile. In the end I asked Rhonda if she had any kick and she said no so I had to to leave her just for a brief 40 feet. I just loving having a little kick left!
After a few hugs from family and friends a little salad and pizza we gathered our goods and got out of there. I have never been so in love with heated seats and the "Hot" mode of Rhonda's heater. A long, hot shower was definitely in the works for this kid.

I anxiously await my official time, somewhere around 1:25, a 10 minutes faster than my first race, which is exciting! A shout out to my girl, Cindy, doing her first tri today in Seattle at the Danskin. Surprisingly they had rain and yucky weather too!

Until the next race... my goals are to: Learn more about bike maintenance, my heart rate, what my body can do and run more! Thanks for everyone's support and encouragement! XOXO

Just in... official time 1:24:59, my first race was 1:35:16 and my bike time was the most improved followed by 4.5 minutes faster with my run. Yahoo!! Or as Emma would say, "Hooray for Me!"