I finished...

Today was the Cy-Tri and I can now say that I am a triathlete. I really did not have any idea what to expect but it was exciting to be involved instead of on the outside looking in like I have done so many times.

Bill and I got to the lake around 7:00am, the traffic into the park looked like a funeral procession. Once we were parked we took my stuff to the transition area and found a spot to park the bike and my stuff, after getting that set up we went to the registration tent to get the "chip" and to have my number "11" put on my arms and my age as of Dec 31,2007 "45" put on my leg. I think I had the most fun looking at people ages.

There were 5 "swim" waves so to speak. They send swimmers out in groups so that you do not have 360 people all trying to get the same spot. I was lucky to get in the first wave..the bright you cannot miss orange cap. I elected to start closer to the back of the pack. I had heard horror stories of getting kicked and bumped etc. They are all true. Some guy about lost his foot because he kept kicking me in the boob. needless to say you cannot get into a rythem. Good thing that I knew more than one stroke. I did a little crawl , alittle breast stroke and the little used side stroke. I think that the side stroke worked almost as well as the crawl. I also got a good stomach full of lake water. I do not know for sure what my time was in the swim. The official results are not out yet, but no "Green" caps passed me so I was happy with the.

After getting out of the lake we had to run up this nice little hill, ickky. Bill was yelling encouragements to me over the fence. All I said was I am tired and I had a long way to go.

It took a little bit for my legs to get warmed up on the bike. I did not mind the hills however I could have done without the head wind. So I tried to get as small as possible, kind of hard for a person my size, and then cranked it when the wind was at my back. I finished some where around 50 minutes for a 15.5 mile ride. I was happy with that. What was neat was as I was leaving the transition zone, I heard "There goes Julie" and I recognized the voice as Kristin's. Her, Bruce and the kids had drive up to support me, Julie and the others in the Race.

Next up was the run. I knew that I would have issues with the run. I use to run all of the time however have not been running lately. I was barely training at 3 miles. From the start it was tough. I could not get my heart rate to drop so I would hyper ventilate. So I figured as long as I made it to the finish line I didnt care how I got there. I say that I walked at least 1/2 the run. I was disappoined, In practices I was doing 3 miles in a little over 30 minutes. That was not to be. So I walked trotted, and encouraged others on. I have to say the crowd was great. They were the ones that kept me going. Each little bit of encouragement was very much appreciated.

I finished at around 1 hour 52 minutes. I was both happy and disappointed. I wanted to do it in under 2 hours however I knew I was well below that when I started the run. I need to keep telling myself that I finished. It was my first tri and the goal was to finish. Not to bad for a 44 year old over weight female.

I want to thank Bill he was a great support crew. He went and got stuff for me that I had left in the truck. He yelled encourgement to me constantly. I know that I do not give him enough credit. He even pulled over to the side of the road in time for me to get sick on the way home. Now is that love or what. Love you Bill.

Thank you Julie S. for asking me to do the tri and for training with me when we could find the time.

Thanks to Kyle S., Kyle's parents and Bruce and Kristin, for there support.

To everyone who yelled encouragement to me even though they did not know me. You have no Idea what that ment and how much it helped.

Will I do another one? I would say yes however there will need to be alot of changes in me. Bill took some pic and they do not lie, I have alot of work to do and the first one is weight. I am over weight and it really effects how a person feels. It is going to be a tough battle since I am a stress eater and work is stressful at the moment. However it must be done so it will be done. I need to work on my running which is just going to take time, I have run a marathon, I can get up to 6 miles. I need to get in the lake more to figure out the best way to swim and I just need to keep doing what I am doing on the bike.

Peace, ride safe and if you have any desire to do a tri...GO FOR IT!

It is now time for me to go to bed, I am tired and it has been a long day!