I did it!!!

 I can't believe it! I actually got the guts to go compete in a triathalon. This has been my goal since January. I trained in the beginning months of the year and the race didn't work out, so here I am, in September, and you know what....I DID IT!

My two sweet friends, Traci (on the left) and Amy (on the right) convinced me to do the Yuba Lake Tri. It was open water, which was really scary to me. I've been training at the gym for probably the past six weeks or so and yesterday was the big day.

We had to be down there at six a.m. which means I was up at 4:30 in the morning to make the hour drive. I didn't really sleep good, for fear of sleeping in, and on the way down I had loud music blarring in the car to pump myself up. Miguel was the only one who went down with me and that was a good thing, because it was freezing! I mean toes numb, teeth chattering, cold!

Once it was time to get ready for the race to start, I thought I was going to throw up. The swim looked so far to me and my too previous open water training experiences had not gone very well at all. I really couldn't believe I was about to do this. I had never raced in anything before. Not even a 5k! I think I'm nuts!!!

I rented this sweet wetsuit which would at least keep me afloat is something happened. Not my greatest look, but I was more worried about staying alive, then what I looked like at the moment. Do you see that orange buoy out there. Yep, that's how far I had to swim out, but you can't see the really long stretch that was to follow it.

Traci is my awesome visiting teacher, whom I adore and love. She is one of the most positive people I know, and I'm inspired by her dedication to these races. She was a great support. I think that's nervous energy being displayed.

Once they called us into the water to start, I was thinking, Oh my gosh, I can't believe I have the guts to do this. I have trained and here I am, in the water, about to do this thing...I SHOWED UP!!!

And then the whistle blew. I held back and let those who were serious racers go ahead, for fear of being trampled. It was a long hard swim. Much of it was back stroked and 2/3 of the way in, I couldn't breath, but I just kept telling myself I could do it. I would sing in my head, "slow. and steady. wins. the race." to keep my pace and fill my head with positve thoughts. When I came up out of the water, Miguel was a little shocked to see me, for he thought I would be further back and one of the last ones to come up. Up the boat ramp I came and all I could say was," give me the inhaler." After taking my medicine, I was off to the transistion area to prep for the bike ride. All I had was my mountain bike, which was going to make things more difficult. Once I peeled off my wetsuit and put on my helmet and number, I was off. 12 miles was what I was in for and I could tell I was going pretty slow, but it didn't bother me so much. I just still couldn't believe I was racing in a triathalon and was was pretty happy and proud of myself for it. Once I made it to the half way turn around it all went down hill. My bike went flat on the back tire and I started to panic and think how was I going to make it the six miles back to civilization. If you haven't been out to Yuba, it's in the middle of nowhere. Other riders were passing me and asking if I was alright. I was doing fine, but the bike was not. It was making all kinds of noise and getting harder and harder to pedal. If I could ride it like this it was going to take me forever to get back. I finally got off it to take a look and the tire had come off the rim and was jammed in the brake. The back tire was locked and I couldn't even roll the bike anymore. I wanted to cry at this point. All of that hard work, all of those good feelings, were gone. I just picked up my water bottle, layed the bike down and took off my helmet. I guess I was going to have to walk the six miles back to the transition area. It was heart breaking. I knew I could do this thing, and wasn't going to get the chance. After walking for a bit, I ran into the the truck that was following the last rider. He picked me up and then went and got my bike and took me back. It was like a ride of shame, and I tried to just tell myself, what do you do? But in the back of my mind, I really thought," out of all 300 something people out here, why am I the one who ends up with the flat tire?" Seriously! I saw Miguel waiting by the rode and once I got out, I cried on his shoulder from the disappointment. He was a great coach and supporter and soon enough I was holding my head high again and deep down I was really proud of myself. I had conquered the swim, my biggest fear, and I was doing the bike ride and would have finished the whole thing, if it hadn't been for my dumb bike. So I cheered my friends on and treated myself to lunch at the Cracker Barrel for lunch. Home cooking will always make a girl feel better.

So, I not giving up. I think I'm going to try it again in November, at the SHAC pool, so you can come too! There aren't very many open water tris this late in the season, so this one will have to do.