I did it! I completed my second triathlon!
At the beginning of this year, my friend Lacey asked me to sign up for a triathlon and train with her. I agreed hoping it would help me lose my baby weight from Anchor. Plus I had previously completed the same course four years ago when I did the
Monster Tri in 2012. However, as soon as training began, my milk supply immediately dried up. So I stopped training and asked for a refund. They told me instead of a refund, I could have 75% off if I signed up for another race. So the Monster Tri in October it was. I officially signed up in July, knowing that would give me plenty of time to train.
race day: October 23, 2016
distances:
Swim 300 meters
Bike 13.5 miles
Run 3.1 miles
However, I quickly learned training with three little ones is not easy. Waking up at 5AM to workout after a long night without sleep takes a lot of discipline. Kenny was so gracious to watch the kids for me... as long as I trained before 7AM. To be honest, looking back, I did not give it my all. I made excuses and procrastinated and told myself I was in better shape than I actually was.
So race day arrived, and ready or not, I jumped in the pool. Or should I say plunged. It was 12 feet deep, unlike the 4 foot deep pool I trained in. It caught me completely off guard and I panicked. I came up gasping for air and tried to swim with my head above water for a few strokes until I acclimated. But I couldn't. I turned around to my brother and told him I was freaking out. He told me that was normal and encouraged me to just get to the other side... 50 meters down when I had been practicing in a 25 meter pool. I made it, took a few deep breaths and told myself again to pull it together. I planned to swim under the rope into the next lane, come up, and continue swimming just like I had practiced (though I never practiced swimming under the rope). I panicked again... it's like I couldn't hold my breath for even a second. Every time I went under water, I instinctively took a breath, came up gagging and told myself to get it together. But it just never happened. I basically dog paddled my way through the 300 meters, holding on to the ropes and on the sides of the pool at each end. It was completely humiliating. Two pregnant women (like 6-8 months pregnant) PASSED ME UP! I survived... but barely, and was now completely exhausted.
swim time - 10:19
Determined not to quit AND to improve on my transition time, I quickly took my goggles and swim cap off and headed to my bike. I started to put on my shorts and then realized I forgot to take off my swim shorts, but there was no turning back. Putting tight shorts on a wet body is no easy task. Thankfully the sun was out and it wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be. I threw on my tank, socks/shoes, helmet, and sunglasses, grabbed my bike, and headed to the exit. I couldn't find my brother! I had told him earlier to stay ahead of me so that if I got disoriented I could find him easily. Then I saw Kenny and my boys, smiled at them and told them to tell my brother to catch up. I was in full on "focus" mode but wish I had stopped for 5 seconds to acknowledge my boys... there can't be better encouragement than that. transition time - 3:17
I am definitely the most comfortable on my bike... not to mention I could breathe!! The wind was in my face and I was ready to make up the time I lost in the pool.
I turned the corner to start my first of three (yes THREE) loops and saw what seemed to be a mountain before me! Throughout my training, my husband and friends encouraged me to bike Highland Shores, a road near our house. I never did because I thought it had too many hills and would be WAY more difficult than the bike course for the triathlon. Nope. I was wrong. This course had twelve (yes TWELVE) large climbs. I had been biking twice a week at my indoor cycling class so I knew what the resistance felt like, I just wasn't familiar with it on my road bike. My brother finally caught up with me after I had completed the first loop. I did okay through the second and start of the third loop. And then my energy tanked. I had biked 10 mountains and just didn't want to go another foot. But I thought of my boys and their sweet faces waiting for mommy to come back. So I dug deep and mustered up the stamina to finish the bike.
bike time - 57:41
I returned to the transition area drained. And I still had 3 miles to run. I hopped off my bike, legs feeling like jelly, took a few sips of water and ran out.
transition time - 1:29
Completely drained of energy and ready to quit, I just tried to put one foot in front of the other. The entire time I trained for the run, I told myself it was completely mental. My body is fully capable of running three miles. I just needed to convince myself of that. I kept trying to dig deeper, to not focus on the pain or exhaustion, but nothing seemed to work. I also knew I had missed my goal in finishing in an hour thirty-five and decided walking for thirty seconds wouldn't hurt. At that moment, a girl passed us saying we had been ahead of her the entire time and encouraged us to pick up the pace. But I couldn't do it! I felt so defeated, frustrated, and angry. Angry that I didn't train harder, angry that I lacked the will power to finish this race strong, angry that I wasn't in better shape. I tried to start running again, but shortly after needed to walk. This continued for a while until I realized my brother had run so far ahead that I could no longer see him. I started
running jogging and kept looking for the halfway mark at every turn. It was a beautiful, wooded path with lots of turns which kept it from being boring, but also made it difficult to see my mile markers. Other athletes that were passing me said encouraging words and it was really cool to see everyone supporting each other. I FINALLY made it halfway and my brother turned around to run with me some more. I hated that I was letting him down. I knew he could run circles around me and had banked on that being enough to give me energy to finish strong. My usual ten minute per mile pace had slowed and it seemed the end would never come. When we finally saw the finish line, my brother told me to turn on my thrusters and give it everything I had... "don't let them see you walking" he said. And while I wasn't walking, my thrusters were no where to be found. I made it to the finish line with my tail between my legs, wanting to crawl in a hole and wish the day away.
