It took me a couple days to pull myself together enough to put this together. The day consisted of SO MUCH MORE than this report, but here is a scratching of the surface.
I awakened in the morning with a hr of 75 rather than the norm, which is 55-60.
Before the race I was excited and slightly apprehensive.
When I jumped in I followed my coach's directions and started diving under the waves. Within a few minutes I was completely panicked. I decided to swim to the first buoy and then reassess. I did just that and caught my breath and decided to swim from buoy to buoy until I calmed down. Apparently I looked rough enough that one of the canoe guys followed me from buoy to buoy for a while, not sure if that's funny or sad. Think I'll go with funny. I was determined to finish the thing and every right arm stroke I said to myself these words, finish. Strong. Upright. Smiling. I have too many people that know I am doing this. I WILL finish this. When I made the final turn towards the beach I swam to one more buoy and then went continuously until I reached shore. It didn't help that the garmin kept griping about losing satellite signal. Not sure how to combat that, or if I even can.
When I got out of the water I was choked up, not from the water I breathed in (and I DID breathe some in) but from tears. I made it to transition and had a little trouble getting the wetsuit off, (thanks to my coach, I had the presence of mind to wait until transition to strip the wetsuit off) but it probably came off quicker than it felt like it did. Thankfully, a friend of mine offered me sunscreen from the edge of transition. I took some and applied it to my nose and shoulder blades.
Once I got on the bike I felt so much better. Then I proceeded to cry for the first 2 miles. Not a welling up or gentle cry, but an ugly sobbing mess cry. Not sure where it came from, but I pulled my emotional self back together by mile 3. The bike felt so good. I was comfortable and just focused on getting a good ride in. I did break a cardinal rule of doing a race and tried something new. Rather than grab a water at the first aid station, I grabbed a Gatorade. It was a great choice. Complimented my pb and j and I feel quite certain kept me going the rest of the day. The bike was uneventful. Nutrition on bike: pb&j and Gatorade the first aid station, half a banana and a Gatorade the second, and pb&j and a Gatorade the third. I did stop twice for a port-a-potty, just can't bring myself to pee on the bike. (I know you elite and long time triathletes do, feel free to judge.)
In transition I changed my socks and shirt to avoid chafing, let my friend spray me with sunscreen, and hit a port a pot before going off on the run. I had packed 2 pb&j's in my run belt to eat, but couldn't bring myself to eat them.
The first mile I ran a minute and walked a minute and sobbed the whole mile. Again with the ugly cry. What on earth?? Managed to pull my emotional self together again and run/ walk the 2nd mile. Discovered in the 3rd mile I was walking faster than I was jogging. So I started power walking. Around mile 4 I ran into a woman who was nursing a hamstring injury. Did a little math and decided to stay with her the rest of the way. We power walked most of the rest of the way. I got sponges and Gatorade and soda (thanks Kenneth Boan for that bit of advice) at every aide station and stopped about every 45 minutes to pee, (can't bring myself to pee on the run either) or at least that is what it felt like. About halfway through the run I started to feel blisters forming. By the time we got to mile 12 it was getting increasingly difficult to walk. There were 3 of us walking together and at the turn for the finish, I told them to go. I wanted my finish on my own. I sprinted in and it hurt like hell, but I wanted a strong smiling finish and by golly I was going to get it. I learned a whole lot from this experience and will post those lessons separately.
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