Check! First Olympic distance Triathlon completed!
I completed my first Olympic distance triathlon this past Sunday and I had a blast. I went down on Friday in order to get down there, relax and check out the course. I stayed in the Lodge- great rooms, great view, and a pool! I layed out Saturday, tie dyed some shirts, picked up my race packet and drove the bike course. I also checked out the water.
Swimming is my more comfortable part of triathlon because I've been doing it the longest and it comes natural to me. I've been on a swim team since I was 5- I've always recieved awards for most dedicated, hardest worker, biggest supporter, etc. I didn't win many medals. I was always willing to do the strokes that no one else wanted or if there was no one else in my age group to do them. For example- butterfly and IM! But I loved doing any stroke and I had no problem working my tail off for last place. Swimming has always been something I love dearly. Being a HUGE Notre Dame fan, I often refer to myself as the Rudy of Swimming.
The water was not too bad- I didn't have a wet suit. I have not used a wet suit yet and race day is not the time to try it! I was, however, very intimidated by the buoys. I was intimidated because I had to swim around them twice for the olympic distance. I did recall last year I swam in the US Master's Open Water Swim and swam 1 mile so that helped calm nerves knowing that I had done this before.
After a very long wait....for some reason the Oly distance was after the sprint- ugh. Once I got in the water I got out of my head and into the water. I focused on feeling the water and reminding myself that I can do this. The swim went great- I finished in 36:58 minutes- not bad for not doing any swimming since winter.
The bike was awesome- I was totally prepared. The course was completely flat. It was terribly windy in most parts but I have been riding in a lot of wind and hills lately so it went grea. Of course my speedometer thing stopped working within 5 minutes so I have no idea my average speed- it felt good though! I finished the bike in 1 hour, 29 minutes- not bad. Then came then 6.1 mile run. I was nervous about how my legs would feel off the bike since I had only done 2 brick workouts. I was sluggish to start but seeing many friends running in was encouraging! I also passed a guy who was coming in as I was going out and looked at me and said, "Hey you're from Grafton!" I have no idea who this guy was but cool- someone recognized me- of course I yelled back, "Megan for Mayor"!
Coming back on the run there was another woman behind me the entire time and I did not want her to pass me- I kept picking up the pace and looking back. She kept the same distance all the way! Sprinting into the finish many of my friends were there cheering me on, taking pictures, and just being amazing. I was surprised since most of them did the sprint race and had been done for a while. It was so awesome! Crossing the finish line, I felt great. I finished the run in 1 hour 7 minutes for an overall time of 3 hours and 19 minutes.
The course was perfect, the company was amazing, my times were good, I felt great and I accomplished another goal! - And it's only the first Tri of the season!
I have a lot of work ahead of me in all aspects of my life, but I'm excited to see what the future brings!
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