Details, details!

My internet has been out, so I haven’t been able to give an update until now! Boo!

Let’s see. I need to give you a detailed description of my first tri! WARNING! THIS POST IS LONG!

Because of the funeral and things, we didn’t get down to McKinney until after 10 p.m. No bueno. I practiced taking off my wetsuit a few times because I didn’t want to struggle with that and lose time during the tri. Kayle and I talked for a little while, then we attempted (key word) to sleep. My alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. …ugh! Again, no bueno. So anyway, I eat, we pack up out stuff and get outta there! I rode down with my parents, so my dad had to drop me off like I was still in middle school. We went to get my packet (since I couldn’t pick it up the day before). I was number 119. It’s still on my arm and leg, as well as my age, if I ever forget. Kayle and I set up our transition area and then went to scout the swim course and go potty while the port-a-potties were still fairly clean. We met a bunch of other newbies and hung out until race time. My dad took a pre-race picture. I’m putting on my wetsuit:

Before our wave started, we got to get in the water. It was chilly, but not as bad as either of us were expecting. That is, of course, until we got out and were freezing! Nervous, too, naturally. Well, finally our time arrives and we are told we have 2.5 minutes to get to race start. All of a sudden, as soon as we jump in, we have 10 seconds before the race starts! We weren’t really to the “start” when the race started and more than half the girls were behind us. I got kicked and groped…a lot. I had to stop every few strokes to see if I was going in the right direction or to avoid a kicker. I think I lost some time with that. The swim was LONG. Much more so than I expected. The excitement and the open water made my lungs react weird, so it was harder than it could have been. We turned around and, BAM, all there was was sun! It was hard to see if we were even going in the right direction! My mom said a bunch of girls were swerving around and she didn’t understand why. I kept trying to see where the markers were. When I finally got the end of the swim, there were people there to help you out of the water and…out of your wetsuit! They yelled “on your back, we’ll do the rest” which is really dirty, but I let them rip my clothes off of me. The only problem was, then I had to run to the transition area (pretty far away, actually) with my belly jiggling. I put my wetsuit in front to hide. I saw my parents as I was running up and posed for this picture:

Unfortunately, as I ran by the blank look on my parents’ face showed me they didn’t actually see me. As I passed, I yelled, “you’re missing me,” and apparently, everyone laughed. My dad ran to get more pictures of me and they met me near the transition area (there was a fence but they could be close). I transitioned OK. It took me 5 minutes though. I messed with my watch for about 30 seconds before I gave up and left. Transition shot:
“Later Kayle!”

The bike course had a few hills. Mom remarked about the wind, but compared to what we did in that 33-miler, this wasn’t bad. The h ills were long, but not too bad. My ride was slow and I was passed a lot! Including by Kayle, who just always has to be one ahead. A 12-year-old passed me. Lots of guys, who all started after us ladies, passed me. It was a two loop course, and the good part about it was that the area where all the spectators were was downhill, so you got to pretend like you were faster than you really were riding. There’s really not much to say about the ride. My legs were tired and I didn’t want to give it all I had left because running is such a struggle for me. Dad got more pictures:

The second transition was quick because I didn’t have to do much. Just change hats, basically. Off I went. Another transition shot:
“Later Jessica!”

The very beginning of the run had a steep hill (I mean, we aren’t even out of the tri area yet) and I and a few others were walking (transition was tough on me) and this little boy commented, “Mommy, the runners aren’t running.” Thanks kid. The run was supposed to be “hilly and challenging” but there were just a few really short, really steep hills. We went in tunnels under the ground three times and those were the hills. To conserve energy (because I didn’t know what lay ahead), I walked those hills. I’m not disappointed I walked. I walked only 10 steps at any given time and only one the hills, when I drank water once and one other time. My right ankle hurt every time I pounded the ground from the first step and my left joined in about halfway through the run. My whole body was in pain the entire 38-minute run. Going through my mind was, a) Ow, b) this is the most amazing experience ever, c) I’m almost done. After the second mile, this guy passed me and said, “C’mon, we’re almost there!” I sped up slightly with that encouragement, but it wasn’t a pace I felt like I could keep. I was going slowly, but I could see Kayle ahead of me the whole time, going at my pace. Of course, being Kayle, she sped up when she saw how close I was. Still, she was not far off and that gave me confidence. I kept running. I didn’t think of stopping, just finishing. Since I was in pain, I didn’t think I had a kick left in me. I stressed the whole time about not being able to finish strong like that. I also thought about what I wanted my ending pose to be for the camera. I decided on this:

As my dad took this picture, my mom yelled to me, “You have 53 seconds to make it under two hours.” Of course, my mom’s time was wrong because I came in seven minutes under the two hour mark, but that’s cool. It made me kick so hard! I passed two people in the last 15 yards or so! It was really strong and I have no idea where it came from. I probably could have kept going at my speed and still made it within 53 seconds, but I wasn’t going to leave that to chance. I smiled a lot after.

Kayle and I are triathletes!

Like I said before, I was very pleased with my time when considering how I felt I’d do. My T1 could have been quicker and I think my bike could have been as well. I’m pretty sure I could cut a few minutes off just by having done it before.

Thanks for making it through my post!