Well people, it’s the end of an era, the end of my favorite hashtag. If you follow my on Instagram you may have noticed that any time I bike or swim or do an activity with the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team, I tag my photos with #StillNotDoingATri.
But after three years of training with the team and not doing a tri, I did the thing: My first triathlon.
I was nervous leading up to the big day, but I knew that I had gotten in plenty of laps at the pool, a handful of open water swims, many winter miles on the trainer, and a few session outside in the real world on my bike, clip in pedals and all. Plus, I had the support of the Tri team, plus Dennis, PG and Jennie who had driven all the way out to Jamesport to cheer me on.
I packed up my car the night before the race so that no thought would be required when it was time for a very early wakeup the next morning, and tried to get to bed early, despite some nerves trying to keep me awake. When my alarm went off the next morning Den and I piled into the car, and started the hour-ish long drive towards Jamesport. We were treated to a beautiful sunrise as we made our way there. The drive felt like it took much longer than an hour, but eventually we pulled into the beach side parking lot, and started unloading the piles of supplies that I had brought with me.
When we unloaded the bike from the car we made some last minute adjustments, which mainly consisted of pumping up my bike tires once again. We made our way over to the transition area, where Merrick had their own team bike rack. I found my name on the bike rack, and started by hanging up my bike. I had brought my wet suit along in a 5-gallon home depot bucket, so I set that up at the end of my area, so I could quickly dump my wet suit after the swim portion of the race. I laid out my two sets of shoes on a towel, leaving part of the towel un-burduned so that I could dry off my feet.
I passed my cell phone and go-pro off to Dennis, and followed Jackie and Nicole towards the water so I could warm up in the water before the race. If I had learned anything from previous open water swims, was that I am more comfortable if I have a few minutes to adjust to the water. I took my time getting on my wetsuit, since I had just repaired some tears in it earlier that week, making sure I was comfortable with how it was sitting. Then I waddled over to the water, and flopped around for a few minutes. I felt the low key panic that often comes with open water swims for me, and hoped that feeling it before the race meant that I would be fine once things got moving with the actual race.
Soon the announcer was giving a warning for the first age group to line up at the start, so it was time to vacate the water. The wave start was broken up by age and gender, from youngest to oldest. I was in the second wave overall, the first female group. Once the first group of guys had taken off I lined up with many of my team mates, who I knew would speed by once we hit the water, and tried to calm my nerves. I could do this. It would be hard, but I was capable.
The announcer counted down, and off we went. A run across the sand and into the water, wading until it was deep enough to get a stroke in. I stuck to the back of the group, not wanting to get swam over or kicked in the face. Once I was far enough into the water, I started swimming, counting my breaths between strokes, and trying to stay calm. There were plenty of swimmers, life guards, and buoys around me, but I was still panicking a little. It felt like the swim was taking forever from the start, even though the total elapsed time was less than 15 minutes for the 500 yd swim. Eventually I reached the buoy that marked the turn around point, and took a second to swap to backstroke to collect myself. As I started swimming back to the shore, the I was hot in the wetsuit. I felt almost constricted as I kept swimming, half wishing I hadn’t worn it. As the water got shallower, I tapped my feet to the sand to calm myself down. This was tough, but I could do it. With one of those taps I felt a sharp pain in my foot and recoiled - I must have stepped on the shell.
When I got to a shallow enough point in the water, I decided to try the latest tip I had read regarding wetsuits - take it off before you get out of the water. Every time i have to take off my wetsuit I struggled with it, so I figured I may as well give it a go. Worst case I would be flopping on the sand in front of spectators trying to take it off, rather than waiting until the transition area and trying to get it off there. But my gamble paid off, and the wetsuit came off easier than ever! I was all smiles as I left the water, and started the run over to the transition area, where I would move on to the bike portion of the race. It was a long run over to the bikes, across a parking lot and passed a glimpse of the finish line. I even spotted Jennie cheering with her fiance PG as I ran by.
