RANDOLPH LAKE TRAITHLON - RACE REPORT 2014

First triathlon...boom...done! And what a crazy ass day it was. Up at 3:45 am and out the door by 5:00 am. Everything packed the night before, I was ready to roll. Not nearly as nervous as I thought I would be...until the warm up swim. I'll get to that in a minute.

Arrived at Randolph Lake by 6:00 am and was rewarded with a super close parking spot next to transition. Set everything up and checked my bicycle one last time. Everything looked good. Lake temperature was 78.5 which meant it was not wetsuit legal. We were allowed to wear a wetsuit with the understanding that you couldn't qualify for an age group award with a wetsuit on. No problem there, I wasn't planning an award anyway.

From 7:15 am until 7:30 am we were allowed to do a 200 meter swim. I was swimming along when BAM, this voice in my head screamed "NO, NO, NO. You CANNOT do this! Get out, get your stuff and go home".  It was that horrible demon in my head screaming at me again. I tried to ignored the demon, got around the buoy and headed back to shore.

Before I knew it the race director announced the race was about to begin.  I couldn't believe it was about to happen. All those months of training for this very moment. As I waited on the beach I met two women who were just as nervous about the swim as I was. We agreed to hang together.

It was a staggered in-water-start with 3 minutes in between each wave. My wave (the last wave) was instructed to get into the water.  I jumped in and heard the director yell "quickly, 15 seconds, 10 seconds"...I was like holy crap, what am doing? Have I lost my mind? Suddenly the horn blew and a flurry of bodies took off!

Randolph Lake Triathlon Swim Start 2014

I positioned myself at the back of the pack which afforded me plenty of room to do my own thing and swam with the women I had just met on the beach. One woman said she hadn't swam in over 15 years. I was like what the hell lady? Are you nuts? Do you realize this is a 1/2 mile swim? OMG, we're so gonna die out here! It was a circus of freestyle, breaststroke & backstroke for the first 1/4 mile.

Half way around the lake I realized our threesome was in last place, and I don't like being in last place. I started swimming freestyle and refused to turn onto my back. Stroke, stroke, stroke, sight. Stroke, stroke, stroke, sight. It gave my brain something to think about other than drowning. I continued my stroke/sight count around the rest of the lake. I  realized I had passed a couple of people. Look at me, I'm passing people! How can that be? I turned the last buoy and felt euphoric that the swim was about to end. I made my way back to shore, stood up and ran towards transition. Tom was on the beach waiting for me. It felt SO GREAT to see him!

I took my sweet time in T1. Don't ask me what I was doing because I don't know.  I got my bicycle gear on, grab Lexa (my bike) and ran out of T1.  Our 16.4 mile bicycle journey was about to begin.

Since I had a chance to preview the bicycle course prior to the race, I knew what to expect. It was a challenging bike course with rolling hills and a one pretty sharp turn. I was able to redeem myself on the bike and passed people on the course. There were 2 steep inclines, both of which I was able to ride up. I saw people walking up the hill, but I certainly didn't pass judgment at them.  Two weeks ago I had to walk Cemetery Hill too. Cemetery Hill was the second steep incline between miles 9 and 10. It felt really awesome to be able to ride it this time!

Towards the end of the bicycle course, I notice my gears started feeling strange. They sounded and felt as if they were having difficultly moving. All I could picture was myself walking my bike for several miles. I tried not to shift too much, but on a hilly bike course that's next to impossible. Somehow, Lexa held it together and we managed to finish; questionable gears and all. I headed into T2.

I racked Lexa and was taking my sweet time again when some guy started chatting with me. I told him I couldn't chat and took off running. I ran through a wooded trail, then came out on to a residential street. It was a 5k run that continued through the streets, then turned around and headed back into the woods.  The run continued around the back of the lake where it was super hilly and sandy. I could hear the crowd cheering in the distance and I was totally motivated to kick it into high gear. I heard a woman yelled "how the hell are you running so fast" as I went past her.  I came out of the woods and into a ball field where the finish line awaited.  I ran across the finish line and found Tom waiting there for me. I DID IT!!! I completed my first triathlon!

I thought I would be in a lot of pain afterwards but I wasn't.  In fact, my body didn't hurt at all but I was tired from being up so early in the morning. We went out for a nice lunch that afternoon and Tom treated me to a Tropical Sunrise Margarita. It hit the spot!

Next up, the Jersey Girl Triathlon in 3 weeks (August 3, 2014). I already promised myself that I will do MUCH better on the swim and transition times in that race.  I'm going to take it a bit more seriously and see what I can do. My competitive side is waking up.




Randolph Lake Triathlon Complete!