My first (and Mike's second) triathlon - I can't believe I did it!!!!

I was poking around on active.com on Thursday and found a local-ish Sprint Triathlon designed for first-timers and with a pool swim too! I have only technically completed a few weeks of my 13-week triathlon training program but I just have been feeling so strong lately so I decided to take the plunge and sign up for my first one this weekend! Mike volunteered to do it with me so we both got up at 5:15 a.m on Superbowl Sunday and headed for Sarasota for the Superbowl Sprint Y Tri...!!

They don't give you a whole lot of information in advance (or I probably wouldn't have signed up :)) but once you arrive there are Sarasota 'Storm Team' Triathletes everywhere to help you. First you have to register and get your body marked up. I didn't realize that the number on your leg is your age at the end of the calendar year - like I needed a reminder...

Then we set up in the Transition area with all of the paraphernalia that you need for each event. The Transition was definitely the part that I was feeling most confident about since I'm very proud of my organizational abilities :)

At the kick off meeting they explained the rules and how the whole thing works and told some really inspirational stories. As if that weren't moving enough, they traditionally start the event each year with one of the club members taking three disabled althetes each through a phase of the course. Totally amazing and inspirational...

The Swim...

The swim was really well organized and we were seeded in order of our predicted finish time and separated by 10 seconds to avoid too much overtaking in the water. There was also plenty of room in the lanes and I actually managed to jump ahead of a couple of people and even some guys! I was really surprised at how tiring 8 laps (400 mtrs) really was though and together with the nerves and excitement I was quite out of breath when I finished the first event.

The Bike...
I have never actually biked for 12 miles before so I was most nervous about this part. And rightfully so. If I never go another day without hearing "passing on the left!" I'm OK with it. I'm just not fully comfortable with biking yet at all so I really struggled to get in a riding position that didn't hurt. I also can't pace myself yet either so I had no idea how far I'd gone at any point throughout the event. So when I first thought 'I've been biking forever - this must be nearly over' I asked one of the race officials how much longer there was to go. She said 'I think you're about half-way' and I think I felt my heart break physically in two. Anyway, I got myself together and after what seemed like about 2 miles later I looked down and realized that the bike lane was actually marked along the way. Some of it looked like it was written in some kind of secret code but there was no disguising the one that said "Half Way To Go..." I nearly cried. Anyway, I felt a bit better when a girl in front of me fell off her bike (at least I was still on mine) and sucked it up and pedaled away. I was so miserable and just couldn't wait to hit the pavement for the run. I kept thinking - I know how to run! And it's only 2.2 miles! Then I'm done! Finally the bike was over and I was astonished to discover that I wasn't dead last at all!! And there's Mike in the Transition area! Did I catch him up on my bike?! Really? No...he must have waited for me so that we can run together...that's so sweet :). What's that Mike? You've done the run already...OMG - shoot me now...

The Run...
The run wasn't pavement at all but a trail run. And now I realize for the first time that not only do my legs no longer work properly after all the swim/biking but also running on a trail is harder than the kind of running I usually do. This will likely be the longest 2.2 miles of my running career. But only a crazy person stops at this point. So...I did the two loops and Mike did the second one with me :). And the great news was that several people (in fact about half) have actually started walking now so I can do some "passing on the left" of my own!

Here's Mike during his run sometime earlier...:)

The Big Finish...
I lost my ever-loving mind when I finally crossed the finish line - I can honestly say I've never felt anything quite like it!

Post-race pics...

I feel incredibly proud of myself and so very lucky that my 40-year-old body is capable of so much more than I ever imagined. Now I can't help but wonder what else I can do...:)