...call me, the caboose

Another triathlon under my belt.

Mountain Lakes Triathlon, Guntersville, AL.

Swimming was first - 600 yards.
My nemesis.
My weakest spot.
I impressed me!

Was I great? Absolutely not.

But I didn't want to cry.

I prayed my way in to the water, not just an 'in the brain' prayer, I whispered it.

And I only stopped twice to hold on to the kayaks.

ANDDDD - I saw them dragging a girl out of the water and I didn't freak out.

I remember thinking, 'I hope she's okay! She needs their attention much more than I do, I'll just keep going'. A few weeks ago, I would have thought 'Oh crap, she's couldn't do it - neither can I!'

It was hard. And whoever told us that you can put your feet down the whole time was sadly mistaken or 8 feet tall. ;-) 

I remember thinking to myself - calm down, you're good, you got this.

I sang to myself too. At first an upbeat fun song. I felt tired (my pace was faster than it should be). Then, I picked a slower song...good choice.

I did not put my face in the water. I was afraid I would bump in to people. I mixed it up between freestyle and back stroke - and it seemed to be the right mix this time!

Next was bike - 16.2 miles.

I can't really tell you too much about where the miles went, it seemed like it was over fast.

The memorable parts...

I caught up with a friend around mile 3 or 4. She was struggling. I slowed myself and rode side by side with her. She shared that she had a bad swim and really wore herself out. And, she thought something was wrong with her bike. I asked 'are YOU okay?'. 'Yes'. 'Ok, well I'm going to press on...'. I hope she didn't mind. Majority of the time, I'm the 'no man left behind' person. If someone has a bad day, I stay with them. Bad days seem better when you know you have someone that cares by your side. But. Today, I felt good. And, I thought to myself - if it were me, would I really want someone staying back for my sake? That answer is a definite no.

Around mile 7 or 8 I see this: 

I have to admit, I was not surprised. I was looking for it.

(ok...blogger font just went goofy and will not right justify. you can live with it.)

I had posted on Facebook that I would be doing this triathlon. An old friend from childhood saw my post and said that we would be riding past his house. I asked him to put a sprinkler in the yard. :-) He said he would put a sign on his mailbox. And...he did. That was really nice. I saw it from a distance and was trying to read it. Then, I got closer and smiled. Luckily I had my camera. I hopped off the bike, to take the picture. He was on his front porch...so I shouted 'hi! and thanks..this is awesome!'. He laughed and said 'I guess all that time we spent riding bikes is paying off now'. Funny. If he only knew how slow I am. Or, rather, I am sure he could tell.........I was VERY far behind the pack at this point. At any rate, a small act of kindness really meant a lot to me. (How can I pass this on to someone else? Hmmm...)

Lastly, the run - 3.1 miles.

I was doing okay...feeling good. After racking my bike, I asked a guy 'where is the entrance to the run?'. His reply, 'everyone is finished'. REALLY? Way to steal a little wind from my sails buddy. And, such is life. I found the entrance and took off. It was a short out and double back, so I was facing other runners coming back from their run. Watching intently for my friends, I see 1, 2, 3...to each I high five and smile. It's really a nice mix of mental strength to race it alone after training together, coupled with the high adrenaline filled parts when you see your friends doing well. I jogged. Kids offered me water - no thanks. At this point, they knew the racers were almost done, so they had pretty much turned it in to a water fight. I laughed inside, remembering being in that 12-15 year old range. Having a water fight with boys would have made for a very fun day. :-)

So, I finished. And I am more proud of me this time. In my age group, again, I was last. It's okay though, someone has to be the caboose. Today that is me, tomorrow it will be someone else. I hope I get to talk to that person and let them know, it's ok and that I am proud of them...I hope to motivate them to participate for the joy of it!

A goofy pic...

nice tat, eh?