This is Jeffiner’s first triathlon story:
I just finished my first triathlon. Wow. What a struggle. I was terrified before the race. I was the 153rd person to enter the pool, and I was so scared standing in line waiting. People were telling me to just think of it as another workout, that I’ve done all of this before, that I could watch the others in front of me to get tips. I tried to calm down or think happy thoughts, but nothing was working. So I decided that I would just have to compete in this race while being scared.
I jumped into the pool less gracefully than I planned and got a mouthful of water. I took off swimming anyway. The pool was crazy, there were people everywhere, some swimming and some running. Someone passed me, and I passed one woman while swimming. I got really out of breath and had to stop a few times while making turns, and a lot of people passed me then. I finally climbed out of the pool and checked my watch…8:38!! That’s nearly one minute faster than my practice times, and one minute 30 seconds faster than the time I signed up for! No wonder I was out of breath (and why was I being passed so much?).
T1 went well. I got my bike and headed out for the ride. The woman in front of me was going really slowly though the parking lot. I couldn’t remember any rules about speed in the parking lot, and I was in the “no draft zone” so I decided to pass her. Don’t worry, she and SEVERAL other people passed me later on during the bike. The head wind was horrible. I kept shifting gears, but the ride was just a struggle. I saw Karyn ride by, and then I just put my head down and pedaled.
I thought about stopping, but I looked at my bike computer and I was only a couple miles from the turn, when the wind would then be at my back. I started to ride up Nice Hill, which I’ve done in practice, but then I decided that it wasn’t worth it. My legs were soooo tired, and I still had to run. I walked up both sides of Nice Hill. I was right about the ride being better after the turn, it was much better with the wind at my back. Unfortunately there weren’t many women left out on the course as I was finishing the bike, so I guess everyone figured the race was over. Some people were walking their dog, and it ran in front of me and I had to slam on my brakes. People at the park were walking in front of me as I was trying to get back to the Y. A volunteer yelled at them to get out of my way. My bike time was 1:10, which was 5 minutes faster than practice. Wow.
I took my time in T2, eating some Clif Blocks and applying chapstick. I got another drink of water and took off for the run. I really wasn’t scared of the run at all, because I’ve been running a lot for Ragnar (and the run starts off with a downhill-yay). But about a half a mile into the run my calves started to hurt. And then my shins. Then my left hip started to hurt too. I gritted my teeth and kept running. I always hate the first one-two miles of any run. But when I realized I was whimpering I decided it was time to walk. I did the next one to one and a half miles as a combination of running, walking, and stretching. After mile two my body finally gave in, and I settled into the run. I didn’t even notice that I had to run up the hill towards the finish.
I saw my friends cheering me at the finish, including Karyn and her camera. After I crossed the chip line she gave me a hug and asked how it went. My response: “I am not in good enough shape to have done that.” The tri was so hard, much harder than the Mud Run or any other race was for me. My body hurt. There were only about 7 women left on the course when I finished. My 5K time was 45 minutes, my worst by far. But at least I finished. My overall time was 2:08, and my goal was 2:15. And I can’t wait until next year.
Karyn’s story is posted HERE over at her blog.
