Saturday, 7/21/2012.
Beep, beep, beeeeppppp. My alarm clock goes off at 4:00am. Normally, I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep, but today is my first triathlon. I was surprising alert at the early hour. I hopped up an executed the plan I had gone over in my mind before going to bed. Everything had been packed, unpacked, rechecked, and packed again. I went into the kitchen and made some breakfast; an egg, ham, and English muffin sandwich and a glass of water. Then off for a quick shower. I was feeling great, not nervous, no discernible pain, aside from my usual post-sleep stiffness, no stomach issues, I was ready to go. I put on the tri kit that I had laid out the night before, grabbed my stuff, and I was headed to Decatur.
The drive to Point Mallard in Decatur is about 40 minutes from my house, so I had plenty of time to think. I ran through every part of the race in my mind, tried to think of everything that could go wrong. What was I going to do if my goggles were knocked off? What if I had a flat? One of absolutly favorite quotes is "The body cannot take you where the mind has never been". I don't know the origin of that quote, or even if I quoted it correctly, but I thoroughly believe it.
I arrived around 5:30am at the park. There were about 30 people already there setting up in the sea of racks in the transition area. I parked, got my bike and backpack and headed to the racks. I looked the transition area over to figure out where the best place to set up would be. Most of the people were set up close to the "bike-out" exit from the area. I assumed these were the people that were actually trying to get on the podium. Since this was my first event, I decided to stay out of their way and find another spot. I knew I wanted to be on the end of a rack somewhere that was easy to spot. I found one of my coaches just off the center of the group of racks and decided to setup next to her.
I had practiced transitions several times in Tri-101 and I had even built my own rack to practice on my own, so I was some-what prepared. I set up my stuff as I had practiced and was ready to go. I walked around the transition area to the two entrance/exit gates and made sure I could locate my bike. I brought the brightest yellow towel I could find so it would be easy so see. And it worked, I could see that towel from anywhere. I saw several of the Tri-101 coaches and lot of my fellow-trainees while I was walking around. This wasn't our goal race for Tri-101, but several of us thought we were ready. And I for one, just couldn't wait anymore.
I went down to the river where we would be doing the swim. They had not set up the buoys yet, so there wasn't much to see. But I tried to picture the course and visualize myself swimming. I hung around until the Tri-101 group picture, then headed off to the body marking tent. Since I hadn't done this before, I wasn't really sure what the procedure was. I just followed everyone into the tent and did what they did. I think next time I will bring a Sharpie and mark myself and save myself a trip to the tent.
I decided it was time to go warm up. I went down to the swimming area again to swim a little. I have been having a problem with a bone spur in my shoulder and I wanted to make sure it was warmed up so I didn't tear anything. I didn't want to have to finish the race in pain. I swam out a little way, nice and slowly, paying attention to my form and breathing. Everything was going great. I turned around and looked at the shore to spot where the exit was. I had swum in open water a couple times before, so I was ready for the limited visibility. I thought to myself, "well, I think I've got the swimming part licked".
I got back to the shore and got out of the water. It was almost 7:00am, so I just milled around waiting for the start. As time got closer, the coordinator started talking over the PA. The system was very poorly designed. The speakers were way behind us and I could not hear anything she was saying. I hoped it wasn't important. I did hear that we should start lining up in number order. I was number 209, so I just moved over to the side. I figured when I saw 150 go in the water I would start lining up. As I got in line, I adjusted my swim cap and goggles. When there was about 5 people in front of me, I put my goggles on and got ready. My heart was beating a little faster now and I was getting a little nervous. I tried to push all the thoughts out of my head and just concentrate on listening for "GO". When the starter said "GO", I hit the water. Immediately, my left eye cup started to leak. I thought "no problem", I had planned for that. I just lifted my head and reseated it...still leaking. Tried again...still leaking. Ok, I didn't plan for that. So the whole swim I had to stop every once in a while and empty my goggles. I still don't know why it was leaking.
As I was swimming, I was watching the guy in front of me, the guy on my left, the guy passing me on my right. I could feel someone hitting my feet and I noticed I was hitting the guy's feet in front of me. I was paying attention to everything EXCEPT my own swimming. My arms were flying, I was kicking like a mad man, and I was breathing pretty hard. I pulled up to empty my goggles and I saw that I had only gone about 100 yards!! I thought "Oh crap, I'm not going to make it". My form was out the window, my arms and legs were flying in all directions, I was sucking in water every time I took a breath. I had totally lost control. I started swimming breast stroke, party out of exhaustion and partly to collect myself. I calmed down, had a little chat with myself about form, and started off again. I was so caught up in the "race", I forgot the basics. After, I got my head back on, I did much better and had no problem finishing the swim.
