My Tri Experience
on Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 4:36pm
Ironhead Women’s Sprint Triathlon Race Day 10.3.10
Today was the day! I have been preparing for several months now. I’m one of these girls who has to have a goal to be motivated to working out so when my friend Beth mentioned a Sprint Triathlon in August, I was all over it. Didn’t really think too much about it but signed up and started a beginner tri workout plan. I did the majority of my training indoors at 24 Hour Fitness because, let’s face it, I’m a wimp and will not run outside in August or September in Texas. So, I worked my way through the few months of training with one goal in mind: finish without walking. I had my doubts about whether or not that would actual happen. Here is my experience…
4am: Jax was in bed with us because he won’t sleep by himself and let’s face it, two kids are so much harder than one and we are tired. So, survival mode kicks in at 1am, 3am, or whenever Jax is done being in his crib and he gets to come sleep with mommy and daddy. He was coughing, squirming, etc. I rolled over and told Brent to do something because I had to get up in one hour and forty five minutes. So my awesome husband moved to the couch with the nine month old.
5:45am: My alarm (cell phone) goes off. I jump out of bed, go brush my teeth (I think I fell asleep doing that!), got dressed, “did” my hair (aka tiny pony tail on top just to keep my hair out of my face), fixed breakfast and waited for my friend, Jenny, to come pick me up.
6:30am: We are on our way to the MISD Natatorium. It is dark and cold outside. What was I thinking?
6:45am: Check into the transition area. We walk up with our bikes, helmets and other goodies to get set up for the transitions between swimming and biking and then biking and running. Check in means getting your bib number written on both arms, your left thigh and your age on the back of your right calf. The guy who writes my number on me says, “I need your left thigh, ma’am.” To which I promptly responded, “It has been a long time since anyone said that to me.” Hmmm….filter is not working yet.
6:50am: Set up transition, find my friends Jenny, Beth and Michelle. We get a pre-race picture taken in the dark while all toasty and cozy in our clothes. Then we head inside to get our timing chips that go on our ankles.
7am – 7:45am: We stand around and talk. Please interpret as make catty comments about everyone around us. It’s just what women do. We go to the bathroom…several times. Talk about how nervous we are getting, make more catty comments and check out the ages on the back of everyone’s calves which of course leads to more catty comments.
Somewhere in the time period, I’m talked into heading into the men’s locker room to go to the bathroom. No lines are always tempting. So, we confidently go where no woman should ever go BAREFOOT! After cautiously peeking around walls, we finally find the potties – all two of them. One door is locked, the other is open so my friend goes first after mentioning that she has some issues with stage fright and peeing. Then we hear a voice, a MAN’S voice, say, “Am I in the wrong place or are you?”, from behind the locked stall door. Oops, sorry to interrupt you, sir! J
7:45am: Race instructions. Don’t really remember much of this but there were a lot of words and directions being given. At this point, for me, it is follow the leader!
8:05am-ish: The first two swimmers enter the pool and it all becomes real. Standing in line with the other 150+ people watching and waiting for your turns develops camaraderie really quickly.
8:22am: It’s my turn. I quickly realized that training in a 25m pool makes it a lot easier than the real deal of swimming the race in a 50m pool…the lanes are twice as long and I get to push off ½ the number of times I’m used to. Also, lots of people don’t really know how to swim and totally over estimated their swim time at registration.
½ way through my swim after passing several people, the lady in front of me who is in my way, flips over on her back as I’m passing her and smacks me in the face… Accident or not? You decide.
8:30am-ish: I am in the transition area “drying off” and putting on dry clothes over my swim attire. On go the socks, shoes, helmet, bib number and I’m off.
About 4 minutes into my ride, I see my husband, boys and my parents. Don’t remember much but hearing them cheer and seeing Jax’s smiling face. That was the best feeling in the world. I thought, I can do this.
Then the cars come. I never thought I would think, “Get out of my way!” while being behind a car on a bike. I also got a good laugh at the people who passed me…they didn’t get very far either. Sweet satisfaction.
It’s a great morning for a ride apparently. It was very easy to tell who the racers were because we had all been briefed on the United States Triathlon Association biking rules. So, I’d just like to say to the lady in purple out for her Sunday ride, “Learn the rules, take off your headphones, get out of the middle of the road, stop swerving back and forth and don’t ride on a race day!”
The biking portion was a 6.2 mile loop that we did twice. About 4 miles into my first loop, I hear, “On your left” and bib #7 goes by. I quietly think to myself, if I’m bib #125 why is she so far behind me. Oh, silly Dawn. Then I realize… I just got lapped! YIKES! (#7 won the whole thing by the way.)
