That sounds pretty awesome. The day was great. I had fun! My family was out to cheer me on! And our Tri Club WON the Club Championship.
Our day started early. I woke up @ 3:50am. I made some coffee, and had my usual oatmeal and blueberries. I only had one cup of coffee since the butterflies in my stomach were already hard at work. I packed the car the night before, so all I needed to do was eat, go to the bathroom and get dressed. I met our group of friends at the Y. We were all very anxious. We followed each other down to Tempe and set up our transition area. We set up near the Bike Out/In section.
It was pretty nerve-wracking waiting for the swim start. The race director started the race and realized after the first 2 waves that he had given us the wrong instructions - or the buoys weren't set up correctly. We had to wait for the first 2 waves to come in, have the buoy's reset and then we were able to start.
I somehow got myself in the middle of the pack, rather then on the end like I wanted. But I did survive being swum over, pushed, etc. and didn't have a panic attack (YEA!). I was really glad I was in a wetsuit.
Finally, the swim leg was over. I can't tell you how happy I was. Then it was off to the bike. I was excited for this part, since it's my favorite and I feel pretty strong on the bike. Well, not on race day. I struggled to get my legs going for the first 5 miles. I felt like I was turning lead logs and my bike weighed about 50lbs. There were some slight hills, and I think I probably put my bike into a big gear too soon. Oh well, live and learn. I only passed one of the gals we train with at the Y on the bike. So I was thinking that I'd never catch up to the others.
I dismounted my bike too early because there were 2 others at the bike entrance that were dismounting. Sh-t. I should've just kept going. I lost a few seconds there. So I got out of the 2nd transition as fast as I could and just continued to go at a steady pace. I saw a little gal with a white hat and a ponytail bobbing far ahead of me. I wondered if it was Tammy, so I just kept on focusing on that and sure enough it was Tammy and Maryann. After I saw Paige on the turnaround I was able catch Tammy and Maryann and eventually pass them. Tammy told me to go for it - but I wasn't sure if I could make the whole 1.5 miles if I started running really hard to get Paige - she's pretty fast. I just kept on staying focused and kept my pace steady, passing one runner at a time. Finally, the end was near and I was able to sprint it in after the little annoying hill at the end.
I finished in 1:19:33 and came in 7th out of 19 for my age group. I feel really happy about that time for my first Triathlon.
The kids were so excited I could hear everyone cheering for me at each transition and then again at the finish. That really did help alot!
What fun we had. Now it's time to plan for more races. We've got 2 picked out for late summer and early fall. I'm going to sign up Bruce as well. We still need to figure one out for summer.
Thanks to everyone to supported me and cheered me on. I greatly appreciated it!
