A DAY LIKE NO OTHER

PRE-RACE

The day began with 45 degrees and beautiful sunshine. I woke up at 5am to go over my last minute prep. I wasn't nervous at all which worried me. I ate a banana and a protein bar. Bino woke up then we loaded the car and took off. We picked up Iron Snoopy and Moose.

Galena is a point to point race. So we parked at T2/finish and I rechecked my gear. We went over and got in line to catch the bus to the start/T1. After getting off the bus, I set up all my stuff at T1. It was 8:15 and my wave was #21 at 10:00. Now I began to get nervous.

Iron Snoopy suggested that we put our wetsuits on and go jump in and get a feel for the water. Great idea. I slowly walked into the water---Sh**. I could not believe the cold. I waded out and tried to swim. I couldn't get my breath when I put my face in the water. I couldn't see 3 inches in front of my face it was so dirty. It was an instant brain freeze. Snoopy stayed close by and check if I was okay. I tried to swim out a little ways and had a small panic when I could not reach the bottom. I went back to shore and began watching as the race began.

The first wave took off. I watched to make sure that I could see how the course went. Suddenly I noticed a swimmer waving his arms over his head. One of the support boats went over and picked him up. I tried not to watch anymore.

SWIM- 660 yards/ 18:47=time

I lined up in the back of my wave which had 52 in it. We were the next to last wave. The group behind me had 68. I was alittle nervous but thankful that I had already been in the water for the initial shock. The gun went off.

I stayed back and let everyone go. I tried to swim and it just wasn't happening. Brain freeze! I dog-paddled for awhile. I made it to the first turn. Then I panicked and felt like an anxiety attack. Maybe I could get the support boat to pick me up. Then I could hear Coach in my head-rollover on your back and regroup. I did not learn how to swim and spend all those hours in the pool since October to have it end here. I flipped over and began to swim.

I finally fell into a rhythm. I looked up and founf that I was swimming into the middle of the lake. Damn. I changed direction. After swimming off course several times, I did make it to shore. My first open water swim in the books.

Later , I found out that the water temp at the furthest point out was actually 46.

Transition 1 - 5:25

Bike -16.8 miles/ 1:23:23 - time

Even though this was my third time on the bike course the 1100 ft. of climbing never gets easier.

The real challenge was the crosswind. I had never ridden in anything like it. Several times, I grabbed the bars tight to keep from going down. I felt strong.

Transition 2- 2:33

Run- 4.3 miles / 54:19=time/ 12:38=pace

The run was uneventful compared to the bike and swim. As I came down the final stretch to the finish -there was Iron Snoopy, Moose, and Kurt cheering me in. Around the corner was Bino.

I made it.

TIME: 2:44:25

I am a triathlete.

Iron Snoopy(right) and Me

2006 Duathlon 2:54:13-----24:20 RUN----1:28:29 BIKE---------56:37 RUN
2007 Duathlon 3:07:09-----22:25 RUN----1:31:13 BIKE--------1:08:28 RUN
2008 Triathlon 2:44:25----18:47 SWIM---1:23:23 BIKE---------54:29 RUN

Waddling and celebrating.............