St. Anthony's Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

calf cramps...poor running ability...bike crash and flats


I've included my race day report below, but I wanted to say a special thanks to everyone who signed Lisa's encouragement book while in St Pete. If she's up to it, I hope to be able to visit with her next week and give it to her. She posted a quote from Nelson Mandela on her CarePage yesterday that I thought you guys would appreciate. Thanks again for such an amazing experience and I am definitely ready for the next season!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. "

- Nelson Mandela

Sunday, April 39th - RACE DAY!: Heather and I woke up around 4:45am and headed out to set up everything in transition. Transition setup was pretty smooth (it might have something to do with the excessive number of times I mentally rehearsed every step!). We were excited to look out and see that the winds had died down a bit from the day before and we were hoping (or at least I was) that the water temp had remained low enough to allow wetsuits...since I feel like I'm wearing a life preserver in a wetsuit. After an uneventful transition setup (okay, I did go back and check my setup three different times...yes...I do have a touch of OCD..but I'm comfortable with that ;o)), Heather and I head over to meet up with Mom and Dad on the pier....oh, and we almost forgot to pickup our CO2 cartridges from Mark before leaving transition...this will be important later!

I honestly think that the worst part of the race was the 2 hour wait for our wave start! Mom and Dad did a good job of keeping us entertained so we didn't get too nervous during the wait...note, this entertainment included multiple pictures in various poses and group arrangements (I definitely had a prom night flashback!). After a stellar breakfast of bagels, peanut butter and gatorade (YUM!), it's finally time to hit the beach! The wind and swells have been steadily growing over the past couple of hours and we have watched support staff pull several swimmers from the water in virtually every wave start, but we were determined to keep our focus and make it through the next hour.

What hits me as I reflect on the race days later is the level of comraderie and team spirit that existed in the moments leading up to the swim start. We leaned on each other for diversion and shared lots of nervous laughter while standing on the beach. Once the starting gun went off, however, it was all you, you still felt the presence of your teammates, but in the end, it was just you...your thoughts (both positive and negative), your commitment, and your determination. I remember trying to find the first turn bouy and seeing only a wall of water in front of me and a wall of water behind me. For a split second I thought, oh my god, I don't think I can do this. Then I thought of all the swim practices and clinics we had attended, I thought of all the people on the team who would not be stopped by 4 ft waves, I thought of Heather and Karen who were just on the beach with me...I thought of my Mom and Dad biting their nails while watching this unfold from the pier...and finally I thought of Lisa in her hospital room telling me how excited she was to hear the story when I returned...could I honestly go back and say...it was too tough? I have been blessed in my life to have very little concept of how tough life can really be...so I decided to put my head in the water and just keep swimming no matter what. Interestingly, I kind of started to enjoy the wave surfing a little bit as I swam through the top of one wave and was thrown out into the next one...I just kept swimming...left leg cramp...keep swimming...right leg cramp...keep swimming...swallowing salt water...keep swimming...passing people hanging on to bouys and the end of kayaks...keep swimming...rounding the turn and seeing the blue and white balloons...keep swimming faster :o)...finally, I reached out and grabbed the hand of the volunteer on the steps and I couldn't believe I had made it! I wanted to do a victory dance right there, but I still had 3 more hours of biking and running to go, so I held on tight to the handrails going up the stairs (for those of you who do not know me well, I have a tendency to fall up and down stairs even when I haven't been swimming in rough seas!)

Now it's off to transition! I look at my watch..is that possible? It only took me 40 minutes to do the swim?! (41:31 to be exact)...I'm thinking if I have a short transition, I'll be fast on the bike (my strongest sport) and will have lots of time to get through the run (my weakest sport). I make it out of transition in just under 4 minutes..."You are such a rockstar" is going through my head as I hop on the bike, clip in and start to gather some speed...unfortunately "Rockstar" thoughts are probably best left to the end of a race since I took the first turn on the cobblestone streets going WAY too fast! My front tire slid out from under me and I hit the pavement hard (and I have the bruises to show for it!) In my mind, the crash happened in slow motion and all I could think is "I can't believe I made it through that swim only to injure myself in the first mile of the bike course!...It's so unfair!" A part of me wanted to just sit down on the side of the road and cry, but then I thought "...are you crying?...There's no crying in triathlons!...Get up, brush yourself off and finish this D#$% race!". So I stood up and established that I had not broken anything, I took stock in the state of my bike...flat front tire...thank god I remembered to get my CO2 cartridges from Mark! I decide to take a chance and just pump up the tire to see if it would hold air..it looks like it will hold...unfortunately, something is wrong with the front brake, but I was able to keep riding with the brake open. When I got back on my bike to take off, I realized that about 30 people had been standing on the corner where I fell and they all cheered for me when I got back on and took off. I didn't even really realize they were there! I managed to get about .5 mile down the road before the tire goes flat again, so I decided to go ahead and change it. I can honestly say that I have never changed a flat so fast in my life! Luckily, the rest of the bike course was uneventful and I managed to say Thank You to every volunteer and police officer I saw and "Go Team" to every Team in Training jersey I passed on the course.

When I came back in from the bike course, Mom and Dad were there cheering for me and I was still making decent time given the crash and flats...but most importantly, I only had the run to go...6.2 more miles and I would finish my very first triathlon...Wow! I AM going to finish this D#$% race! I have to say that coming around the final stretch and seeing Mom and Dad and all the Team in Training folks cheering me on as I came by gave me an extra jolt of energy...I'm pretty sure I sprinted across the finish line! I also enjoyed a very healthy finish line cry (it's okay to cry when you are done ;o)) and a "You are a Rockstar" thought, not for just finishing, but for adapting to whatever obstacle was placed in my path along the way.

Thanks to everyone who has been along on this journey...Mom and Dad for being such great Team in Training groupies and cheering on everyone...Mark, Mike, Mary and Andrew for providing the most amazing coaching and encouragement....Kristy, my mentor, for reminding me that the journey to get to the race is actually more important than the race itself....Heather, Karen, Kyong, Trish, and so many others who have become friends as well as teammates...everyone who generously donated to help support this wonderful cause and to all who have shared their personal story to help bring more meaning to this experience. You are all Rockstars!!