Moses Lake Family Tri: For the Health of It - TriathlonOlympic

Okay the swim scares me to death. Honestly. It is what almost keeps me from doing triathlons every year. Add to that early season cold water, and I was nauseous with nerves Saturday morning. I actually don't know why. I can swim. I swim twice a week in a pool. But it still scares me.

After setting up the transition area I got into my wetsuit. I have the lamest wetsuit in the world. It's one I got end of season on sale. I don't even know what brand it is. It says "Phillipines" on the tag and that's it. It's ugly and doesn't have any of that cool racy look to it. It's like wearing Wranglers to Fashion Week. But it works.

I made my way down to the water with the rest of the ladies. Ann, Lisa, Michelle, and Leslie were already in the water, so I decided to be like one of the cool kids and hop in. It was freaking COLD! But okay, I knew it would be cold. I got my arms wet (my wetsuit is sleeveless) and then right before going in, put my face in the water to get that over with. (I have no fear of face in the water, it was the freezing face in the water thing.) Rory tried to reassure us that the water was WARMER than the Sammamish Tri a few weeks ago. Yeah, didn't work. It was still freaking cold.

And we were off. Now this is where I normally freak out, but my plan was to start singing in my head as soon as I went off so I could push out my other thoughts. I liked that the first bouy was so close. Even though I knew it meant a lot longer to the next one, it was nice to have a close goal. Made it to the bouy behind everyone else, gladly. I always start in the back. Someday when I am more confident, I'll move up towards the front. But I'd rather be last than be swum over.

I turned the bouy and sited the next one. That's when the doubts started to creep in. "You can't do this! It's cold! What were you thinking?! Are you crazy? The shore is RIGHT there, you could turn in and quit. Why are you doing this? You're never going to make it!" I couldn't bilaterally breathe. Nothing. I flipped onto my back and looked up at the beautiful blue sky and thought, "What are you doing?" flipped right back over and kept on swimming. I don't think I was on my back for even three kicks. That is HUGE for me! I did not panic!

The rest of the swim went swimmingly. For quite awhile I thought I was last, but I wasn't. I turned the bouys nicely, and sited better than I have before. Definitely my best siting I've done yet. (Usually I add a few hundred feet to every swim by heading in the wrong direction at least once.) I spent the entire swim singing showtunes in my head (which is how I keep track of my laps in the pool). I know that sounds lame, but it works for me.

Finished the swim so darn proud of myself and looking forward to the rest of the triathlon. I looked at my watch and finished in 39:22, which doesn't break any records, but for me is good. I never did feel like I got a good "oomph" on my strokes due to the cold, but I don't care. I finished. I didn't stop ONCE. I didn't panic. I feel good about it.

Let's see if next time I can avoid going onto my back completely. I am also hoping I can get some stroke instructions before Troika. Otherwise, my personal goal of completing the swim without letting panic take over was met.

T1 was the WORST! I was so cold and disoriented from the water that I immediately came in, sat down on my bucket...and missed. Ended up right on my ass! Ann had come in just before me and was about to head out. Vicky and Hope came in right after me and I yelled to them, "See! You're nowhere NEAR an hour!" They were both sure they wouldn't make the hour cutoff.

Finally got my butt onto the bucket and struggled to take off my wetsuit and it would not come off my right heel. I pointed my foot and WHAMO! Major charley horse both in my calf and in my hamstring! Oh. My. Dear. Lord. It hurt SO bad! I knew it would go away, but it was so painful that tears immediately sprang to my eyes and I just rocked back and forth muttering "Go away Charley. Go away. Go away." and thinking "Thank you JESUS that this did not happen on the swim!" (Today my calf is SO sore from that, it isn't even funny.) Finally got it off and then the rest of T1 went fine. I don't know how much I lost in that fog of pain, but I don't think I've EVER had an almost 8 minutes transition when I was not waiting for someone else!

I got the bike off and Rory was there (Budu Racing guy) telling me he liked my Spiderman helmet cover (I think he'd come over to see if I was okay since I had been just sitting on a bucket rocking for awhile). My bucket shot out and fell over and he said "You go! I'll get that!" Nice guy!

I need to figure a way to get the wetsuit off faster. I'll practice that. I also didn't lay out my gear quite as well as I should have. First tri of the season and so much going through my head in the morning, I just didn't remember it all.

Obviously I need to take some weight off my bike, get a lighter bike, and ride more, but I am not displeased with my bike performance. I wanted to be careful since I have a marathon in two weeks coming up, and just finished a marathon two weeks ago. Two weeks before my last marathon I tweaked my knee on a long bike ride, so I wasn't pushing it as hard as I could have, but I also don't feel like I coasted. Yeah, I was still in the back of the pack, but oh well!

I did enjoy the scenery. I know that a lot of people would say "What scenery?" but I always enjoy the differences between the two sides of the state. The greens are different in Eastern Washington! I also really enjoyed greeting people who were coming in and appreciated all the well wishes called out to me, even if I couldn't hear most of them! I am pleased that I stopped to help Hope, even if it took a bit off my time. Who cares? Just think, the slower I was this year, the less I have to work to beat my time next year! Ha!

At the turnaround I checked my watch. It had taken me an HOUR to get to the halfway point with the headwind! I figured I'd cut at least 15 minutes off that time with no wind, so tried to plan accordingly with my food. I had brought peanut butter pretzels, cheese and peanut butter crackers, and Clif Bloks. I am SO tired of bloks, though, that I only ate two. However I knew needed to be done with solid food at least half an hour before I started my run so I was trying to calculate when I'd hit the bike finish. Boy was I off! It literally took me HALF the time to do the same distance on the way back! Oh well!

