Day 166

One down. Two to go.

It was a beautiful day for a triathlon. The sun was shining, and the water was warm. There were families both racing together and cheering from the sidelines. I listened to two boys (cousins I believe) about 4 or 5 years old talk smack to each other for at least 5 minutes straight- "My mommy is going to beat your mommy!" and so on...

I wasn't as nervous today as I was last year. But I could feel the nerves around me- I did a "beginner" triathlon, and there were at least 20-30 people there today making their first venture into the multi-sport world. I remember all too clearly the nerves and even tears right before my first race, as well as the utter astonishment and dopamine-rush that I actually finished. I made sure to team up around some of those first-timers and give encouragement and what little advice I could, remembering how much that helped me only one short summer ago.

That's one of the best things I have found about this type of sport. All of the ones I have done truly have been a positive experience. Everyone is super-encouraging of each other. There were all ages (literally from teens to seventies) and sizes. And everyone, save those of us that were wheezing too hard at the moment, would say, "good job" or "keep it up" when passing a fellow racer on the road or path. There were even high-fives and fist bumps at times.

Because the truth of it is that 95% of us will never be overly-competitive. We are racing ourselves, and ok, maybe I was trying to beat the 20-something guy in front of me on the bike. But he had a mountain bike and a helmet with a mohawk...

My swim felt good, but it was definitely crowded in the water, making it hard to get a good rhythm going. When you watch us from the beach, it looks like a huge flock of birds trying to fight one another. I tried to compensate by moving farther out, and wound up losing some valuable seconds by taking a more round-about turn around the final buoy. 400 meters (16 laps in the pool) and up the hill from the beach in just over 10 minutes. Whew.

The bike started off uphill, which was awful but being as there is only one road out of the park there was nothing they could do about it. I remembered my training and paced slower at first, allowing 4 people to pass me. But by pushing at the end, I was able to regain those 4 people plus 2 more. It took me 45 minutes to travel 10 miles though, an area I now know is one to focus on improving.

My downfall came at the run. During training, they call workouts in which you ride your bike then immediately run for awhile "bricks". Why, you ask? Because your legs literally feel like you are picking up bricks after pushing pedals hard for almost an hour. I learned that eating my powergel at the transition area after the bike was too late- the first mile running was torture and I was more than winded. Next time I will shoot one down just past the halfway point of the bike, hoping this helps push me through. I kept my time to 20.52 for 2 miles, which was over my 10-min mile goal, but I'll take it.

I didn't finish as strong as I would have liked, but I definitely took time off my swim and cut my transition times in half from last year. I swam almost twice as far as last summer's race, and my bike was 3 miles longer. So all in all, I think it was a success. I got 37th place out of 65 male/female racers, and a gift card to Qdoba. Whoo-hoo!

I made new friends, and saw an old one who was doing his first triathlon. I watched kids cheer on their parents, and parents cheer on their adult children. I saw a woman who was at least in her 50's get out of the water after doing a 3-mile swim- that's like 65 laps in the pool. I saw a woman be the third one out of the water in the Intermediate triathlon of over 50 participants- and she wasn't the youngest in the bunch.

So tonight, I celebrate a successful first race that will help motivate me for my next one in July. I am doing an even longer one at that time, and am excited and nervous as hell all at the same time.

You want to know what the best part of race day is? I let myself eat whatever the heck I want to. I had a hamburger (on a white bun!) and french fries for dinner (oh heavenly fried potatoes!), and took the 11-year old out for ice cream as well (no more frozen yogurt or bananas!).

Today's pic celebrates adding another notch to my racebelt, and the happiness (ok, I was ecstatic) of seeing the finish line. Congrats to all who raced today, and as always, I would love to have someone join me at the next one!! Now where did I put those Tums...