When the idea of participating in a triathlon was first introduced to me, I was extremely hesitant and unsure of the whole thing. I didn't sleep that first night and was plagued with thoughts of doubt and fear. I couldn't understand why my friends thought this was such a great idea and why they didn't cringe at the thought of even attempting this feat! (I later found out that my one friend in particular thought you had a few days to complete each event...after I let her know that it was everything in a row right after each other she was sufficiently scared, too.) I figured that at least there would be six of us Ketchikan girls down there and if I died along the course they could bring my body back home. So, I took the plunge and signed up for the race.
I jumped into training and didn't look back. I use the term "training" loosely because I'm certainly not a professional by any means, but I quit doing general working out and focused on the swimming, biking and running aspects. I'm not a swimmer and that was the scariest part for me, the fact that I was going to be swimming in a lake with thousands of other women. I stuck to it, though, and was able to start shaving time off of my time at the pool. I am also not a runner and anyone who ever sees me running will agree. The biking was not too bad, the worst part was going from your bike to running. Does not feel good at all.
We got to Seattle and we had to rent bikes, rent wetsuits, register for the race and stage our transition area. When we got to the building to register, we were amazed at the huge line that went around two blocks of buildings! Walt Disney would have been proud!
We waited and chatted with a nice woman who had done this race several times before. She eased our fears a little bit and helped us to relax. We got inside and got registered, got our information packets and activated our timing chips. We then had to hunt around for someone to "mark" us with our race number and they also put our age on our left calf. I have never felt so cool.
We went and got our rental items and headed to the park to stage our transition area. When we got there we were totally amazed at the amount of people who were participating in the tri. We later found out that there were 5,500 women who participated (some of them were relay teams)!!! We had some guy take our picture and we were feeling excited and almost giddy.
We racked our bikes and headed downtown to get some dinner and check into our hotel. I didn't sleep very much that night, I was up every 15 minutes checking the clock and having hot and cold flashes. I got sick that morning and was not feeling well at all the morning of the race. (Looking back, I think I had a touch of the flu and not just nerves...I was sick for the rest of the day after the race and Jen had been feeling "off" the day before, too) I forced myself to eat as we rode in our taxi to the park. We were trying to pump each other up and were laughing so hard, I'm sure the taxi driver thought we were loony.
The race actually started at 6:45, but my "wave" wasn't until 7:52 so we were able to watch the swimming for a while before it was our turn. Thankfully I had Jen in my age group, so we waited together and kept each other from running away screaming.
I thought I was prepared to do the swim portion of the race, but it was such a different experience than what I ever thought it would be. This is literally what it was like:
Mass amounts of people kicking, elbowing, splashing and basically trying to not drown themselves but inadvertently drowning you in the process. It. Was. Insane. I tried to stay with Jen but quickly realized it was not going to happen. So, I started kicking back, elbowing back and pretty much getting dirty with the swimming. I swam on top of people, I squeezed in between people when there was only 2 inches of available space, refused to be intimidated and just went for it. I loved it!! I ended up shaving two whole minutes off of my best pool time, so that was really cool.
After the swim you had to run out of the lake, find your transition area (did I mention how freaking far away our area was??!! We were literally the farthest area you could get...right next to the porta potties, which considering my morning wasn't a bad thing!) and gear up for the bike. Shoes and socks on, wetsuit off, tank top on, helmet on, sunglasses on and grab your bike and run it to the road.
The biking was a lot of fun, too. They shut down a portion of freeway and we went on the bridge that goes
across Lake Washington (of which we had just conquered in the swim)and through a major tunnel (which inspired some crazy chicks to scream and yell....I'm such a quiet person that I didn't even think about yelling). It was amazing to be out there with so many women.
The running portion was next and I was dreading it. I waited at the transition area for Jen and we took off together from there. They didn't allow you to listen to ipods, so we decided to sing to each other and anyone else around us. We were laughing and singing and talking and having the best time in spite of having areas of our bodies that were numb and tingly. After about one mile we started to feel a little bit better and less numb, but we were also starting to get a little bit tired. Jen pumped me up when I was feeling tired and I did the same for her when she hit her tired moments. I'm just glad we didn't both feel tired at the same time, :). There were race officials and spectators all along the sides of the path and I swear you didn't go more than 10 feet without somebody clapping for you or cheering for you or giving you a high five. It sounds totally cheesy, but man alive it was incredible! We felt invincible and empowered and alive!
Around the 2 1/2 mile mark there was a big hill we had to run up. They had some drummers at the bottom of the hill banging out a great beat and we just dug in and gave it our all! We got to the top and wow, the burn!! Luckily the rest was flat or downhill, so we knew we could do it. We got closer and closer and the crowd got thicker and thicker until we were right at the last little bit. There were hundreds of people there lining the gates cheering for us and yelling inspiring things at us and we both totally got choked up. I am all teary eyed right now just thinking about it. It was truly an amazing experience. I grabbed Jen's hand and we crossed the finish line at the same time, which I'm sure looked as gay as can be, but WE DID IT! They took off our timing chip, gave us a bottle of water and a medal and we were done! I felt like a total bad ass!!
This was truly one of the funnest things I have ever done and I can't wait to do another one. I am so proud of my body for withstanding all of the punishment of training and for it being strong enough to carry me through the race. To have made this goal and then reach it has been awesome. I honestly had doubts that I would be able to do it, but I finished the whole thing and I did it in under two hours! Anyone up for joining us next summer?
I am on my way to deliver cupcakes to their classroom and pick up the last of their presents. I still am in awe that I got two babies at one time and that they are such perfect, sweet kiddos. I have loved every second of being their mom (well, maybe their first year was touch and go)! 