As I realized I was almost to the transition area I had to fight to keep from crying. All I could think was "I did it! I did it! I DID IT!" The two challenging portions were over and I DID IT!

I think I'll take the extra crap off my bike before my next triathlon. I don't know if it slows me too much, but I probably look like a Grade A dork with it on bike. Totally makes me look like a Tri-N00b.

Pretty fast T2, for me. My bike shoes require ties, so that slows me down. But I like my bike shoes, and I'm not winning any awards anyhow. Honestly, I think this was the first triathlon I did NOT start running while still wearing my helmet!

I thought about untying my shoes as I coasted in, but then thought about them getting caught in the chain and me falling on my face and nixed that idea.

Darn! I normally do better in the run and rank higher, but my legs were officially TIRED by the run! Still, I love the run. It's like being "home". As I ran out I was met by a LOT of people running in. I decided that I would encourage, smile at, or greet every person coming towards me. It is very interesting. I would say that 99% of the women returned my greetings, and only about 30% of the men. Oh well! I just enjoyed myself. I greeted dogs on the route, bid good morning to people in their yards, and greeted the fishermen on the bridge over the lake. I felt like I was totally slogging. Since my Garmin wasn't with me, I had no idea of my pace. Unfortunately when I turned it on that morning, the battery was dead. So on the bike and run I had NO idea of my pace or distance. It was actually kind of freeing because even my bike computer had stopped working. (No idea why!) Normally I run about a 9:30 mile on triathlons, but I've never done an oly length two weeks after a marathon, so it felt a lot slower. It looks like it was somewhat slower, but not too bad.

It was hot on the run so I unzipped my tri-suit just a bit to let a bit of a breeze in. About 1/3 mile later I felt really nice and breezy. I looked down and saw that my suit was unzipped to my waist. Um...ooops! Hey everyone! Here's a show! I mean I had a running bra on, but I don't show my scary belly to ANYONE, so yipes! Let's just hope there were not photographers on that part of the race! Ha ha!

Came up to the first water stop at the sprint turnaround point (about 1.5 miles) and drank a cup of water. It was WARM and that water felt great! After that stop, we turned down a road and on the corner were obviously some cheerleaders. As every runner came towards them, they started a cheer. I got "L E T S G O, Let's go! Let's go!" on the way out and "Go runners! Get your groove on!" on the way back. Another lady on that corner was directing traffic and just hollering and screaming at every runner as well. I bet that girl had a sore throat by the end of the race! I sure as heck appreciate that, though!

Ran out along the lake, which was beautiful. The greens are more sagey in Eastern Washington, mixed with the golds of the drier grasses. I was hoping to see some wildlife and wasn't disappointed. I saw a really long garter snake right in front of me. I stopped and watched him cross and decided that being crossed by a snake was probably good luck, especially since it wasn't a rattler. Saw the most pathetic looking chihuahua I've ever seen in my life. Poor thing looked like he'd been put into the spin cycle a few times.

As I was coming back most of the sprint triathletes were doing their thing. It was great to see so many people of all shapes, sizes, and ages challenging themselves. I don't care who you are, a triathlon is a challenge.

Not run 14 miles the Tuesday before the triathlon. I had the dumb that day.

As I finished the race I was greeted by my awesome friends, Lisa and Ann. I saw Michelle as I was running over the bridge (she was heading back to the hotel). It sure means something to have someone waiting for you at the finish line. I smiled for the camera and finished (hopefully) looking strong. Lisa called out "Congratulations! You're an olympiad!" and I yelled, "So does that mean I won the gold?" I knew already, by the people I passed on the run, that I was probably 5th from last and I was okay with that.

I got my medal and happily talked with my friends while stretching. My knees felt tired but overall, I felt really good. I walked around a bit, then went to the food table and grabbed a mini bagel, piece of ham, and cheese and a banana. Someone handed me a big jar of Udderly Smooth cream. Apparently I won it in a drawing while I was still out on the course. So now I shall be udderly smooth for a very long time. Enjoyed the mint water at the finish!


Marathon two weeks prior, and trying not to overdo it for the marathon two weeks in the future. And as always, the fact that I'm not very fast.


As I was heading out to the water in the morning I kept telling myself, "This is the last time you have to do this. You never every have to do this again. Just get through this triathlon and you don't EVER have to do another one. You don't even have to do Troika; (the half ironman I'm registered for in August)." I was so freaked out that I just could not for the life of me remember WHY I do these things!

Now I remember why. I do them because once I couldn't. I was too lazy and too fat. I do them because they scare me and I refuse to let fear keep me from doing something amazing. I do them because they are a way to EXPERIENCE LIFE. I do them because some people can't. I do them because some people who have every excuse to say they can't, do them (like the guy with the prosthetic leg who beat the tri-suit off me). I do them because I love the challenge. And I do them because Ann and Lisa talked me into doing them!

So I'll keep doing them. I know I'll be nervous again on the next one, but not as bad...and eventually I won't be so nervous. I guess then I'll have to find something else that scares me and do THAT! Anyone up to climbing a mountain?


I had a marvelous time with my friends; Lisa, Ann, and Michele and my NEW friends, Lynne and Leslie. Thank you ladies for making this a fantastic experience, for putting up with my quiet freaking out, and for swimming with me Friday night in the freezing cold lake. Thank you, Lisa, for all the support the week before when you knew I was going insane. Thank you, Ann, for talking me into this and into Troika. (I think that's a thank you...it might be a "curse you".) Thank you, Michele, for being so funny and for bringing Bob so we had a token male. Thank you for the cucumbers, the pink sausages, and the tri-hippos. Oh, and thank you Starbucks for the pre-race fuel! Couldn't have done it without all ya'all!