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The triathlon was such an experience!

After a night filled with odd dreams, I woke to my alarm going off around 5am. Because I wasn’t sure what to expect (‘would everyone be there early or would I be one of the first there with too much millin' around time?!’ and 'will I figure this all out?!'), I was was motivated to get moving much earlier than normal.

After setting up my gear, I found out where to get marked. As I was getting marked, I not only got the ‘tough’ arm marking but discovered they mark your hands and each calf, too. One calf has your number; the other, your age. Reminds me how quickly I learned, while practicing with Fleet Feet Tri, that in triathlons (more than other sports I’ve played) modesty and apparently, now, any secrets about age go out the window!

As a frame of reference, I should add that I never thought I would ever work out in a bathing suit. That happened this summer. And I liked it.
So, now the Caz Tri World knew I was 32, but I was able to admire the other people I saw walking around; 44, 31, 50, 65... It wasn’t long until my friend and co-worker Aaron arrived and she was able to set her bike up near mine. I was glad she was there. It’s nice to have someone to visit with while the pre-race jitters begin to creep in.

I’ll jump to the swim start, where after I watched Olympic Level athletes jog out of the water (post one mile swim) as though they’d just stopped for coffee and a chat with friends, my 7th wave swim start approached.

I found another friendly face while lining up by the water; we shared encouraging words and nervous laughter while getting in the water. The countdown to start was a nerve-wracking one but after having swum in Jamesville and Green Lakes, I knew and felt I was not taking on anything I couldn’t handle.

Our swim start was then announced and in we went! At first, I was feeling good - energized, adrenaline filled and confident. Then, about 4 minutes in, as I neared the first buoy, I had a wave of tiredness. This, my friend, was unexpected and something I hadn’t felt before. I quickly gave myself the little pep-talk: 'No time for tiredness! You got this! Just get around that first buoy; you’re in the clear after that!'. That worked and I'm happy to report the waves moving against my back were also favorable as I passed the first buoy... I tried to do the free style stroke as much as possible but often reverted to my comfort, breast stroke. On my way out of the water, I didn’t want to slip, I wanted to look composed and didn’t want to let on that I was quite out of breath! Up the slope I 'ran' (jogged) to the transition area. When I got to my bike, I was feeling it; my transition was slow but I got through (aka: got my sneakers on!).

While trying to mount my bike in the correct area, my ‘rat trap’ basket-style pedals were not my friends... but I managed to get moving after taking a breath (and hearing my family and friends cheering me on!).

I love to bike, this much is true. Although I knew the bike course would be grueling in areas, there would also be ample time to cruise down hills and enjoy the ride. At one point, I narrowly avoided a wipe out and for that I was tremendously grateful. There were moments, too, that I found my mind wandering, thinking, ‘I love this!’ and then reminding myself, ‘You’re racing, this is a race! Focus!’... then shortly thereafter, ‘I love this!’.

After the bike, I reached the transition area and felt a smidge tired but so very excited! I was on the last leg of the race and knew it was a matter of time before I reached the finish line. The day was warming up but it was still picture perfect compared to the forecast for that day.

The 5k went went off without a hitch. As I rounded the corner and my coach, Brendan, cheered me on saying "You're a Triathlete!", I felt again energized and proud... I was almost to the finish line! As I rounded the corner for the last leg of the run, I asked Megaphone Guy (he called me "White Shirt Lady") , "Where is the finish line?!". I was ready to be done!

He shared, "Right down there! You're almost there!" and he was right; the finish line came up right after him and I crossed, officially becoming a Triathlete.

As mentioned, in my last blog entry, the night before the race resulted in ABOUT A 3 HOUR sleep. I got to the park about 5:35 am. Upon entering the transition area, to my delight, my bike had been "unwrapped"(from the plastic rain cover), AND my good friend Nace had my tires pumped. She greeting me with her usual enthusiasm, air pump in hand helping others in need of tire inflation. I did my set-up and proceeded to "pack myself into" my wetsuit (I used the usual shimmy and and grunt routine, booties and all). The booties were helpful with the walking (and running) on the little stones between the water and transition area. We did a short water "warm-up", met up with some other team mates for "well wishing" and THEN, we (the first wave of "oldsters" were off and swimming.