As I approached the beginning of loop 2, I hear Liam yelling, “Go mommy!” I can’t even type those words without getting teary eyed. Amazing. I head to the intersection, turn the corner and the next little group I see are holding signs that say, “You can do!” and “We love you, Mommy!” Not my kids, my husband but my friend, Beth’s family. Yep, I was choking back the tears.
I didn’t get stuck behind any cars this time. And I was feeling pretty good because I knew I was over ½ way done with the ride. I said “On your left” many times today but felt some serious satisfaction when I passed the 11 year old. Not one of my prouder moments but that is the double edged sword of having your age on your calf. I’m sure the 60 year old thought the same thing when she lapped me in the run. More about that later.
Our biking course crossed the same set of railroad tracks twice which means that we crossed them a total of four times. I did lots of self talk today and distinctly remembering telling myself to stand up each time I went over the tracks. I was also secretly hoping that my tires would hold up going over those. The last time across I realized that the Tour de France was on some cobble stone streets this past year so I was probably worrying for no reason. I was not prepared for what came next though. About 2/3 of the way through the race, I found (finally) a gear that I really liked. I didn’t anticipate that my chain would come off though when I was changing gears. I remember thinking, “Well, I’m done.” I, however, was able to fix it myself and probably only lost 45 – 60 seconds. I even had the grease on my fingers to prove it!
My bike ride was coming to a close and I got to see my family one more time before dumping my bike and starting the dreaded 5k.
The Run: Lost track of time. So, one major rule of any USTA sanctioned event is no iPod, MP3 player or earphones of any kind. I originally thought I would just break that rule and take the penalty. And then, I decided to follow the rules. I headed into transition which means I am running my bike back to its stall, took off my helmet and put on my visor. Then, I tried to run. My legs felt like jello but my goal of finishing without walking was on the line so I kept going. And the guy was right, I did run off the jello feeling.
Our running trail took us down a side walk to the Mansfield Athletic Complex. About a block into it, the lady in front of me tripped. I watched as she fell in slow motion into the middle of the intersection. She is going to really be sore along with having some nice scabs on her thigh, shin, knee, elbow and shoulder. I helped her up and made sure she was okay but didn’t stick around to see if she continued the race. (There was a race official there also directing traffic so I didn’t leave her alone.)
Now, this trail…wow. It was more like a little mini maze in and out of the parking lots at the soccer complex. I thought it was going to be awful but later decided that it was actually pretty enjoyable since everyone was running together and we weren’t spread out over a major loop. I think I did much better this way since I couldn’t listen to “Party in the USA” or other embarrassing songs on my playlist! Again, this was another loop and we did this one twice too. So, I admitted to feeling good about passing the 11 year old…and then revenge happened and I got lapped by a 60 year old and a 57 year old. All I have to say is at least I lapped the 68 year old! And, my time was faster than hers too. Yes, I checked! I hope that I am rocking sprint tri’s when I’m in my 40s, let alone my late 60s!
I have to admit, I really wanted to walk. I mean, I really, really, really wanted to walk. But I thought about a couple of things. First, I told everyone on Facebook that my goal was to finish without walking. I didn’t want to have to admit that I didn’t do it. (That’s some serous accountability!) Second, at church last night, David said that when he is running and wants to stop, he thinks, “If I am still breathing then I can keep running.” I never quit breathing so I had to keep running. Thank you, David, for the motivation. Third, and most importantly, I had to pee! (I had to talk myself out of doing it while I was on the bike and then during the run I had to keep myself from hiding behind a tree.) So, I knew that if I walked, it would be that much longer until I got to go to the bathroom. Now, is that motivation or what?
Leaving the athletic complex was hard. We ran straight into the wind. It felt like it was blowing 35 mph. I’m sure it wasn’t but it sure did feel like it! And, I thought the cross wind on the bike was bad! But, after getting out of the complex and turning the corner, I saw people lining the street cheering us on to the finish line. It was a glorious site! There were my friends’ families and friends, and then, there was my family cheering me on across the finish line. It was awesome. Crossing the finish line was incredible, but hearing my little boy running after me yelling, “Mommy, mommy! You raced!” and jumping into my arms was priceless. I didn’t even care that I could hardly breathe.
I was even a little sad when my numbers washed off of my skin so easily. I really wanted to sport those for a few more days...hmmm. Where did I put the sharpie?
I never thought I would do a triathlon, sprint or not. (Thank you, Beth!) But I can now say, I’ve done my first and probably not my last! Want to join me next year?
In case you are wondering, my time...1 hour, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.
