Weather- prefect, a little on the chilly side but bearable.
We arrived 5:45AM. Danny & I parked and grabbed my gear. Our family had been through a stomach virus that week and poor Danny unfortunately was the last to get the bug. Due to the unfortunate invent Danny was not able to participate in the race. He was able to cheer me on and be my sherpa.
We stood in line to get me marked with my age & Bib number. Why do they put your age number on your leg? It's like saying, "look at me in going through a midlife crises in my 40's" I see a friend who is volunteer and get a hug to easy my butterflies. Danny can't go with me into the area with the bikes so I bid him farewell.
Transition area- I find my spot after a few circles in the dark. Danny has made it around the other side to talk to me over the fence. I start laying things out keeping in mind to keep things together per leg. Lay my towel down and start putting evening on top. Bike shoes have inside gel blocks, cream, glasses, hat, gloves. Running shoes have Bib, socks, hat on top. I was feeling great, then comes my Irontex teammate, Mary. She tells me, "you're a transition HOG" ( didn't feel so proud any more) I'm glad Mary came and checked on me. She fixed the bike and downsized my beach towel area to a hand towel. It was nice to have someone help with my first race and walk me through the process. She did keep telling me to "have fun". But I was ready for an overnight stay not a triathlon transition.
Swim- I don't think we really understand what time I needed to put down for the swim. They line you up by your estimated swim time. I had a 551 number which was in the back of the pack. The rest of the team was close to mid 200's. It felt like no one was really looking at numbers and I could have gone with everyone else in the group but I didn't because I have nightmares now that a referee with a red flag giving me a penalty. So I stayed with the 500 crew. After over an hour of waiting to start the swim, I get up to the pool. When I get to edge of pool the guy asked me, " are you ready?" I said "Uh, not really". He kind of surprised me and I just stood there. I think he wanted to push me in. I took a few deep breaths and jumped. The swim part is fairly easy for me and I was more frustrated with the people stopping to hang on the side or take polite turns to go to the next lane over. At one point there was 6 people trying to decide who was going to go next. I just went under and kept on going to pass them all. I don't have time for hanging on to the sides. (Danny got this on video) I think I'll do better with the open water swim because it's more hand-on-hand combat kind of swimming where you just get out there and do it.
T1- coming out in the pool I didn't want to run, because I am Just One Accident waiting to happen.( I really need to be wrapped in bubble wrap most of the time) As I come into the shoot Danny starts yelling"your left, your left" so I go LEFT. I hear him them go"your other left, my left" omg, really man. After another 360 in the transition area, I find my bike. I felt like the T1 went well being my first. I put 2 Gel blocks in my mouth and proceeded to put my helmet on. Helmet on backwards then corrected it after it wouldn't buckle. Because it was a windy morning, I decided to put on a bike top, which was a wise choice. I got my bike down and on my way.
Bike- this is by far my weakness. I got on my bike and tried to enjoy myself, which I did. I felt good during the ride and really should have pushed myself a bit harder. I was surprised not see more spectators along the course. I'm used to the running races with tons of signs, yelling, cheering & street dancers. So I made do and I talked to everyone. The police officer that was directing traffic, other bike riders and to the rider's I passed that needed a little bit of encouragement themselves. As Danny would say, I'm a flower picker. Which is true I like to enjoy the moment and have fun. On the 2ND loop of the bike I look behind me and my heart skipped a beat. I was on my last hill coming around the corner I hear a group of riders. There was latterly 30 riders I just knew I was last and this was the patty wagon coming to get me. It wasn't but just a riding group taking advantage of the closed bike course.
T2- coming off the bike into the run was crazy. Your legs are like jelly! You have to use the bike to hold you up as you jog back to your transition spot. Once I got to my spot I went ahead and sat on the ground to put my socks & shoes. I changed my helmet for a visor. I had a water bottle full of Advocare Spark and was off to the run.
Run- coming into the run I could see our Irontex team, that was really a great feeling not feeling alone. Mary kept asking me if I was having fun. I told her not really, but it was a huge boost that I could do this. The first .50 mile I was trying to get my legs to work. I surprised myself that after all of the other elements I set a PR for my 5k. At the mile markers, there were water stations with Dallas Athletes coaches that cheered runners on. This was the part of the race I enjoyed the best. One coach yelled to me I had great running form. Since I am the bumblebee who likes to pick flowers once again, I talked to everyone I passed. I was enjoying the moment. When I came back around to the water station that same coach started to run with me. Being nice, I told him my coach was flying in from New Zealand and thanked him for the encouragement. You could hear the announcer at this point calling the names of the people that had crossed the finish. Coming into that last bit seeing team members that waited around to see me finish and my sherpa husband is something words can't describe. Thank you all who made the day the hard work is paying off. And I have one of the best set of pictures.
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