About the third good strong stroke I took in about a gallon of water (or at least it felt like it) The rest of the swim was getting around the buoys any ole way I could! During my back stroke I took in another "gallon of lake water. I did managed to finally get to the shore under the time limit. Running out of the water half clad in my wet suit I heard our coach yelling, "Go Sharon GO!" At that point I knew I was still alive and moving under my own steam.... (and appreciated the encouragement, Brendan).

All went fairly smoothly transition to the bike phase.. As I wheeled up to the mounting area, I heard my friend, Casey holler, "go get 'um Shar" ! I gave the athlete's acknowledgment without even looking left or right , clipped in and off I went motoring with one foot. By the second revolution I had both clips and was telling myself , " and pull, and pull and pull and pull" Trying to get my cadence and remember to use the clips to my advantage. I felt like I was moving like a "bat out of hell" by the time I took the left turn out of the park (I wasn't planning on slowing for the turn, and didn't) I started passing a lot of other cyclists, with the formal, "ON YOU LEFT", On Your Left, on your left......" until I was out of breath. As I made the turn onto Ladd Road, I realized my computer was not relaying any information... I knew what my PR was and I wanted to beat it and couldn't tell how fast I was really moving. Some how I had the rational thought, maybe the reader is out of alignment at the fork . So on a quiet straight away I reached down and adjusted it. AND Whalla, it worked!!!!!!!! If nothing else, THAT MANEUVER ALONE felt like a MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT ... As I never stopped peddling, didn't loose my balance nor veered off into the ditch. ' TWAS at that point I knew the core crunches and balance exercises had served me well! Thank you Katie for the "killer workouts".

I rode hard, pushing through each turn without slowing, taking advantage of every decline, and watching the numbers on the left legs of the competitors in front of or passing me on my left (anything 5 - 0 plus was "fair game"( in MY rain). With as much determination as I could muster, I tried to pass, catch , or over take each one to the best of my ability. It wasn't until I rounded the turn back onto Caughdenoy Road that I was able to catch my breath from the SWIM! Needless to say, I was having fun playing my "little race game in my own head." . I was still using the down hill tactic on the Park Access Road to the finish at 21mph, dodging the pot holes and broken pavement.

While back into the transition area the change went okay, but at that point, "I was spent!" Hauling my carcass out and onto the run course was a major effort.... I felt like I was running a "bait and switch " as the course seemed 5 miles instead of of 3... I finished, NO PR's , I ranked #707 (seven is my numerological number... so appropriate,, I guess for the first time out).

BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT WE DID IT!!! And my grandson was there at the finish to make it very special. OH and better yet, my training buddy Nance, WON our Age Group as I had predicted to her!!!!!! It was a GREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT day, and i can't wait to do it again!

Pre-Race:
I sleep relatively well considering I'm crazy nervous about the race. I get up a little after 4 a.m. because I want to make sure I get a parking spot at Oneida Shores because I don't want to have to take a shuttle from the other location. Jim and I get to the park around 4:50 a.m. and we're not the first people there but close enough. We definitely didn't need to get there so early, but at least I was able to take my time doing everything.

I get to my transition area to find out my bike is in a flood! There was a lot of rain last night, and there must be a dip in the pavement where I put my bike! I got to the expo early yesterday, so I could get a good spot for my bike. Now that's all gone out the window. Luckily, my age group is relatively small, so I'm able to find another spot in the middle of the rack. But now I'm nervous I won't be able to find my bike or shoes when I get into transition. I put my baseball hat on the rack so I can at least have some sort of marker. This has thrown quite a kink in my plans...on that makes me nervous!

After setting up transition, I have plenty of time before any of the events start, so Jim and I take some pictures, eat a little breakfast and wander around. I keep getting more and more nervous as the time gets closer. I don't know why because I know I can do the distances, and I've done almost the entire thing at the CNY practice tris. It's so exciting to see so many people here! I am amazed at what a crowd this event draws. I see several of my teammates and you can feel the nervous energy in the air. I can't even describe my emotions because they're all over the place. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, motivated, pumped up and in shock that race day is here.

