Swimming was the scariest part (still is!) because I have never swam for distance. Ever. Fortunately, Team RWB had connected with a triathlon coach and I was able to make it to a clinic with him, and I have plenty of friends that I could ask questions. Shortly after I received word about Team CAF, I was put in touch with BeBoundless/No Limits Collaboration, who was putting together relay teams for California Sprint Triathlon with at least one challenged athlete on each and they were happy to welcome me to the team when I asked if I could join as an individual participant.
During the next couple months, I inadvertently convinced a friend to sign up as well, I found somewhere to swim (Hayward Plunge) and trained up to 1000 yards, I met another CAF athlete who gave me some information on getting a sponsored wetsuit from Xterra (got it less than a week before and was able to get in one open water swim with it), and I found out a friend was also going to be there for her first triathlon. I also got some great information from the race director.
I had a team, I had friends, my parents were talking coming to see me finish.... and I was still scared out of my mind. This is a post I wrote after picking up my packet:
Picked up my triathlon packet tonight... and I don't think I'm ready for this. Physically, I think I'll be okay; I mean, I believe I'll cross the finish line. It's mentally that I'm having a problem with. I have wanted to do a triathlon since even before I got active, something about it just always appealed to me.
But my legs sucked, my lungs sucked, and I had no confidence in my abilities. It became an unattainable goal. When I did get active, completing a marathon moved out front.. and that took 8 years. After getting into the chair, I completed my first marathon after only a year. I watched as many friends completed triathlons and that unattainable goal seemed like it should be in my reach. Then the Challenged Athletes Foundation went and believed that I could do this and approved my grant request, you all gathered around me and agreed with them... and then beBoundless (Erin, I'm blaming you for this wink emoticon ) came out of nowhere with this sprint that worked great with my training, so I signed up for it... and it's on Sunday.
It came at me pretty fast. I was probably a little shell shocked at the packet pick up tonight, but I got to see Ken for a few minutes and the race director gave me some hints and plans for the day. I'll have friends there (just like all my other first races!) and I'll have a team... but I'm still absolutely terrified that it's finally here..
And even more excited that it's finally here!
Antonette, my other first timer, found me while I was waiting for a volunteer to help bring Raptor (my bike) over
The morning came at me fast, but I was quickly distracted with talking to friends, making new friends, meeting my team, and meeting Heather, the woman that would be helping me through the day. Once everything was settled, I got into my wetsuit and headed towards the water with Heather and Johannes, our team photographer... who was talking about how hard the swim looked while Heather reassured me I was going to do great. I eventually made the comment that I didn't like him, to which they both chuckled.
Part of the BeBoundless team
And my team of friends! George, Antonette, and (pictured later) Chris
There were 12 challenged athletes, so we got our own start. I hadn't realized what time it was by the time I got to the water, so I had rush over to the start and just headed out towards the first turn. The fright turned on me about halfway to the first turn (we were swimming in a triangle) and I was convinced I wasn't going to be able to do this. Stubbornness pushed me on and I made it to the first buoy, I was a third of the way through the water and I thought I might be okay. There were enough people around me now that I was getting nudged every now and then, some even made sure I was okay; I even checked on one that I had run into while swimming on my back. Then about 100 yards from the second turn, on my back again, I was run over by someone that didn't even pause as I coughed up some water (I later found out that I lost all but one earring on that side and got a bump on the side of my head). It took a minute to recover, but I made the last turn and spent the rest of the swim convincing myself I was going to make it to shore. As soon as I made it close enough to the BeBoundless volunteers I called out to help me up. One came over and started to pull me up, asking if I was okay.. an emphatic "no" came out as neither one of us was ready for me to not be able to help stand up. Another volunteer came up on my other side and they hauled me up and over to the shore, where Heather was waiting to take over to get me to the transition area.
I made a very proud and unbelieving announcement that I had finished the swim. We went straight to where Raptor was patiently waiting. While I was sitting on the ground taking off my wetsuit, Heather was finding the things I needed to put on and George called to me as he ran through the transition past me. As soon as I was ready, Heather reminded me that I had to walk my bike through the transition area, so I held onto her and Raptor to get over the the Mount Line; as we were walking over, volunteers were calling out about the line and I asked Heather if someone just told me "to go the mountain lion"... I may have been a bit delirious already.
At the line, I saw that I was immediately going up hill (that's awesome!), got on the bike and headed up. It was just a quick hill to get out of the park and I done it a couple times while I was training, so it wasn't so bad.
Yeah... that's the "ooohhh.... uphill!" look
I have to say, it's rather strange riding in wet shorts and bra with those trying to dry quickly while my previously dry shirt is now getting wet. It took me the first mile or so to find my rhythm on the bike, but then I was able to move a bit easier. Most of the ride is pretty flat and basically just loops around the park. At almost three miles, I passed someone from BeBoundless that looked like she was pretty new to the hand cycle and I happily cheered for her. A couple miles later, I was passed by a BeBoundless tandem team, cheering as they went by. I kept them in sight until we got to the hill that stopped us both up; they were able to push up, while I had to get off and walk. It was downhill after that, so they were gone before I made it to the top. The downhill was a good rest time.. I figure downhills are a good time to give the working leg a rest, I like to call the time non-working leg to work (by using gravity, of course). The rest was good to get me in the last couple miles, along with the two ladies volunteering at one of the last turns, dancing and cheering as they told me to turn right. As I'm not quite used to Raptor's new road tires, I took the turn pretty slow, and was rewarded with more cheering.
