I DID IT - Navy Tri Recap

Warning:  This post is the longest one I've ever written - so grab a coffee and be prepared!

Friday 10:00pm - an email is sent to all participants giving them their starting waves.  As I looked over the email...6am - no....7am-no.....8am-no.....9am-no.....9:50am - WHAT????  Are you kidding me....I didn't mentally prepare for a 9:50am start.  I am going to have to rethink my morning...no getting up super early...now I have to eat breakfast...what is that going to do to me on the swim?

Saturday - a nice easy run with the TTP...okay...it wasn't overly easy...but a nice 5.75k to start the day.  Mom arrives to be my moral support for Sunday.  Heck...if I was going to die...I wanted a familiar face around!  I spent Saturday evening laying out all my stuff and double checking everything.  You can find my checklist here.

Sunday - I wake up at 3am..yes 3am.  I put a Jillian Michael's podcast on my cell phone to force myself back to sleep (It's a childhood thing...I can fall asleep to the radio playing).  6am I wake up again...this time there is no going back to sleep.  I look through my phone for any last emails about the event....none...phew.  Eat breakfast, watch some General Hospital to ease the nerves while I stretch, and then I pack the car.

It is shortly before 8am when mom and I leave the house.  We will be early but I don't care as I just need to get there....and then it happened...we got lost.  LOL  Yup...we went up the wrong street and are in the wrong part of the base.  I text G who tells me where I need to go...thank god...my stress level was climbing.  As we drive in, we can see athletes finishing the bike or the run...lucky ducks...they are all done!  I walk inside the fitness center and register....and then....I get numbered.  I'm a total geek, but this is when I started to feel like a triathlete...I was starting to look the part. 

Out to the car to get my bike and set everything up for transition.  My poor mom, she was layered with multiple bags, her purse, her camera....I don't think she realized she was going to be put to work. 

Mom and I ventured back inside to watch the pool event.

My nerves started to grow.  The volunteers were amazing at the event...they explained everything in detail and easily answered any questions you had.  30 lengths of the pool.....750 meters....and you had a max of 30 minutes to complete it.  Our heat was called, I walked out on the pool deck, furthest lane from the bleachers, and jumped in...Brrrrrrrrr!!!  This was my FIRST swim in my tri suit...yes...I know...NEVER try anything new on race day!!

I am in the far lane...you can only see my blue cap

I kept a very steady pace, resting very little between laps.  My plan was 2 front crawl (or freestyle) and 2 breaststroke to catch my breath.  This seemed to work for me as I ended up lapping the lady swimming beside me and I left the pool in 21.33...my fastest time I believe.  As I ran past mom, I gave her my cap and goggles...that is a HUGE no no...and I got a warning (that I didn't actually hear).

Out to transition.  You must put your helmet on and buckle it before you touch your bike.  My helmet wouldn't buckle...I fought with it for at least 20 seconds.  Then socks over wet feet....fun!  Then sneakers, honey stringers in my back pocket, and my shirt. 

De-rack the bike....walk it to the MOUNT line and away we go!  The first part was an incline...and not an easy incline...HILLY!!  We rode through the Shearwater base and out to the tarmac.  2.5k one way for a 5k trip around...for 3 laps.  BORING!  This is where the mental part became SOOOOOOOOO important.  There was no one around...minus a few other riders....there was nothing to look at....and there was a headwind one way.  All of this equals a mentally challenging 20km bike ride.  My mantra was "Come on Courteney.....you've got this...only XX km's to go!"  I've never been so happy to get off my bike...my BUTT was numb...I wasn't sure how I'd feel my legs to run.  I finished my bike in 1:17:05....and this is what killed me.

You can kind of see the incline in the
background...but the pic doesn't do it justice

Transition #2 - I racked the bike quickly, off came my helmet (as you are not allowed to unbuckle your helmet until your bike is racked), on went the visor and off I went.  Only to realize a few steps in that I forgot my number....back I went to grab my spelt belt with my number attached.

Without my spelt belt/number

The 5k run was on a crushed gravel trail.  Going out was a slight incline and I kept a great pace of 5:40.  My plan had been 5:50 but given I couldn't feel my legs...I was good to push to 5:40.  I was tracking the turn around point on my garmin and when it hit 2.5k and I didn't see the turn around...I feared the worst....the course was actually longer than 5k.  I mean...wasn't it enough that I had swam 750m and biked 20km....did they really need to add more kilometers to the run??  As I turned around, I was able to eventually catch the only runner I could see ahead of me and gave a "We're almost done" comment!  I was never so happy to cross a finish line in 5.40km.

Janet was there cheering me in....it was her fault that I was there after all!  G and mom were there as well....so nice to see familiar faces!

Janet dropped to the Try a Tri after twisting my
arm to sign up for the sprint.

My mom bought me a tiara for finishing which was very funny!  I am a princess after all...LOL

As feared,  completing my first sprint triathlon has actually sparked a bug to actually train properly and compete better.  My final time was 2 hours 9 minutes with my bike taking most of that time.  It's definitely a lot different that a running race...there is a lot to remember and transitioning from event to event adds a different aspect to racing.  I also admit that this was a mental challenge for me.  Besides the pool, you were on your own.  There was no one (or very few people) on the tarmac for the bike portion, and even fewer on the trail.   There were no spectators cheering for you...only at the transitions and finish line. The only one pushing you, is you.  I am so glad I had a mantra to pull from in this event....I needed something to not quit....to know that I could physically do the task at hand!!!! 

If I could leave you with one comment....set your goal....write that baby down...and then train!  Prepare for it physically and mentally!!!  You can do it!!!!