Long Beach, California United States Pacific Sports LLC 57F / 14C Sunny

Total Time = 2h 05m 36s Overall Rank = ?/1300 Age Group = Athena Age Group Rank = 30/39

Well, I popped my triathlon cherry today, and like the time I lost my actual virginity, it was fun, it hurt, and was over sooner than I expected! :)

I don't remember when I first heard about triathlons, but I do remember the first one that I watched. It was the 1995 Kona Ironman and was amazing. I couldn't believe people could actually do that. I found out that there were shorter local races that were very doable and was dying to try one. However, I was a college student with a full class load and two jobs. Training wasn't happening!

Over the next 11 years, I graduated, became a teacher, got married, got out of shape, and became a mother. I still had triathletic ambitions, but told myself I wouldn't even entertain the idea until I got into better shape.

Fast forward to September 2006. I got a bulletin to read to my students about the fact that they could earn community service hours by volunteering at the Long Beach Triathlon. I didn't know our city had its own triathlon! I looked it up and knew that I couldn't do the 1/2 mile swim, 11 mile bike ride, and 3.1 mile run in my current state of fitness, but thought that with a year of training, it might be possible. I vowed on that day to do this race in 07.

I was a good distance swimmer in high school, and had gotten back into swimming over the summer. I was doing a lot of laps, but not a half mile straight, and definitely not in open water. I rode my bike around town a little, but couldn't go more than 3 miles without aching legs. I couldn't run for even a minute. I could quickly walk for an hour, but no running. I had a lot of work ahead of me.

Over the next six months, I trained hard. I got to where I could do the swim and bike distances, but still struggled with shin problems on the run. I spent the next six months getting used to open water swimming, competing in two open water races, getting faster on the bike, getting used to a road bike, running more and more, doing a 5K race, joined the LA Tri Club, and felt a lot better. I was ready to race.

During my taper this week, I started having a lot of self doubt. I felt undertrained and like I wasn't ready for this race. But at some point last night, I just relaxed. I thought, there is nothing more I can do. What's done is done. So why not go out there and just have fun. With that, I relaxed, got good sleep and felt ready to go.

I got up crazy early at 4 am. I got dressed and had breakfast. I decided to forego coffee due to its um...diuretic effects. I opted for two caffeinated gels, a banana, some yogurt and part of a peanut butter bagel. My stomach started feeling goofy, so the rest of the bagel went in the trash. My bike was already in the Westy, so I threw in my transition bag, and headed downtown at about 5 am.

I arrived and there weren't a ton of cars in the lot, but people were definitely arriving. I got out, got my tri bag out, went to grab the bike, and DISASTER STRUCK!!! My back tire was completely flat! I couldn't believe it! It couldn't be the front one...the easy one to get off? The back one involves the chain, the derailleurs, and the cogs. Oh man! I had only changed one tire and it was on our balcony with my husband walking me through it. It definitely wasn't on a dark, nerve-wracking morning, alone in a parking lot, before a big race.

I called my husband and woke him up. I wanted a quick review of Tire Changing 101 before I started loosening things! I got the wheel off the frame easily. I didn't even need a tire iron to get the tire off, as a section of it was already off. Strange. There was a lot of the self-sealing foam stuff. Ew. I checked the inside of the tire and couldn't find any glass or pebbles or whatever that had caused the puncture. I took out the tube and couldn't believe it. There was an eight inch split along the seams. Wow!

I got the new tube on and the tire back in place. So far, so good. I then struggled to hold up the frame and get the wheel on. I saw a woman next to me flip her bike over to put her front wheel on and in a braindead, stupid moment, I flipped mine too, thinking it would make things easier. Did I stop to think about the chain being loose before I did this? Of course not. After flipping it I saw that the chain came off and was only now attached at the front derailleur and chainring. It was completely off of the rear derailleur. Oh crap! What had I done???

I called my husband in a complete panic. I couldn't remember which way to thread the chain, and on top of that, there were two kinks in the chain that I couldn't get out. At this point, tons of athletes were arriving and heading over the venue. The clock was ticking and I had just screwed up royally! He asked me if there was anyone I could ask for help. The tough thing is that everyone else has a race to get to. I didn't feel like I could bother them.

He was trying to explain to me how to unkink the chain and I couldn't do it. I began panicking and saying I was going to just come home. He told me to calm down and just play with it like a puzzle. He said that until they closed the transition area at 7 am, there was no reason to leave. I had to try. I played for a while, then in what would be the first of four amazingly exhilarating moments of the day, I got it undone. Woo hoo! From there if didn't take long to rethread the chain, get the tire back on, and pump it up. I went for a quick spin around the parking lot and it seemed okay, so I grabbed my stuff and headed off to the transition area. Of course, my plan was to get there at 5:30, not 6:15, so I was freaked out about time.

I headed over to the huge and crowded transition area. It took a while to find the bike racks that were for Wave 6, the athenas and clydesdales. But, there was no room on the racks. Oh man! Now what??? So I kept looking and finally was able to squeeze in. I frantically set up my transition area. There was a guy next to me that was really nice, gave me a lot of tips, and helped calm my nerves. Of course, he looked too little to be a Clydes. I looked and realized I had set up on the Wave 7 men and women over 50 rack. Uh oh. Hoped no one would notice. Maybe they would just think I had work done! :)

I was watching the clock get dangerously closer to race time, and headed over to the insanely long bathroom line. I had meant to eat, but no time. I had meant to scope out all entrances and exits, but no time. I even ended up stretching in the potty line, or it wouldn't have happened.

I headed back to the transition area and found a volunteer to do my body marking. The area was to close in ten minutes, so I quickly got the body glide on and got into my wetsuit. I grabbed my caps and goggles, and started the 1/2 mile walk up the beach. Still no sign of my family.

As I walked down I talked to another nervous newbie. I got to the start line at 7 am, as the elite wave was going off. I watched to see how they rounded the buoys. I had missed the pre-race meeting due to trauma and despair! :) I then found my husband and kids, and got quick hugs and kisses before heading in for warm up.

I walked into the murky, brownish, greenish, bacteria infested, swamp-like post-storm ocean. Yuck! I think they should have included a round of penicillan and a tetanus shot in our goody bag! I could only get in a five minute warm up and was swimming through tons of branches and seaweed! Also, the water was FREEZING! I'm glad I had the wetsuit, but it was still a shock. I was joking with one of the clydes about how this was was much too warm and pristine for us! :)