I am swamped with school so journaling has been low on my list of priorities. Fortunately working out is not! The beauty of this whole tri experience is that we are hooked. I love to train. I am loving running. I want to do a 10K sometime soon. I want to work hard in the pool all winter to improve my swimming. I need all of this even more being back in school. We are planning our next tri in November.
Hopping on my bike I race up the hill and am off on a 21.7 mile journey. The course begins with a fun downhill with scary speedbumps. I have not acclimated to them on my new bike. My new bike is so lightweight that I literally fly on the bumps. So I don’t give it all I have going downhill. I make the next uphill, the biggest one on the course. My gears are working well. I pass a few people along the way (and feel incredibly guilty). Off I go through the vineyards, beautiful mountains and creeks alongside. I see more people. I move past them like I am flying. My legs don’t hurt. I’m not tired. I feel like I am riding slowly since it seems so easy. Yet I am continually passing people. How is this happening? I’ll blame it on the new bike.
Riding through Redwood Valley I see Ron, our photographer. He snaps a shot of me. I give him a big smile. The Rotarians (the tri was sponsored by Rotary) are doing traffic control. I thank them as I speed by. I wonder if I will ever pass Byron and James. They are far ahead of me. I see a few triathletes passing me in the other direction. There is a turn around point. They look hard core so I should be seeing more soon. I have a ways to go but I am loving every minute of it. I pass more people. I pass people going UPHILL and this becomes my pattern the entire time.
The ride is gorgeous. The weather perfect. Not hot, not cold. I prayed for weather like this. I finally see Byron coming. I yell out to him. “Way to go! You are Awesome!” he smiles and waves. Soonafter I see James. We yell an “I love you” to each other. I go and go. Passing more people. I reach the turnaround. I am halfway finished with the ride already. The Rotarians offer water and I pass. I have my own. It reminds me to take a bite of Odwalla bar. I finished the first bite I stuffed in my cheek earlier. Into my cheek goes another chunk and a swig of water. Yuck. I don’t like this Odwalla bar much. I am not even hungry. Perhaps I should spit it out. Nah. It’s in there already and I don’t want it to hit the cyclist behind me. That’s just rude.
I am really excited now. I know my strength is my return. I tend to work harder going out and get a burst of energy on the second half. Here I go. Even better. I pass and pass. More people. I am passing he people I saw soonafter James. Oh my! I just might catch up with James! That would be great. We’ll see. I ride harder with this in mind. Hmm… I have passed all of thee people. I am getting a big head now. No one has passed me yet. Guess what??!! Two bikers scream past me immediately after I think that. I was so distracted by that I rode off the road into the dirt. I was sure I was going to fall off my bike but I saved it and made it onto the road intact. I won’t think like THAT again. I wonder if I can catch up to them. Off I go to try. Not quite. They are passing people really fast.
I am ¾ finished and start to get tired. I am on my way to the college where I will do the run. It’s time to start thinking about the run. I am so nervous. This tri has been so much about the run. I slow down on the bike so I have strength left. I am getting tired all of a sudden. I haven’t felt any lactic acid in my thighs until now when I am almost finished. My high is getting really low. I am tired. I am burnt. Shit. The run. I can do it. I have trained for 3 ½ months for this. Thinking about the first day I ran the track when I barely completed ¼ mile. Thinking about the small hills I barely made when I first started and here I am passing people on bigger hills. I get teary eyed as I enter campus. I see runners on the last 1/3 of the course . I wish I were at that point now. I’d almost be done. I want to be done. Okay it’s time to speed up. It’s flat and I want to fly into my transition area. So I go. There are two little Rotarians about 11 or so years old cheering me on directing me into the parking lot. I find my parking spot easily. Take a bite of Odwalla bar. Again, yuck! I spit that one out. Drink a swig of gatorade followed by water and get my headphones ready to go. Shit! I should run out of here so my bike time isn’t so long. We wore these microchips on our ankles for our times. They turn on and off at each T point. So if I waste time here then my bike time is longer. I see my friend Laura on the phone. I run over to give her a hug and…OW! My legs are like rubber. She cheers me on and I sprint anyway through the detector and hear the beep. Last leg. I walk a little to where I have always started on the course…
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