I couldn't believe when I looked at my watch when I finished the swim. I thought it had stopped working. I'm never this fast! I don't know what happened, because I actually felt kinda slow and tired on the second lap. I did take Mimi's advice and when I exited from the first lap, I didn't run - I walked back into the lake to start lap #2. Kept my HR down - good decision. No need to rush, it's gonna be a long day!

Following Frank's advice, I walked to transition to keep my HR down. It was a loooong walk to transition. Kinda a pain. Had a bit of trouble getting wetsuit off - probably should have sprayed more Pam on. Took my time getting my socks, cycling shoes, gloves, helmet, etc. on. I really had to pee at this point, and I was going to try and do it in transition, but there was this group of 4 guys just standing there staring at me, and I was like crap, I can't pee right in front of them. I had actually tried to pee in the water while swimming, but I was just not relaxed enough to do it. I remember thinking about Janelle's RR, where she peed while swimming, thinking - how did she do that?? :)

Now, this bike was not 56 miles. There's no way. My computer said 53 miles, and I talked to several people whose bike computers also said the same thing. So, I'm just going to go with 53.

When I first got on the bike I still had to pee, and I tried to do it while biking, but couldn't. So, I stood up in the saddle and was able to pee a little bit. That felt better. As soon as I did that, my bike race number fell off. Oh well. I didn't know if I would get a penalty for not having my race # or what. I have to say, this being the first time I've ever peed on a bike- it was pretty gross. I don't think I'll do that again.

I was actually pretty happy to get on my bike. There were clouds, so it wasn't too hot, and NO WIND, which I thanked my lucky stars for. Herein where the nutrition problem lies...because it wasn't that hot, I didn't drink NEARLY as much as I should have. I will admit also, that I went into this race with the mindset: I will drink when I'm thirsty and eat when I'm hungry. This is not a good idea. Do not do what I did. I think this mindset stemmed from the fact that on my last 3 hour ride, I ate a clif bar and it just sat in my stomach and didn't digest. So, that freaked me out, and I didn't want to have food/drink stuck in my stomach and not get absorbed, and then on the run feel like crap. Well, I wound up feeling like crap anyway, so it didn't matter.

Drink more. Eat more. Have an actual nutrition plan. Find out why my quads always cramp around 35-40 miles. Maybe related to the whole not drinking enough thing, you think? :)

Also, I was so thankful not to get a flat or have mechanical issues on the bike. I'm still pretty unknowledgeable when it comes to these things unfortunately.

SO freaking glad to get off that bike. My upper back was killing me and my quads hurt. I was wondering what kind of run I would have. I felt so great at the beginning of the bike, but by the end, I was hurtin' a little. Racked my bike on our falling bike rack and changed my socks, put on fuel belt, race #, and I was off. Barry ran with me on the way out of transition. I told him I was feeling great and had a good bike. Boy, would that feeling change shortly.

Now, here's where the real fun begins! About oh, 5 minutes after I saw Barry and told him I felt great, I hit a wall. The muscles around my right knee started cramping and I couldn't run. It hurt to walk. I tried to stand still and stretch, but that didn't do much. I just decided I needed to keep jogging and not stand still. I was alternating b/t drinking my gatorade and water, and taking an electrolyte. But like I mentioned in the bike segment, I just drank when I felt like it. Obviously it wasn't nearly enough. I just hurt so bad, that I really couldn't run much, so I tried to walk for a bit, run for a bit. This was only at MILE TWO of the 13.1 mile run!!! I was so depressed. I felt like I had been having a really great race up until this point. And, let me just tell you how depressing it is to have everyone else jogging, flying past you. It sucks. Royally. At this point, i was so sick of eating sweet stuff. The idea of eating a gel or clif blok was nauseating. It was also at this time that I became extremely sick to my stomach. This feeling lasted until my second lap of the run. I tried to eat some bananas, but everything I ate or drank made me nauseous. I also started to get goosebumps. This wasn't good. By the halfway point, I saw Barry and my mom. This was where I had made the decision to DNF. I said this is it- I've never felt this awful in my life before. I want to stop, I don't care. Just get me out of here and let me lay down. I was even thinking about what I was going to say in my BT RR- how I DNF'd. Well, Barry walked with me to the 7 mile point and by that time he had convinced me to keep going. I figured, worse comes to worse, I could walk the rest of the way- but I knew how long that would take. I wasn't looking forward to it.

The only good thing that happened was, the hot, steaming sun went away and the clouds came out. It was a godsend. Had it not been for that, I truly probably would have quit. I was so hot, that it was miserable. A stark contrast from the cool and comfortable bike I had.

It was eerily quiet on the second lap of the run. Most of the people had finished by now, and it was just the slowpokes left. I felt bad making my mom and Barry wait for me. I knew they were probably getting tired and wanted to go home. So, I said to myself, I will walk 2 mins, run 2 mins. I did that for a few miles, until I started getting really bad stomach cramps. I tried to pee and nothing came out. I knew I was in trouble then - I hadn't peed in 6 hours. I was scared something was wrong, like my bladder had been destroyed or something. It hurt so bad - and worse when I was running than with walking. So, I walked. Alot. I just kept moving forward. That was my thing- just keep going forward. I saw Janice (foolproof) at one of the water stations and she was a welcome sight. :)

I was so glad to see mile 12. I broke down and started crying, because I knew I would finish this race. I was hurting so bad, but yet so happy that Barry had convinced me to keep going. It was a crazy combination of emotions. He jogged the last mile with me and kept shouting how good I was doing, and how proud he was of me. I was so sick I didn't even want to look at him, I just wanted to cross the finish line and lie down, and hope the stomach cramps went away.

I was never so happy to see that finish line in my life. I hear Sharon yelling for me, and I tried to sprint in, but as soon as I did that, I could feel my calf muscle start to cramp. Oh well- I just had to jog to the line. Got my medal and water. I drank an 8 oz. water bottle and laid down. I had goosebumps again and my toes and calves were cramping badly. Sharon said I looked pretty bad and would feel better if I went to the medic tent. I said I just neede to rest. My mom and Barry came over and sat with me. All I wanted to do was get out of my nasty trisuit, so I got up to go to the bathroom and change. I was really dizzy and just all around disoriented and sick-feeling. When I came out I yelled for Barry to get my stuff out of transition. I stumbled to the ambulance and started crying to the paramedic. he probably thought I was crazy. I said, my stomach hurts so bad and it feels like I need to pee, but I can't. He had me lay down and took my BP (80/55) and was like, you just bought yourself an IV lady. 2 tries later, they finally got the needle in. Of course, my mom walks by and sees me in the ambulance and is going crazy. She told me I can't ever do these triathlons, again. :) heh heh. Sharon and Mimi came to visit me, too. It's funny, even after the entire IV bag was gone, I felt a little better, but still not too good. I was still shivering and felt cold. The guy told me to keep drinking the rest of the night. I was worried too, because I still didn't need to pee.

My mom drove me home, and thank god, halfway home, boy did I have to pee. It was the greatest feeling in my life. I was so glad I didn't have anything seriously wrong. I drank so much for the rest of the night. Every time I peed, I had a smile on my face. lol.

IV fluids :)


stupid nutrition


Now, that it's the day after the race, I look back and think how much better I could have done, had I prepared better. I really, really want to do a HIM next year and have a much different experience than this time. I want to be one of those people on the run course that are jogging easily, and don't look like they are dying. This was a great experience for me, and although I am bummed about how slow I was, I can't wait to work on my weaknesses and greatly improve next year.

Thanks for reading!