Today was the day! I have been preparing for several months now. I’m one of these girls who has to have a goal to be motivated to working out so when my friend Beth mentioned a Sprint Triathlon in August, I was all over it. Didn’t really think too much about it but signed up and started a beginner tri workout plan. I did the majority of my training indoors at 24 Hour Fitness because, let’s face it, I’m a wimp and will not run outside in August or September in Texas. So, I worked my way through the few months of training with one goal in mind: finish without walking. I had my doubts about whether or not that would actual happen. Here is my experience…
4am: Jax was in bed with us because he won’t sleep by himself and let’s face it, two kids are so much harder than one and we are tired. So, survival mode kicks in at 1am, 3am, or whenever Jax is done being in his crib and he gets to come sleep with mommy and daddy. He was coughing, squirming, etc. I rolled over and told Brent to do something because I had to get up in one hour and forty five minutes. So my awesome husband moved to the couch with the nine month old.
5:45am: My alarm (cell phone) goes off. I jump out of bed, go brush my teeth (I think I fell asleep doing that!), got dressed, “did” my hair (aka tiny pony tail on top just to keep my hair out of my face), fixed breakfast and waited for my friend, Jenny, to come pick me up.
6:30am: We are on our way to the MISD Natatorium. It is dark and cold outside. What was I thinking?
6:45am: Check into the transition area. We walk up with our bikes, helmets and other goodies to get set up for the transitions between swimming and biking and then biking and running. Check in means getting your bib number written on both arms, your left thigh and your age on the back of your right calf. The guy who writes my number on me says, “I need your left thigh, ma’am.” To which I promptly responded, “It has been a long time since anyone said that to me.” Hmmm….filter is not working yet.
6:50am: Set up transition, find my friends Jenny, Beth and Michelle. We get a pre-race picture taken in the dark while all toasty and cozy in our clothes. Then we head inside to get our timing chips that go on our ankles.
7am – 7:45am: We stand around and talk. Please interpret as make catty comments about everyone around us. It’s just what women do. We go to the bathroom…several times. Talk about how nervous we are getting, make more catty comments and check out the ages on the back of everyone’s calves which of course leads to more catty comments.
Somewhere in the time period, I’m talked into heading into the men’s locker room to go to the bathroom. No lines are always tempting. So, we confidently go where no woman should ever go BAREFOOT! After cautiously peeking around walls, we finally find the potties – all two of them. One door is locked, the other is open so my friend goes first after mentioning that she has some issues with stage fright and peeing. Then we hear a voice, a MAN’S voice, say, “Am I in the wrong place or are you?”, from behind the locked stall door. Oops, sorry to interrupt you, sir! J
7:45am: Race instructions. Don’t really remember much of this but there were a lot of words and directions being given. At this point, for me, it is follow the leader!
8:05am-ish: The first two swimmers enter the pool and it all becomes real. Standing in line with the other 150+ people watching and waiting for your turns develops camaraderie really quickly.
8:22am: It’s my turn. I quickly realized that training in a 25m pool makes it a lot easier than the real deal of swimming the race in a 50m pool…the lanes are twice as long and I get to push off ½ the number of times I’m used to. Also, lots of people don’t really know how to swim and totally over estimated their swim time at registration.
½ way through my swim after passing several people, the lady in front of me who is in my way, flips over on her back as I’m passing her and smacks me in the face… Accident or not? You decide.
8:30am-ish: I am in the transition area “drying off” and putting on dry clothes over my swim attire. On go the socks, shoes, helmet, bib number and I’m off.
About 4 minutes into my ride, I see my husband, boys and my parents. Don’t remember much but hearing them cheer and seeing Jax’s smiling face. That was the best feeling in the world. I thought, I can do this.
Then the cars come. I never thought I would think, “Get out of my way!” while being behind a car on a bike. I also got a good laugh at the people who passed me…they didn’t get very far either. Sweet satisfaction.
It’s a great morning for a ride apparently. It was very easy to tell who the racers were because we had all been briefed on the United States Triathlon Association biking rules. So, I’d just like to say to the lady in purple out for her Sunday ride, “Learn the rules, take off your headphones, get out of the middle of the road, stop swerving back and forth and don’t ride on a race day!”
The biking portion was a 6.2 mile loop that we did twice. About 4 miles into my first loop, I hear, “On your left” and bib #7 goes by. I quietly think to myself, if I’m bib #125 why is she so far behind me. Oh, silly Dawn. Then I realize… I just got lapped! YIKES! (#7 won the whole thing by the way.)
