I met my goal – I finished and I didn’t come in last and I didn’t die although I probably should have taken a trip to the Red Cross tent after I crossed the line – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
This is going to be a very abbreviated report – just about me. No stories of my meeting tri-bloggers (except for one) but fear not – those stories are coming.
Rookie mistake 1 – I forgot to take a pack to get my stuff to transition. I ended up borrowing the very large and long pack of a guy I met there and it prevented me from riding my bike to the start so I had to walk it – about a mile.
Rookie mistake 2 – when your goggles fog up at the start of the swim clear them – don’t swim blind. It makes it really hard to stay on course – in fact, you won’t.
Rookie mistake 3 – untie your running shoes and have them ready to go in transition – I forgot that part.
Rookie mistake 4 – get your stuff organized – all of it! No digging through packs and forgetting stuff allowed.
The Swim – I never did a chance to test drive the wet suit until the 5 minutes between wave starts. I about died when I got in that water and it seeped through the suit and baby it was COLD! I got out and found FeLady with whom I was toein’ the line and she said that was okay – the water in there would warm up and keep me warm. It did. The horn went off and it was into the washing machine I went – with goggles that were totally fogged up and obscured my vision completely. I figured as long as I had bodies around me I’d be fine. Ha Ha. Let’s just say I had 3 encounters with boats and I probably put an extra 400 – 500 meters on that swim. The good news is that I was comfortable in the water and didn’t feel like I would die if I didn’t get to shore soon. I just swam (Just keep swimming … just keep swimming… (thanks Donna!)). The bad news is that it added a lot of time to my swim.
The Bike – the bike was good. I thought that first hill out of transition was going to be killer but it wasn’t that bad and it was the steepest hill in the course. I was a little naive about how many other hills there were but I handled them just fine and I bombed down the downhill side. I thought the ride would take me 2:30 because of the hills but I got it done in 2:06 (according to my Garmin). I was happy.
The Run – bad… bad.bad.bad. In fact, it didn’t really happen. I mostly took a 6 miles walk in blazing heat with a very upset stomach. My heart rate kept ratcheting up past 150 and I just could.not.run. I tried running downhill when there was one but the run was mostly uphill and I just couldn’t pull it together. Even the last 3/4 of a mile which was the steep downhill we took up on the way out on the bike was only 1/2 run, 1/2 walked. I wanted to be sure I could run down the chute which I did. I did it!
It got my medal and my cold wet washcloth – ahhhhhh…. and thought about going to the medic tent but I didn’t see the tent and I was too bubble headed to ask where it was. I was really ill at that point. I’m glad I skipped the tent though because if I had gone I wouldn’t have been able to tell you the funny story of what happened after the race was over. So stay tuned … more stories to come.
To all of the tri-bloggers I met – you are the best! My stories of meeting you are also to come.
21st-century-mom.com 
Congrats on getting the job done!
Congrats!! YOU DID IT!!!
It sounds brutal. Can’t wait for the updates. are you feeling better today?
Hey you did it and that is what is so fantastic
Congrats
mal
Yay! You finished! I’m proud of you for finishing your first olympic.
Many happy returns of the day! Congrats!
PS. I have a sneaking suspicion that Big Sis is lurking on your blog; she seems to know a lot about you. Hee hee!
Congratulations on finishing!! Well done on the bike!!
What did you hydrate/fuel with on the bike (out of curiousity)? Wondering if that contributed to your problems on the run.
Looking forward to hearing all the gory details from all the bloggers!
congrats on hanging in there and getting it done, mom!
you’ll work out those kinks on the next race, don’t worry.
dangit, I posted here and it’s gone. Grr…
It sounds like you did great – congrats on Getting It Done! Yay! You’ll have to fill my head with all kinds of swim tips for *my* first oly – eeep!
WOO HOO! Well done!! Can’t wait to hear the rest!!
Well done!
I hope you’re feeling better today and feeling very proud of yourself
Its all the same shirt. Meeting tri bloggers is so much fun.
Way. To. Go!!!!! YOU Rocked it, Girl! WooHooo!!!!!
*Throws confettti in the air*
Can’t wait to hear (read) the rest of the story.
good job finishing such a tough race. looking forward to more details.
good job finishing such a tough race. looking forward to more details.
So great to meet you and chat with you before the race! We really need to plan better next year….I promised you S’mores and didn’t follow thru. I would have thrown them up anyway as I was pretty queasy and wiped out after this thing!
Now, I have to sit and think about a post…pix turned out great ! Will send you some!
And congrats…that was the course from hell for your first Oly tri! You are one brave woman!
Way to go, I knew you would do it! It was great meeting you in person-next race we’ll have to make sure we stay closer so there is more time to chat. 🙂 Enjoy the recovery time now-you’ve earned it.
Great job on the Wildflower. After reading all of the posts, I think I’ll need to give it a shot next year. Your efforts are very inspiring!
Hey! Congrats on finishing your first Oly! That’s a great accomplishment on what I’ve read is a very challenging course! I can’t wait to read the rest of your report.
You did awesome on that course!! Wish we would have had more time together…but there are a lot more races to come, right?? And most will be easier than Wildflower, right?? Excellent day in the heat and the hills!
Congrats on Wildflower….you Found Out Why. hahaha. Nice teaser, I’ll be tuning in.
Congrats on your finish! What a BRUTAL course. It sounds like you all had such a great time out there. Can’t wait to read more!
sounds like you had a good time. i’ve made all of those mistakes, so i will give some advice:
1- Yankz! Sweetie, you gotta get you some YANKZ!! Don’t even deal with the laces… it’s not worth it. YANKZ!!!
2- Pee in your wetsuit. Do it. Warm yourself up. Everyone does it… that’s the real secret of the swim.
Well you finished what many many others never even start! Congratulations!