Clemson Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

So I was in the novice women's group which was a pretty small group... maybe 30 people. I was feeling really good until we took off. Splashing and people everywhere put my body in full panic mode. Really wish I'd been able to get an OWS before this tri but unfortunately that didnt happen. 50 meters out I thought I was going to start hyperventilating and crying hysterically. I had every intention of quitting but I rolled over on my back and started the backstroke while my heart felt like it was going to come jumping out of my chest. Kept telling myself that I did not spend 5 months training to quit 50 meters into a race and just kept going. Started to relax a little but the OMG I CANT TOUCH THE BOTTOM WTF WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU SIGNED UP FOR THIS I'M GONNA DIE!!! thought just wouldnt leave my mind to allow me to start freestyle. I was drained when I finally made it out of the water, but it was awesome to have the entire family, James and the dog, Skye, cheering for me as I ran to the transition area... When i say ran i mean walk/slow jog as my body was like WTF why are you running all of a sudden??

Get in several OWS's just to get comfortable. Honestly think if I hadn't been so panicky that I would've killed the swim.

Hard to get my legs to want to run to my bike, my body was kinda disoriented from the swim so hurried over, ripped my wetsuit off, learned that socks and wet feet do not like each other at all. Shoes on, helmet on, grabbed my bike and ran out. Oh yeah as I get to my bike the first guy crosses the finish line... 57 minutes and some odd seconds. crazy fast!!

Honestly for being my first tri, I wasn't too worried about the transition times... next one I'll definitely practice some.

Well this started great then there was that hill everyone kept mentioning at mile 2.5. There's a reason one of the most popular sayings about Clemson is "there's something in these hills". Some famous guy said it, I can't remember who right now, but hills is the key word. This hill was steep, and my legs were still pissed about the whole having to go from swimming to running to T1 to biking so i got off and walked up the hill. The thought of quitting crossed my mind again... how was i supposed to do another 8.5 miles?? Reminded myself that quitting was not an option and just walked instead it was better than quitting. Of course there were several more hills after this one. Had to get off 2 more times to get up some short steep hills. Mile 9 was great. HUGE downhill, hit 31.7 mph which felt like flying :) Coming back to transition was great too as the whole family and James and Skye were all right there waiting and start screaming for me as soon as they see me. It was great to have that kind of support.

more hill training and more biking in general, but I'd only had my bike for a month so i think I did what i could with the time I had

What took me over a minute??? I racked my bike took a sip of water and put on the white tank top I had pinned my race number to since i couldn't find a race number belt before this race and I didn't want to be pinning my number on in T2.

Be faster :)

Well my legs were pretty annoyed at me first swimming to biking and now biking to running. it was a pretty odd feeling trying to get used to running after biking for so long. Pretty tired at this point so this was a walk and jog effort. There was an extremely steep hill that absolutely sucked. Legs were so tired they just didn't want to go up. I got lost!!!!! In my defense the sign was way off to the left telling me to turn left and I just ran right past it into a little parking lot area for the rowing team. Came to a dead end and realized something was wrong so I had to back track until I found the sign. This wasted time but i wasn't too upset. Kinda thought it was funny as i get lost really easily when I'm driving around so obviously this would carry over into my triathlon. James just laughed when I told him... typical Emma moment! Made it to the turn around point and headed back to the finish line. This meant steep hill became a downhill and was much easier to run. Managed to pass a couple people about .2 miles from the finish. The feeling I got when everyone started cheering for me coming up to the finish was awesome. Not to mention the feeling I got when I crossed the finish line knowing I could now officially call myself a triathlete!!

More run training especially hill training.

Found my family and got my hugs and congrats. Felt great to have my parents be so proud of me. Got some water, grabbed my stuff from the transition area and headed home. Did some stretching and took a shower. Then went to Mellow Mushroom with the family and James.


Just need more training on the bike and with running. Also I really need to do some OWS's. My goal was just to finish. I had hoped to finish in under 2 hours but with almost quitting 50 meters in and how tough the bike segment was, I'm really happy with how well I did.


This was an amazing experience for me. The people were so awesome. I got encouragement from everyone. On the run, some girl high-fived me as she passed on her way to the finish. As I was walking to the car the final two people crossed the finish line with everyone cheering for them. It's just such a great sport when the people who are bringing up the rear get as much applause as the winner! I learned a lot about how hard I can push myself even when my entire body is freaking out telling me to quit because I'm going to drown. Couldn't be happier with this race. I really learned that I do have a lot of mental toughness and i can do anything I set my mind to. I am so hooked on this sport now. I can't wait for the next race :)