I'm hooked!!

I just completed my first ever triathlon last weekend -- and man did i have a great time!! I was hard, but it was so much fun!
Here's a not-so-brief recap, for those who want all the gory details!

We arrived at Ft. Yargo State Park (site of the previous weekend's 12 hour race) at 6 a.m. Saturday morning! Early! Why do they start so early??!! I asked a lot of dumb questions to the folks working the registration table and then upacked all my stuff in the transition area. I did just like everyone suggested and walked through the transitions a few times to make sure i knew where i was going and what i was doing. It was about 56 degrees outside and the water temp was 70. I went and stuck my feet in the water and was pleased that it felt warmer than the outside air. I stood on the beach all nervous and not wanting to take off my jacket -- due less to the cold and more to the "i'm wearing a sports bra and spandex shorts in front of 300+ people" body image issues. But I bit the bullet and decided that if the 50 year old ladies didn't care, then i shouldn't either!

The gun went off and all the women hit the water together. As soon as I got my chest in, my body went into what i can only describe as "shock." It was WAY colder than I thought and i couldn't breath or move at all. Seriously. I just sat there for a second gasping and flailing around. I considered turning around and getting out. I tried to swim forward and couldn't breathe. Some primal instinct told me to roll over on my back (so my chest and face would be out of the water), so that's what I did. I rolled over and started back-stroking! lol. I started to make slow progress in the water and tried to roll over and swim again, this only produced more gasping and asthma symptoms. I'm not sure what was going on, but i think my lungs weren't happy with the cold water. So I side crawled, back-stroked and yes, doggy paddled, about 90% of the 600 meters. When I started to get close to the shore I kept thinking, "these people will laugh at me if I come in on my back" so I bit the bullet made some desperate attempt to breast stroke my way back in. I even passed one girl! I was surprised though, to realize that there was still about 1/4 of the pack still behind me in the water. It took me 17 minutes. (and no, no one kicked me or pulled on my ankles!)

So I ran out and to the transition area where all went smooth. I got on the bike and the most amazing thing happened. I started to pass people. men. women. more men. more women. what the heck?? Apparently compared to this handful of triathletes, i'm actually a FAST rider!! 22 minutes for 6.5 hilly miles. Afterward I realized that only 12 women (out of the 103 overall) were faster than me on the first bike leg!! sweet!

The rest of the race went great. The run was fun and went by quickly, and so did the second bike and run portions. My legs started to ache during the first 3-4 minutes of the second bike and second run, but then it stopped hurting and I picked up the pace. Jake kept popping up everywhere taking my picture and cheering me on! (He was great by the way -- didn't even complain that i made him get up at 4:45 am!) I ran across the finish line with a big smile on my face and he was right there to pop my picture!

600 meter swim, 13 miles bike, 3 mile run
1 hour, 38 minutes, 50 seconds!!

Good enough to earn me SECOND place in the Athena category (cause i'm big and proud baby!) I checked the times, and if i had raced my age group, i would have come in third!! I even checked the overall times, and came in 30th of 103 women!! I just wanted to finish respectably and I even got a medal!! I'd say I did just fine!

It was enough to get me seriously hooked. I'm SO EXCITED about the next race (memorial day tri in macon) and am totally dedicated to working harder -- especially on cold water swimming!!