My family and friends arrive around 7 a.m. or so. And I'm so excited that everyone's here I totally forget to stretch! I remember about one minute before my swim is about to start, so I try to do a few stretches in the water.

The Swim:
Our swim wave, includes three age groups: 15-19, 20-24, and 25-29. We're all standing in the water nervously and excitedly waiting. The gun sounds off and we're off swimming. I feel pretty strong in the swim, not as strong as in some of the practices. Plus I see people in my wave pull ahead of me, really far ahead of me, which shakes my confidence a bit because I'm a pretty strong swimmer. After I round the first set of buoys, I start catching up to the swim group ahead of me that left five minutes before us. I have to so some skillful maneuvering not to get kicked in the head and to pass people. That's the most difficult part of the swim because it's hard to move through a group of people without veering too far off course. But I feel pretty good. The thing that I most hated about the swim was, for some reason, every imaginable piece of seaweed decided to get in my path! I hate seaweed. I think it's the grossest thing, and I'm totally covered in it swimming.

T1:
Once I finish the swim and enter my transition, I'm out of breath and definitely feeling tired from the swim, but I push it and run through transition. I manage to look at my watch and see that the swim took me more than 13 minutes! In practice, I was doing the 600 meter distance in under 10 minutes! I'm disappointed because I don't know why I had such a bad swim. (I later lean that the swim distance was actually longer than a 600 meter swim. There's nothing official yet, but I hear that it was about an 800 meter swim.) I get to transition, find my bike (yay!) and run off to the bike.

The Bike:
I'm feeling pretty good at the beginning of the bike. I'm flying! I'm passing people and pedaling harder than ever before. There are still people passing me, but they're not in my age group. So I'm not too upset by that. After five miles, I feel myself slowing down a little bit and I see a few 21-year-olds pass me. I pedal really hard to try to catch up and keep up with them, and I do for a while. But eventually, I can't maintain their pace. I keep pushing myself through the bike. It starts to rain a little bit, which feels nice and helps me cool down a bit. The bike starts to feel really long between the 10 mile and 15 mile marks. But there are people cheering us on every step of the way, and it feels great! The support is awesome. It really helps me push through the pain and keep going. At the railroad tracks, I see several people fall, so I un-clip my shoes and go very, very slow because it's better to lose a few second than fall. I'm in the home stretch now and I push harder than ever. Coming into the park, I have to take it slow because there are a lot of potholes and slower people in front of me. It's good though because I can stretch my legs a bit to prepare for the run.

T2:
I get back to transition, dismount my bike and see all my friends and family along the transition fence cheering me on. They're screaming and yelling, and it makes me feel so good. It really pumps me up and gives me the motivation to keep going. I'm able to find my shoes in transition without any issue (Whew!). I throw my shoes on and try to pull them tight, but my bungee laces broke! It's okay though, I'm able to tie it like I would a normal show lace. After that slight snafu, I remember to take off my helmet (Which I forgot to do in practice once) and I'm off.

The Run:
I'm on the move. I feel so relieved that the run is here and I'm almost done. My legs feel tired and sluggish, but I push through it. There are a lot of people cheering us on along the run course. It feels awesome. I get to the first water stand, which is supposed to be at Mile One. I feel super pumped because I get there really quickly. I say, "This is mile one? Already?" And they say, "Yes." So I'm really excited. I feel like maybe I'm moving faster than I think. But to my dismay, I reach the real one-mile-marker a little while later and start feeling a little more discouraged. The run seems to take forever! I pass a few people but a number more pass me. I'm so tired and my shoe is driving me crazy, but I keep holding onto the fact that I'm almost done. After the two mile marker, I try to pick up my pace, but it is so hard. I'm exhausted. I see the finish line across the bay and run a little faster. Then I see our Fleet Feet coach Brendan, and he's taking video of all the Fleet Feet team as we run in. It makes me feel good that he's here cheering us on and that I'm close to the end. Once I get back into the park, I run as fast as I possibly can to get to that finish line. Before I'm even there, I see my friends and family cheering me on, which gives me even more energy to finish and keep going. I have a huge smile spreading across my face as I get closer. And then, I'm there! I make it to the finish line!!! It feels amazing!!!