As I approached the beginning of loop 2, I hear Liam yelling, “Go mommy!” I can’t even type those words without getting teary eyed. Amazing. I head to the intersection, turn the corner and the next little group I see are holding signs that say, “You can do!” and “We love you, Mommy!” Not my kids, my husband but my friend, Beth’s family. Yep, I was choking back the tears.
I didn’t get stuck behind any cars this time. And I was feeling pretty good because I knew I was over ½ way done with the ride. I said “On your left” many times today but felt some serious satisfaction when I passed the 11 year old. Not one of my prouder moments but that is the double edged sword of having your age on your calf. I’m sure the 60 year old thought the same thing when she lapped me in the run. More about that later.
Our biking course crossed the same set of railroad tracks twice which means that we crossed them a total of four times. I did lots of self talk today and distinctly remembering telling myself to stand up each time I went over the tracks. I was also secretly hoping that my tires would hold up going over those. The last time across I realized that the Tour de France was on some cobble stone streets this past year so I was probably worrying for no reason. I was not prepared for what came next though. About 2/3 of the way through the race, I found (finally) a gear that I really liked. I didn’t anticipate that my chain would come off though when I was changing gears. I remember thinking, “Well, I’m done.” I, however, was able to fix it myself and probably only lost 45 – 60 seconds. I even had the grease on my fingers to prove it!
My bike ride was coming to a close and I got to see my family one more time before dumping my bike and starting the dreaded 5k.
The Run: Lost track of time. So, one major rule of any USTA sanctioned event is no iPod, MP3 player or earphones of any kind. I originally thought I would just break that rule and take the penalty. And then, I decided to follow the rules. I headed into transition which means I am running my bike back to its stall, took off my helmet and put on my visor. Then, I tried to run. My legs felt like jello but my goal of finishing without walking was on the line so I kept going. And the guy was right, I did run off the jello feeling.
Our running trail took us down a side walk to the Mansfield Athletic Complex. About a block into it, the lady in front of me tripped. I watched as she fell in slow motion into the middle of the intersection. She is going to really be sore along with having some nice scabs on her thigh, shin, knee, elbow and shoulder. I helped her up and made sure she was okay but didn’t stick around to see if she continued the race. (There was a race official there also directing traffic so I didn’t leave her alone.)
Now, this trail…wow. It was more like a little mini maze in and out of the parking lots at the soccer complex. I thought it was going to be awful but later decided that it was actually pretty enjoyable since everyone was running together and we weren’t spread out over a major loop. I think I did much better this way since I couldn’t listen to “Party in the USA” or other embarrassing songs on my playlist! Again, this was another loop and we did this one twice too. So, I admitted to feeling good about passing the 11 year old…and then revenge happened and I got lapped by a 60 year old and a 57 year old. All I have to say is at least I lapped the 68 year old! And, my time was faster than hers too. Yes, I checked! I hope that I am rocking sprint tri’s when I’m in my 40s, let alone my late 60s!
I have to admit, I really wanted to walk. I mean, I really, really, really wanted to walk. But I thought about a couple of things. First, I told everyone on Facebook that my goal was to finish without walking. I didn’t want to have to admit that I didn’t do it. (That’s some serous accountability!) Second, at church last night, David said that when he is running and wants to stop, he thinks, “If I am still breathing then I can keep running.” I never quit breathing so I had to keep running. Thank you, David, for the motivation. Third, and most importantly, I had to pee! (I had to talk myself out of doing it while I was on the bike and then during the run I had to keep myself from hiding behind a tree.) So, I knew that if I walked, it would be that much longer until I got to go to the bathroom. Now, is that motivation or what?
Leaving the athletic complex was hard. We ran straight into the wind. It felt like it was blowing 35 mph. I’m sure it wasn’t but it sure did feel like it! And, I thought the cross wind on the bike was bad! But, after getting out of the complex and turning the corner, I saw people lining the street cheering us on to the finish line. It was a glorious site! There were my friends’ families and friends, and then, there was my family cheering me on across the finish line. It was awesome. Crossing the finish line was incredible, but hearing my little boy running after me yelling, “Mommy, mommy! You raced!” and jumping into my arms was priceless. I didn’t even care that I could hardly breathe.
I was even a little sad when my numbers washed off of my skin so easily. I really wanted to sport those for a few more days...hmmm. Where did I put the sharpie?
I never thought I would do a triathlon, sprint or not. (Thank you, Beth!) But I can now say, I’ve done my first and probably not my last! Want to join me next year?
In case you are wondering, my time...1 hour, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.
We are really going to do this!
#125
This is exhausting.
The finish line is in sight!
My big hug.
We did it!
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