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Once we got our numbers, we went to set up our transition areas.
Next was our favorite part--body marking!
(Actually our favorite part is walking around town post race, still marked up.)
Then we still had tons of time, so we mingled with our teammates and took pictures. I was feeling really nervous, but I totally hid it.
Once the race actually started, I calmed down some. I was most nervous about the 1/2 mile swim, which was twice the distance of the swim at the Memphis in May Triathlon. On the first leg even though I could see the buoy and felt like I was on course, I somehow wasn't. The canoe people had to direct me back to the correct path. So yeah, that sucked a little. But I managed to finish in 26 minutes, which was 4 minutes faster than I planned.
When I got out of the water I had a big smile on my face...until I got to the transition area and saw that all but one of my teammates and practically everyone else had already left on their bikes. I was in the last wave of swimmers so I told myself that I wasn't technically slower than everyone else, but it is somewhat demoralizing to be at the back of the pack.
The bike ride was an 18 mile out and back, and I eventually caught sight of everyone on my team and had a good idea how far ahead everyone was. It was also fun to give everyone a little shout out. There was no way I was catching Ashley (who borrowed a faster bike this time) so I just focused on getting through the ride as best I could. The swim had tired me out and the hills on the course midway through were killer. I never did practice drinking water while riding so I took advantage of the tight turnaround and pulled over for a quick swig of water. I probably should have eaten an energy shot, but I didn't.
I think the best/oddest part of the ride was the feeling that I was completely naked. I guess my tri suit was acting like a second skin. It was crazy.
When I neared the end of the ride, I again got a glimpse of my teammates as they headed out on the run. At transition, I quickly racked my bike and got ready to run. My transition time was awesome--under a minute!
Ashley's husband snapped this picture of me as I raced away.
It wasn't until mile 2 of the run that I realized I had forgotten to put on my race belt with my bib. Oh well, I had to hope my body markings were enough. The trail section of the run was awesome. I tried to really focus on the moment and enjoy it. I was really hot and beat and the hills were tough. I took a lot of walk breaks, but by the time I got to the downhill section I got my second wind.
I thought about walking again near the end, but thankfully another woman came up next to me and we chatted almost all the way to the finish. She was like an angel.
I was so happy when I saw the finish line!
Even though the clock says 2:33, my time was 2:20. The bike ride was 1:07 (way faster than I anticipated) and the 4 mile run was nearly 47 minutes--way slower than I hoped. But whatever. I did it! Yay!
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