The Lame Duck

So race day started out with a terrible night's sleep (I had more anxiety for this race than for doing injections at school for the first time) and by getting out the door 1/2 hour later than I wanted to. My intentions were to get to the transition area as early as possible to get help in setting up. Instead we had a .8 mile walk to transition and had to look around to see what everyone else was doing.

After setting up to the best of my ability, skill, knowledge, or copying, I felt more relaxed and ready to go. At 730 I got in line for the nice pontoon boat ride across the lake to the swim start. They let us in the water a little after 830 and we all were treading water for the start. It didn't take long before I was on my back stroking my way across the lake, wondering what I got myself into. I don't know if they were concerned for me or if I was just lucky to have a boat and kayak near my side the whole swim. Didn't need them as I finished the .54 in a wonderful 28 minutes.


It felt good to finish the swim and see Meagan and the kids on the dock to cheer me on!
Transition was easy for me since most people were already on the course I didn't have to fight the crowds and was able to get out for my most prepared event, the bike. The course starts out with a solid climb but I managed to push hard up it and really boost my confidence. It took until the sixth mile to finally get a stretch of flat and it felt good to be pedaling at a nice 21.5.

Coming back to transition I ended up behind an ambulance and took the last .5 mile downhill slow to not hit the vehicle, turning in a 41 minute ride over 9.1 miles. Getting off the bike my right calf cramped and I knew I was in for it on the run. The run starts up the same hill as the bike and I did my best to try to run up the hill with cramped legs. Once again my fan club was there to cheer me on and it really motivated me to keep going.


It took walking and light jogging over most of the first mile to stretch out my calves to where I was ready to run my pace and the next .8 I moved at my anticipated speed. Once I passed where we parked our car I knew there wasn't much left and I looked at my watch to see how close to my goal of 2 hours I was. I couldn't tell as the watch resets the chrono every 30 minutes and the race start time I was uncertain on. I knew though that I could finish before 1030 and did my best to push hard through the last .8 miles. I crossed the finish line at 1:46.59 and excited to see my family there to greet me. Turns out my run was a horrible 31 minutes, but for never having run after biking or swimming and not training to run those hills I was happy to turn in 13 and change under my goal time, and I finished, which was what I really set out to do.

Thank you to the Lame Duck for the awesome experience. There were volunteers everywhere to keep us safe on the technical course and overall the race experience was one to remember. Thank you to Meagan for her support in my albeit minimal training and for her and the kids cheering me through every bit of the race. Having a personal support crew rocks! I can't wait for the next race I will be doing, hopefully a September 11th sprint in preparation for an October 2nd intermediate distance. Keep pushing, keep working and have fun!