So happy coming down the hill!!
As I was coming towards the park entrance, there was a line of cars trying to get in to park (they were being routed around because we were using the entrance) so I started looking for my mom's car. I thought I saw my dad's truck, but wasn't sure until a camera suspiciously started coming out the passenger side window for this picture.... my mom said she was watching in the mirror and knew it was me when saw only one leg moving.
I made it to the dismount line (more mountain lions!) and surprised the volunteer there by stopping to get off the bike, most get off while the bike is still moving. I even asked him to hold my handlebar while I got off... I never trust my leg when I finish a ride and usually have a house or a car to save me if I start to fall. He held on asked if I was okay, watching me out of the corner of his eye as he watched for more people coming up behind me. I told him I was okay and thanked him as I started back into the transition area, where Heather was running towards me to help me back to my stuff. In this transition, I just needed to take off my helmet, eat and drink a bit more, put my Garmin in my pocket, and grab my crutches.
On our way out, Heather told me I was setting the pace and I told her it was going to be pretty slow.. looking at my times later, it wasn't too bad; about 15 minutes slower than my most recent and flatter 5K, but I think that's pretty good after swimming and biking! Less than a mile in, we got to see Antonette coming in on her bike and we met my favorite volunteer of the day; a woman I saw directing running traffic as I passed the trail on my bike, she was practically jumping up and down as she cheered and directed. When we passed through, she was specifically calling out numbers and took full advantage of the extra time it took me to get past her. I saw some Team RWB volunteers, and Chris passed by us a little after that. Many runners passed by cheering for me, especially when I was traversing the hills with my crutches and being closely followed by Heather with her hands at the ready to help me; I had initially asked for help because of the gravel and steep-ish hills on the course and I slipped a couple times near the beginning so her PT training was on high alert.
As we were coming back on the out-and-back section of the loop, Antonette was running up the hill. As it has happened many times in past races, it was really good to see a familiar face and hearing my name called out. She caught up a little after we passed the two mile mark and walked with us for a bit, we had a discussion about how much water we swallowed during the swim, then she headed for the finish as I told her to keep kicking ass.
After that, we only had a little over half a mile to the finish. As we came down the trail to the last turn onto the pavement, my dad was standing at the bottom smiling at me, which was also really great to see. On top of that, George came from the side proclaiming how tough I was and wanting to be me when I grew up: I told him not to grow up. Then as we were walking next to the grass, I wondered out loud where my mom was... (she could spring out from anywhere!) she was standing in the shade with her camera already pointed at me.
After that, I told Heather I knew the finish was close, but I wasn't sprinting until I could actually see it. We knew it was really close when we saw a lot of orange shirts coming up and it turns out they were waiting for me on the final turn to the arch; and they were loud, especially when I started my sprint.
I know, not exactly a blur, but still impressive ;)
Heather ran in with me and Chris passed me right at the end
I got a cold towel on my neck, got a picture with Heather, and decided I really needed to find Saber. Right before this picture, my mom asked me how I did and I told her I didn't drown, didn't get hit by any cars, and didn't fall down any hills.. so pretty good!
We got back to the transition area, where Heather congratulated me, I thanked her for putting me back together a few times and making sure I didn't fall down any hills, and she left me with my parents so she could check in with her carpool. I loaded up my bag and hung it on the back of my chair, my dad took my bike and crutches, and my mom picked up my wetsuit ("Oh, it smells!" Yeah, it's rubber and covered in goose water..).
On the way out, I saw the woman that had been in the hand cycle and told her she did really great out there; she thanked me and told me it was really hard, and I told her that means she did even better! Johannes then came over and said he knew I thought he was an asshole (I denied that I actually said that) because of his comments earlier about how hard the swim looked, but he was officially impressed at everything he had seen the BeBoundless team accomplish that morning, then asked if he could get one more picture of me. As he walked away for the picture, another teammate I hadn't met earlier, Theo, stopped to introduce himself and we congratulated each other for our accomplishments. Then the race director stopped to congratulate me on my finish.. I had been able to talk to him and get some advice at the packet pickup, so he knew I had been scared out of my mind and was happy to see that I had finished well.
It's always so great to meet more challenged athletes, especially as they're just getting started in the adventure of sports
Johannes made sure to get a picture of me with my medal!
I'm very proud at what I accomplished at this race. Originally, I had signed up to see how my transitions would work, but it turned into a test of will as I realized how frightened I was. I was still calling the tri in October my first, but this race became just as important and triumphant as any of my other first races... my medal hasn't left my side for long and I wore the race shirt for most of the week afterwards (and I'm ready to do laundry again so I can have it back).
I'm still amazed at what I did, what my team did, my friends, hell, everyone at that park that morning; athletes, volunteers, the race company, aides, supporters.... I've participated in a lot of races and know that absolutely everyone helps to pull each one off, but this was the first time I really saw how very important each and every person was. I can go out for a run, or a swim, or a bike ride, but to do it all together by myself would be practically impossible. And I am supremely grateful for everyone that put this together; the race company and the leaders of BeBoundless... and everyone that volunteered to come out and help, support, and/or cheer us on. I now look forward to being able to volunteer, myself; I immediately volunteered for the next triathlon coming up in August!
No comments:
Post a Comment