So with a 40 minute drive to get to Morrisville this morning, I woke up at 4:30 am, walked PD and ate 2 bananas and a glass of gatorade for breakfast.
By the time we arrived at Lake Crabtree, I was all nerves. I was so excited and nervous all in one. Matthew was calm, cool and collected and got the bike all set up and ready to go at my assigned spot.
The group who organized the triathlon did a fantastic job with organizing everything. I had my own bike spot, well marked with my number on it. After you come out of the water, you are disoriented so having a well marked spot was a huge help. There was a guy next to me who said to count the posts, and notice the color tent (green tent) that was where my bike was which was another help after coming out of the swim.
I was in the age 30-34 group, we were the 8th group to start. Matthew stayed right there with me before the swim began. I was very nervous about swimming in a lake- I've never swam in a lake before and didn't know what to expect. All of my training for this triathlon was done in the pool and one of Matthew's friends at work who had done this race the year before said the water was very dirty. So, yeah, I was really nervous and from where we were, it looked like a long way to swim. Then the annoucer sounded 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
I think my adrenaline carried me through the first half of the swim, I alternated between the crawl and the breast stroke because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't steering off course. I've heard that the swimming can be hard but on top of that people easily get off course and have to do more work than necessary. I didn't want that to happen, so alternating worked out well although I think it would have been easier to swim all crawl. I also looked to my left while I was swimming and paced myself accoring to another swimmer who seemed to be swimming parallel to me. This worked out well, because she was going straight and in the right direction. Every so often I would go into the breast stroke to make sure I was on course. I felt panicky at times because I didn't think I was moving at all. In the pool, you know you're moving because you reach the end of the lane, but in a lake you can't really guage your distance all too well. So then came the end of the swimming. I could see Matthew waiting there. As soon as I got up, I gave him a big smile and jogged to the area where my bike was.
I was really disoriented and wet, so I counted the posts and looked at the numbers and found my bike. I wore a great outfit that did a great job in the water- 3 pieces altogether a jog swim bra, a swim shirt and bike/swim shorts. I put my running shirt on that had my number and got my helmet on and was off. I didn't even take time to wipe my feet off. I threw my socks on along with my running sneakers. No clips? I don't use foot clips anymore. Two years ago, I had a horrible bike wreck involving clips and decided I'm just not coordinated enough to use them. Hey we all have our strengths and clips aren't one of mine.
Back to the biking...I took out a packet of electrolyte chews and headed to the area to bike. I got the package open and held them in my hand as I started riding. I ate only 3 since I dropped the packet at mile 4, but this turned out to be fine. The bike was tough- 3 really big hills and my bike was having trouble shifting into different gears. All was good though, and when I saw Matthew at mile 14, I knew it was all good. I felt okay going up the hills and riding in general.
Great to see Matthew.
Then I finished the bike ride and tore off running. There was Matthew with a big smile on his face that got me going that first mile. The course was twisty - not hilly but winding. I went slow the first mile and then the second mile I kicked it up and ran faster. The third mile, I slowed down but then went fast once I saw Matthew and the finish line. And then it was over.
I really loved it. It felt great to do it! After that, I changed and we went to one of my favorite places- Sweet Tomatoes.
