So June after the following interaction that I blogged about before, I decided I was going to complete a Triathlon
So my 10 year old God son sent me a text
“They have a triathlon in Jackson on June 3rd. You have to swim in the reservoir, bike I think 24 miles, and run 10k what ever that means. It starts at 7:00 and ends at noon. That should be more than enough time for you!”
So I was tickled and thought he has more faith in me than I have in myself or he just wants me to come home. Well I messaged my best friend, his mom. She laughs and states that he thinks that I rock.
Well, I decided to go for it, I texted my God son and said next year I would come home and complete a Triathlon. So I bought a road bike, joined Major Taylor Cycling Club of Chicago (MTC3), and started taking swim classes. Well, my journey has not been easy, but I have enjoyed it. The most challenging thing has been the swimming. I have progressed to the deep end, but I still get nervous. Going from a hybrid to a road bike was such a learning curve and I am still learning. I have a great family who answers my questions and guides me along the way. My plan was to do my first triathlon next summer, but Fredricka who is also a member of MTC talked me into signing up for an indoor TRI. I only had to swim for 10 mins, and my swim coach got me ready with some extra practice
Race Day
So I drove to the facility. Fredericka has just arrived, too. We walked in and got our number placed on our arm. I think that is the coolest think the temporary number tattoo on the arm. We then headed to locker room and changed. I decided to wear my black triathlete (BTA) association TRI suit. It is dope, and the only one I have. We inspected the pool, it only goes to five feet which calmed me. We walked up to the bike area to see if the bike were stationary or a spin bike. I bought my cycling shoes for a spin bike. We also checked out the track.
It was 10 minutes before our wave started so we headed to pool. I got in to do my bobs in the pool, and superman drills to warm up and get comfortable. They go over the rules. We had a personal lap counter, they would let us know when we had a minute left then we would hear a whistle. I had to share a lane with someone. I told him it was my first race and hopefully I would not migrate over to his side. He smiled and said not to worry. We started he was a strong /fast swimmer so I did not have to worry about him being beside him much. I did a triple switch, and turn combination, and a back stroke when I got tired or to calm down. That was my strategy. My triple switch was sometimes a quadruple switch, etc. I was nervous so my goal was calm down , not freak out and to keep moving. I kept looking up to see if they had called time. I was in my own world trying to stay calm, and keep moving. Ten minutes passed, and I had made it. The worse was over, figured the rest would be easy.
We had 10 minutes for transition. I grabbed my running shoes, and put on my cycling shoes and put my swim cap away. We headed upstairs. I adjusted my bike. We rode for 20 minutes. I tried to maintain a good speed, and power. I tried to envision riding my road bike. Spin is a different feel, and I prefer my bike on a compu trainer if I had to chose.
Next is transition, I put on my running shoes, and get a number. We have another personal lap counter. Eight laps was a mile, I had my Garmin so I could pace myself, but I forgot my music. I thought good training as many Tri races they don’t allow them. I have not run in a week, as the following week I had run New York Marathon, and was still in recovery mode. My ankle was the only thing that was still bothering me, and they was an injury about three weeks before my marathon. It started bothering me a mile in, but just a twinge. We run 15 min, and that was it. We were done, I was a Triathlete. No medal for the race, but the experience was priceless. I can’t wait for he next one. I still plan to go to Mississippi and do a Tri there as I promised my Godson, but I will be a more seasoned Triathlete at that time. Plan is to do three prior to the one in Mississippi.