run time - 34:07
My sweet boys were SO excited to see me!! The looks on their faces made all of my emotions just melt away. I sat down (mainly to keep from peeing in my pants) and immediately wanted to know how much I missed my goal by. My brother thought it was about seven minutes, which wasn't too bad. We ate breakfast tacos and talked about how crazy the hills on the bike route were. I noticed the boys were getting restless (as they had basically been waiting for three hours) and we decided to go home.
total time - 1:46 (eleven minutes past my goal)
On the way home, I replayed everything from the day in my head wondering why it went so wrong and
promising myself I'd never do another triathlon. It seemed as though the more negative things I came up with, the more the Lord showed me the positive... the triumphs!
1. I cut down on my transition times (thanks to Lacey braiding my hair)
2. I was only eleven minutes off from my time four years ago... and I've had two babies since then
3. I learned to trust Him no matter what the issue is - I was supposed to be on my period and since having Anchor cannot wear a tampon. So dealing with that would have been a nightmare. I even
paid wasted $150 seeing an OBGYN trying to get on birth control. The timing just wasn't right and it wouldn't have been a guaranteed fix, so I ended up never filling the prescription. In all honesty, I didn't want to pray and trust the Lord because I knew that also meant I would have to be okay if He didn't move my cycle. But my good, good Father shifted my cycle so that I was COMPLETELY FINISHED with it by race day. Even in the midst of my tantrum and mistrust, He is STILL faithful and oh so good!!
4. I completed what I said I was going to do. Knowing training had not gone as planned, I wanted to just give up. Sometimes, when I know I won't reach my goal, I quit. Lacey encouraged me that some things are to be done just for completion. That's what this race was for me.
5. I spent time with my brother and we were able to bond from this experience. We aren't estranged by any means, but we just aren't super close. Since the race, he's been so encouraging and is ready to go again!
6. While practicing clipping in on my bike, I fell and hurt my left wrist one week before the race. It had been hurting pretty bad and made it difficult to hold on to the handle bars without being in pain. I took 2 Aleve before the race and my wrist didn't bother me at all! Praise the Lord!
A few days later, my emotions have calmed down and I'm looking forward to training and trying again. There's several things I'd change:
1. spend the next 8 months focusing mostly on weight training, with a little cardio (cycling, running, and swimming - try to maintain ability to run a 5K)
2. 4 months prior to race, focus more on cardio but don't give up weight training
3. swim 500 meters, practice swimming under ropes, practice jumping in and starting, practice with LOTS of people in the pool, practice in the lake!
4. bike on Highland Shores (or other routes with hills), become more familiar with bike/gears, possibly learn to clip in... key word:
possibly
5. run 3 miles, consistently, outside - be comfortable running in all weather conditions and terrain
6. 2 months prior to race begin brick training and keeping stamina up for more than an hour; limit weight training to once or twice a week
7. on race day - SMILE, RELAX, and just have fun!
8. for goodness sake, TAKE PICTURES! (of me and my brother, my boys and me, our family, and the event in general... the boys will be older so hopefully we can stay longer and celebrate!)
9. invite family to come and watch
I truly do enjoy swimming, biking, and running. My goal is to do them for exercise AND recreation... for joy and stress relief! I struggle with laziness and suck at team sports! While I
promised myself I'd never do another one, I wonder if the Lord is showing me His purpose in this. He can minister to me as I train, I can worship and pray as I train, and I can teach my boys the importance of physical fitness. I don't want to end this season in defeat... I will triumph!! Plus, next year is the last year I can compete in the 30-34 age category.
After feeling like I had the flu and sitting on the couch literally all afternoon, we went to dinner at
Fleming's with our good friends Brad and Chrissy. We had drinks, calamari, bruschetta, steak, potatoes, asparagus, and three (yes THREE) desserts! Now, that's my kind of dinner! It was a wonderful ending to a really hard day.