When, I got back to the shore, I felt really good. I wasn't at all dizzy which sometime happened when I was training. I ran up the beach to the transition and had no issues getting on the bike and taking off. The bike portion was, of course, a breeze. I was a very nice ride, mostly flat and very low traffic. I pushed it a little more than I had planned. I was going to push for about 7 miles and then backoff the last two miles to let my legs recoup, but of course it didn't work out that way. I did let off about half a mile from the transition. I got my feet out of the shoes and got ready to dismount about 200 yards from the line. I remember thinking that there sure were a lot of people standing there, I hoped I didn't bite it doing my flying dismount. But it all worked like I practiced, and I hit the ground running just like I was supposed to.
I got back to the bike rack and went to rack my bike. I was standing at a weird angle and lifted the bike to put it on the rack and felt something catch in my back. "You have got to be kidding me!!" I thought, maybe it will be ok. I had some trouble getting my socks and shoes on and when I stood up, pain shot down my leg. "Yup, threw my back out!!" I stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to do; do I go on, or do I quit? Well, I was still breathing, so quitting was out of the question, so I started running. The pain was pretty bad. I was ready for the tight calves that I always have getting off the bike, but I wasn't ready for the pain everytime my left foot hit the ground. It was like someone shoving a knife in my back. As I was running, I passed Stephanie and the girls. I tried not to look like I was having any difficulty, but after the race she said she could tell I was in pain. I toughed it out until I got into the woods, then I started walking. I was almost in tears, not from the pain, but because I so mad that I thought I was going to have to quit. I ran/walked for about a mile. By then, at least my calves had loosened up. I finally settled some strange gait that was a cross between a limp and a hop but it was a little easier on my back, and I managed to continue. I stopped occasionally and tried to stretch my back. I knew it wasn't going to help, but I figured it was worth a try. I was really getting discouraged and I was about to stop at the next water station and have them drive me back in.
The trail opened up briefly onto the road which was the return portion of the run. When I hit the road, I heard Janet, one of the coaches who was also running the race. She was on the road on her way back. All she said was "You can do it, your almost there". She of course, had no way of knowing that my back was killing me, but for some reason I believed her and I kept going.
When I made the turn onto the road, a kid, probably 10 years old, went sprinting passed me. He got about 100 yards ahead of me, then stopped and started walking. When I got up to him he started sprinting again. He got 100 yards ahead again and started walking. We kept this up for the last mile and half. It was actually kind of helping me, it kept me going.
When I got to the turn onto the home stretch, there was Janet again, cheering us on. I don't know if my back was just totally numb from the pain or what, but it all of a sudden didn't hurt...as bad. I passed Janet and picked up a little speed then there was Edd and Noel. They were yelling "almost there, finish strong". I turned the last corner leading to the finish line and there was Caneilia, Rick, and some others, all cheering us on. I made the last few steps and crossed the finish line. I just finish my first triathlon!
As I was walking back from the finish line to the Team Rocket tent, all sorts of things were running through my head. Images of me sitting on the couch five months ago, 65 pounds heavier; getting out of breath walking up the stairs at work; the first swim workout in the pool, not being able to swim two laps without stopping; my whole body in pain after running a mile; stumbling through my first transition practice. I really have come a long way. I don't think I could have done it without the Tri-101 program and the great coaches. And it's not so much that they are telling me things I didn't know or couldn't have found on the internet. The concepts for endurance training are well known and all over then internet. But having the constant encouragement, seeing the passion that they have for the sport, and them genuinely wanting to help you, not because they are paid to, but because the want to, really goes a long way toward motivation, at least for me. It's almost like I want to do well because I don't want to let them down.
I know it is hard, if not impossible, to identify life changing events while they are happening. Usually, it takes benefit of looking back at things in the past to identify them as a point where something changed. But, it sure feels like this could be something that changes my life. I guess I will have to wait and see what becomes of it. I want to believe I will develop a lasting passion for this sport and will continue it as long as my body will let me. I hope that sometime I will have the opportunity to share that passion and get to encourage someone else on their journey to change their life. Only time will tell. Until then, I am having a blast! I have meet some great people and maybe a few of them will become great friends.
As a side note...I just got back from the chiropractor and after a few pops and cracks, my back is much better. So, BRING ON THE NEXT ONE!!!
