Well it's official, I'm a triathlete! I finished my first ever triathlon yesterday and the Luray Sprint Triathlon event. Conditions were hot and muggy, but I persevered. Here's a run down of the day:Woke up at 4:45 fed the dogs and threw my gear in the car. Ate breakfast in the car on the way, and watched the sun rise as I hit the local roads. Gorgeous drive, and it seemed the only people I saw on the road had bikes on the car--probably all going the same place! I arrived at the site 15 minutes after registration opened, there were already maybe 100 people there. Spectators setting up chairs, volunteers getting things organized, and athletes preparing their gear.
I set up with the help of experienced athletes around me. The told me what the little number in my packet was for (my helmet!). And gave me tips like how the number falls off easily so you use duct tape to give it some added staying power. I ran into my friend Melissa at that point and her 4 time Ironman boyfriend gave us a lesson in how to set up an efficient transition. Melissa and I were both doing this race as a warm up for the Nation's Triathlon (olympic distance) next month and were greatful for the help.
I went down to the lake side for the swim start. I was in the second wave, behind the 34 and under men and in front of the master's men. I stood in the back and to the side, waited a few seconds after the other swimmers started and then started swimming. No panic, no fear, just joy and swimming. I kept my pace way down, stayed at warm up pace the whole way and to the side. Tried drafting but couldn't find anyone I wanted to draft off of. Ah well. By the third buoy I felt warmed up and graceful. As I got near the last 1/3 the first Master's swimmer caught up to me, and I was catching up to the stragglers from the 34 and under men in front of me. As I rounded the last buoy the pack of Master's men caught up. I was soooo nervous at this point, convinced they would literally swim right on top of me as they raced for the finish. They bumped into me a bit but swam around me. My heart rate was up at this point, I was glad I was almost done, but VERY proud. Even the photographer commented that I was smiling from the second I got out of the water.
The transition was across the beach and up 2 flights of stairs, and my bike was at the top of a hill after that. I ran until I got to the bottom of the hill and then figured it wasn't worth it. Dried off, got on my shoes and socks, put my helmet and gloves on and was off. I passed another Athena on the first uphill, wahooo! Got to 38.8 mph on the first big downhill and pretended I didn't have to go back up that on the way back. I started to count how many people I passed, a few from my division, a 23 year old, a 71 year old, a Clydesdale, they all counted! Many more passed me, but it didn't matter I felt like a winner with each person I passed. It was a hilly course and I finally reached that long hill. I thought I'd never get to the top, my computer said I was going 3.8 mph at the very top. I considered getting off my bike and walking, but refused, I would conquer this hill! The volunteers at the top were screaming and cheering and I couldn't let them down!
Reached the transition and the guy next to me had racked his bike wrong, I could no longer get my bike in the rack, I ran around it three times trying to figure it out and finally had to lift the bar up with brute force to get my bike under and racked properly. Grabbed my running gear and was off. The run was hilly, but mostly downhill on the way out, this did not bode well for the run back. I saw runners walking up this one hill on their way back. I scoffed, that would not be me! Ha!! By the time I got back to that uphill on this 90 degree humid day I decided I didn't care for a case of heat stroke and walked up it too. I think everyone did. Made it to the finish line smiling and standing in 2 hours and 16 minutes. I was hoping for better times all around, but really, just glad for the success of finishing.
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