I dropped my wetsuit into the bucket that I had brought along, and plopped down onto the towel that I had setup and tried to dry off my feet a little bit before putting on my ProCompression lows - I had wanted to wear the over-the-calf socks, but there was a ankle timing chip, and I wasn’t sure how the socks would fit with it.There were still plenty of bikes in the transition area, as I was in one of the earlier waves, but more people were coming in by the second. Once I was dry enough to get socks on I slipped into my bike shoes, threw on my helmet, and attempted to get my garmin swapped over to bike mode. I also slipped on my apple watch, so that Dad could track my progress from home. As soon as I crossed the line that indicated where we were allowed to hop on our bikes I got myself clipped in, and focused on getting moving. Mentally I tried to spot bikers that were just a little ahead of me, and reeling them in. There was one biker that I yo-yoed back and fourth with for the first 2/3 of the bike, and we even engaged in conversation from time to time, pushing each other to keep going. I felt stronger than I had expected to, and was riding faster than I had on any of my training runs. Plenty of faster bikers were passing me, but I still felt strong. I even managed to drink some water while riding, and spent most of the 16 mile bike ride in aero position, which my wrists very much appreciated. I tried to give all I could on the bike portion, knowing that my body would know what to do when it got to the run portion, that is my strong suit, and I wasn’t worried about saving energy for it. There were some hills at the end of the course, and I pushed myself to leave it all on the table as I biked up them, and to accept the speed that came with the downhill.
As I rode towards the transition area, I slowed down coming into the final turn. I could feel that there was another biker right behind me, and was worried about getting in his way, but he called out in support letting me know that he wasn’t going to cut around, and even shouting some encouragement. I felt, as always, so supported by this community. I also spotted Dennis with PG and Jennie, and was so happy to see my people. I swapped My shoes, clipped on my SPI belt, which had my race bib attached to it, and headed for the last leg of my journey - the run. I had trouble getting my Garmin started again - the race brain was in full effect at this point.
The course took us back towards the water, before looping out to the neighborhood that surrounded the beach. I spotted the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team cheer squad, and got entirely caught up in their energy as I ran by. While my watch was working now, I wasn’t looking at my pace, I was just putting one foot in front of the other. My legs were a little heavy but I felt good. I was reminded that running is my strong sport, as I started passing other runners on the course. Familiar faces who had zipped by me on the bike I was now catching up with, and hardly being passed myself. When my watch buzzed to indicate that I had finished the first mile of the 5k course, I saw that I was somehow pulling off a sub 8 minute mile. I was a little shocked, but I just kept pushing onward. There were only 2.1 miles left between me and the finish line. The first section of the course was an out and back, and I was relieved when i reached the turn around. There were water stations along the side during mile two, and I made sure to grab some water, as I could feel how salty I was. I had thrown some skratch gummies into my running belt, and made sure to take a few with the water.
I kept pushing, and cheering on my team mates every time I spotted a Merrick Bicycles jersey. We turned off of the main road we had been on and to some side roads, where there was a little more shade, which was a relief. The pace was hard, but I could handle it. The finish line was fast approaching. As I ran by the transition area bike entrance I spotted the Tri team on one side, still cheering at the top of their lungs, and Jennie on the other side, cheering me on with the biggest smile plastered across her face. Then there was one final turn to the course, and it would be over.
Finally, the finish line was in sight. I mustered the last bit of strength I had, and pushed forward. 1:42:09 - I was proud. Honestly, I don’t know enough about triathlons to be able to gauge if that is considered “fast” or “slow” or anything in the middle for a sprint tri, but I didn’t care in the lease - it was MY finish time. I had finished, and I was officially a triathlete. Only took three years after joining the tri team. I collected my medal and was handed a water, and Den was waiting for me at the end of the finishers chute. He was trying to talk to me, but I really couldn’t process anything. My brain was fried, and I just needed a minute to talk in circles to collect myself. Eventually my heart rate came down, and I began to return to “normal human” status. I grabbed some watermelon, and Den walked with me back over to the transition area, so I could start packing up my gear. I also changed into some dry clothes, and Den was nice enough to cart all of my stuff back to the car, which I took some time to stretch.
The Tri Team had a tent set up in a field near by, with BBQ supplies that we had all brought along. I spent some time unwinding with the team, and stayed for the award ceremony - our coach, Jackie, had WON the race in the women’s division. Like, overall first woman. She seriously amazes me, and inspires me to always reach for goals that feel impossible.
Den and I headed home, both pooped from a early morning, and me from a long race. All in all, it was an awesome, but difficult experience. I was really proud of myself for putting myself out there though. When we finally got home I stepped out of the car, and was greeted with a shooting pain in my foot - remember the shell I mentioned earlier? It had apparently lodged itself into my foot, and was now VERY unhappy. I was okay all in all, and once I removed the surprisingly tiny shell fragment, the swelling in my foot went down. I did an epsom salt bath with hot water just to be safe, and took it easy for the rest of the day.
In the days following the race I was totally wiped out, and much sorer than I had expected to be after the race - but I suppose that comes with the territory of your first triathlon.