Post-Race:
I finish and see my friends and family, and it feels great. I can't believe I did it. Okay, well I can believe I did it because I did! It feels awesome. I'm so happy and ecstatic about my time. I finished in under two hours which is what I wanted. Everyone is congratulating me and it feels so amazing to be done. Everyone gets a cool finisher's medal which is really awesome. I'm kind of speechless and unable to put into words how great it feels to accomplish something like Iron Girl.

Post race, I take off my shoes, and the part that was bothering me was more than just annoying. I have a giant blister on the arch of my foot. It kills! But that doesn't even matter. I feel awesome for finishing. My knees are pretty tough and sore from all the pounding on them but it is so worth it. We take a bunch of pictures together, cheer some of my teammates on and then I clear out my transition area. While Jim puts my bike in the car, I wait in line for my results. Below are my results:

Overall Place: 391 out of 1053
Division Place: 24 out of 53
Time: 1:56:54

Swim: 13:28
Swim Overall Place: 28th

T1: 2:50

Bike: 1:04:37
Bike Overall Place: 566

T2: 1:21

Run: 34:38
Run Overall Place: 636

After the race, I go home, shower and then go out to lunch and eat a big, juicy blue cheese burger from Red Robin, and it's awesome. The rest of the day is spent just vegging out and relaxing. It feels awesome. I can't believe it's over!

Race weekend is finally here!!! I took a few days off from work, Friday being one of them. I got up and already had a weird feeling belly on Friday, but I forged on and did not think about it. Took my bike in for one last "tune up" and hung out with my daughter.

Saturday morning, wide awake at 5:30 and on the phone with my sister by 6:45am...it's bike racking day!!! My sister, myself and another friend (Allison O) met and rode together. We figured that being there early we may miss the crowd...ha, what a joke. It was packed! The flags were up and IRONGIRL had invaded Oneida Shores! It was amazing!! We got checked in and racked our bikes and then the big Fleet Feet meeting. We learned on Saturday that the transition shoot in and out was going to be weird, but that goodness for our great coaches, we got a heads up on this!

My daughter was with me on Saturday and kept telling me how proud she was of me and that she was so happy that I was doing this. She wants to do it with me next year. This makes me so happy that my daughter is looking up to me! Ok, so Saturday night consisted of church with my sister and her family and then dinner with them. Brought Cheyenne home to pack a bag and dropped her off at my sisters to spend the night. This leaves me by myself and now my belly is turning!! I was in bed by 9 and up and raring to go by 3:30am.

Today is the big day...wow, finally here. When we arrived at the park at 5:00 it was awesome! So many people and it was like a little city. I was not really nervous or emotional until I got talking to coach Beth,a few tears were shed! Time to head to the water and get ready. I was staring out at the course and realized that my daughter was not there yet, and as I turned around she was running at me...cue the waterworks! It was that moment in time that I knew, come heck or high water, I was finishing this race!!

So, 7:20am on August 8, 2011 was the start of a new life for me. I have gotten so much out of this training and the friendships I have made have been life changing for me. I realized at that moment, these are the type of people I need to be around. Positive, active, fun-loving!!! So, the big question everyone is waiting for...YES, I finished in 3 hours and 1 minute. The funniest part of the day was the fact that my sister was done before I even got back from my bike ride and ran and hid behind a bulldozer so I would not see her. She thought I would be mad. I told her I could never be mad at her, I love her more today than ever for talking me into this crazy adventure!!!

This week was the final. "wind down", rest week before the race. I stuck with the scheduled training and felt mostly pleased and excited about the upcoming race. On Wednesday night, the CNY Tri Group training at Jamesville went well; the swim was 'so so' but my run felt great.

On Friday and Saturday, I spent the days celebrating my aunt's birthday so it was ideal rest and relaxation time. There was only a swim on Friday morning which I felt confident about.