Ok here it is!!!

The day before I was scrambling a little.  My bike was still filthy and I hadn’t had any time to stop and clean it.  So Saturday night along with my helper, I got my bike all ready for the race.

Once that was done I gathered up all my stuff, yes using my color coded check list, and then packed it up in the car so I wouldn’t forget anything.

Got all my snacks, race fuel (Huma gels), sunscreen, all my gear, body glide, towels, water bottles, nuun tablets, etc.  Yes I used just about everything before, during or after the race.  Shoes, helmet and water bottle for washing off my feet went into my orange bucket.  Everything else went into my red bag that is hanging off my bucket (except water bottles, those needed to be filled the next morning).  I put most everything in the car that night and left myself a list of what I needed to do in the morning.

I actually got to bed at a good time but then woke up just about every hour.  It sucked.  So finally at 4:35 am or so I just gave up and got up.  My alarm was suppose to go off at 4:50 am but I was laying there with my eyes open.  I got up and slipped into our master bathroom and got ready.  Then I took our dog out and fed her.  Got breakfast ready, I had a gluten free bagel (toasted) then put a thin layer of cream cheese, ham and colby jack cheese plus you can’t forget the coffee.  Packed my cooler and then loaded up my car.  I went over and picked up a friend who I run with almost every Tuesday night!!!  She is awesome and said that she would love to be our photographer, carrier of the stuff and all around cheerleader.  The crazy part is that she took all the pictures of us and I completely forgot to get one of her.  🙂

So here she is on a recent birthday run (one of several)

So I picked her up and headed south to Callaway Gardens.  We got there in 45 min or so and went to figure out where I needed to go.  Got the van parked and asked a few people where the packet pick up was.  It was down at the main pavilion so off we went.  Got my number, timing chip and my body marked.  I then went back to set up my transition area.   Here it is!!!  all neat and tidy.

We had great intentions of getting a nice group shot of all the MRTT girls.  Yeah that didn’t happen.  So here is most of the Newnan/PTC chapter

One last potty break and I left my flip flops at my area.  Then we headed around the lake to the swim start where they have a mandatory meeting 15 min prior to the start.  All of us were in time group 8, i.e. yellow swim caps.  There were a few guys (husband’s and friends) that were in other time groups.  Our swim start was at 8:18 am.  I took a Huma gel and water with me to the start and 30 min before the start I had my gel.

So here is the Stockbridge MRTT ladies and their whole crew.  I got to be in their pictures too!!

The guys were off and we cheered them on, then it was our turn to get in the water.

Here we actually are !!!  We started jumping up and down waving at Darbi and she got a picture of it!!  It’s one of my favorites from the day.

and we are off

We swam from the ski pavilion around the bottom of the lake where there is beach all along there.  We had to keep those big orange buoys on our right and don’t go past them.  They had lifeguards on the beach and a couple boats in the water.  Once you got shallow enough (many started walking before you should just because it wastes energy, even me, I could have swam farther before I stopped) you ran out of the water and up the beach to the stairs then into the transition area.

The swim is tough, even though I can swim 3 times that distance in a pool, it’s just different in a lake.  I swam over half of it without stopping or anything.  I did good with sighting the buoys and overall felt pretty good.  The second half I started slowing down and was ready to be done.  But I’m proud of myself for swimming the entire way, I did not walk on the bottom of the lake like multiple people we saw and I swam it pretty smart.  I started out slow on purpose so I wouldn’t wear myself out too much.  I know I need to work on open water swimming before my next triathlon.  I did the swim in 9:59 minutes and made my way to my transition area.  I tried to go quickly but also didn’t want to forget anything.   Here is me cleaning off my feet and getting my shoes on.  I was off shortly after that.

 I jogged out of transition and mounted my bike.  Well of course I couldn’t get my shoe clipped in.  Took several tries but then I was good.  I’m laughing at myself in the last picture as I passed Darbi.   I took off on the bike.  Based on the elevation charts I thought this would be a nice ride.  I was right.  I loved it!!!  Yes there were hills but I train in Peachtree City and we have lots of hills.  These were not bad at all and I would almost call the course easy.  I haven’t said “on your left” more times ever in my life.  That’s a good boost to your self esteem.

Finished the bike portion in 30:46 min and my average speed was 16.6 mph – faster than I do the course in PTC and it’s shorter.  Found Darbi as I came back to the transition area.  She got a few shots of us as we sped by her.

It was seriously the best thing ever to know you have someone there cheering for you, looking for you and everything.  Every time I finished one sport and was onto the next one, I was looking for her and couldn’t wait to find her.

She got a couple shots of me in transition dropping off my bike and changing out gear.

 

Then I was off for the run part.  I had my strawberry Huma gel for after the bike.  I took that and had water as I left transition.  For me its still the hardest part but I keep going and put one foot in front of the other.

Darbi laughed and said that my neon green skirt is the best thing ever.  you can see it from a distance and you know that’s me.  🙂

Compared to PTC, this was a flat run.  I did the first mile in 11:34 mins and then started taking short walk breaks.  It was very hot and part of the course was out in the sun.  My hat and sunglasses helped plus I froze water in my bottles so I had semi cold water during the ride and run.  One suggestion from my friend who ran this race with us, was to dump the water from the water/aid station on your head to help cool you down.  I will do that next race since it will be in August.  I got the best professional picture just before the halfway point.

I ordered this one and me at the finish as a print so I can frame them and put them on my running wall in my bedroom.

I walked and ran the rest of the course.  I came around a turn and several people were cheering and said, “just over that last hill and it’s downhill to the finish”.  I decided to start running again and not stop till the finish.  They were right, I got over that hill and picked up speed.  Little me was actually running at an 8 min mile pace as I came into the finish.

Here is the finish line!!

Here is the professional shot!!

The one that Darbi got!!!My finish time is 1:28:12, that is clock time, my chip time is 1:10:12.  So just over 1 hour I did a triathlon.  Woohoo!!!! I was the final person in our group to cross the finish line.  We all finished within 9 minutes of each other.  We are all awesome!!!!

 

I found everyone pretty quickly after the finish.  I was hot but felt good.  I get very red when it’s hot so they all wanted to make sure I was fine.  We headed over to the pavilion for water and food.  Funny story is that in the second picture I accidentally bumped my water cup against the girl on the end and splashed water on her butt.  That’s why I am laughing and her surprised look on her face.

I overall felt great and felt great about my performance.  My leg did great and didn’t bother me at all which I was thrilled about.  I stretched everyday the week before.  I did the race just about as I had planned and I couldn’t be more proud of myself.  I would have liked a medal but they only give those out for awards.  Bummer!!!!

I just have one last thing to say . . . I AM A TRIATHLETE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!