June 6th, Radiant Lake Triathlon

Today, June 6th, 2010 I competed in the Radiant Lake Triathlon in Rathdrum, Idaho. It was a sprint distance race. Last year I did the Race the River Triathlon in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, also a sprint tri, and had a great time. I decided for a goal this year, I wanted to do an Olympic distance race because the sprint seemed pretty easy last year (even though I’m not particularly fast, my body didn’t feel too taxed). So, I registered for the ChelanMan Olympic race on July 17th.

Today was a totally different story from last year’s race. I decided Wednesday night that I should do this race, after waffling about it since it was first announced. I read that the water temperature was expected to be 68 degrees, not warm by any means, but doable. The water temperature was posted at 60 degrees last week. This did sound cold, but since I swim fairly well, and have done longer distances in the pool recently, I didn’t think it would be too bad, I was wrong. I was one of two people out there today without a wetsuit. Everyone looked at me like I was a crazy person, I thought, I’ll be fine. Then the announcer says, “All non-racers need to leave the transition area now. If you aren’t wearing a wetsuit that means you.” Ummm…. Does that mean racers who are too dumb to know better should leave now too? A few minutes go by, and again the announcer says, “If you are not wearing a wetsuit you need to leave the transition area now, all non-athletes must leave the transition area.” Wow! Now he’s talking to me in two ways. He must not realize that I don’t consider myself an athlete either. This did nothing to reassure me that the race was going to be fun.

I wandered down to the water, stuck my feet in, and again got “the look” from most of the other racers. “The look” was the look of shock that there was someone stupid enough to attempt this swim without a wetsuit. I was hoping that I wasn’t the only one, and I wasn’t, there was a man racing who was just in tri shorts and a Garmin chest strap (at least I had my chest strap under my tri suit tank top!).

After the last minute instructions, the gun went off and the first wave of racers started. Three minutes later, a horn sounded and the second wave started. This was it, three minutes to get acclimated enough to the water to begin swimming when the horn sounded again. I treaded water thinking, “I can do this, I can do this.” When the horn sounded I took a breath and started swimming. I made about 15 strokes before I kept my head above water and felt like I was going to pass out. I was seeing pink caps pass me left and right and there was nothing I could do, every time I put my face in the water I felt like I was going to pass out. So I did what I never thought I’d do, I used my last resort, my sidestroke. I was cruising along at about ½ a mile an hour at least being able to breathe. I looked back and what I saw was open water, I was in last place. Looked to my other side and there was one pink cap alongside me, whew, I wasn’t last yet. The horn sounded for the last wave to start, and before I knew it, I was being passed by the purples. I almost gave up, I gave serious thought to doggy paddling to shore and laying there till someone came to rescue me, but decided I’m not quitting yet. Once I rounded the fountain and was headed back towards the starting point, I got into a rhythm with my breast stroke (which I consider my best stroke, and the one I fall back on when I need to catch my breath). I felt pretty good, I was able to get my face in the water and make smooth strokes, I even passed a few people, pinks, and an orange or two! Once I rounded the final corner I started having trouble again. It felt like I wasn’t moving. I didn’t think a headwind made a difference in swimming, but now I know it does. I swam my way to the exit and stumbled up the concrete pad, not even caring that I didn’t smile for the camera person. In transition, I felt like I was a walking ice cube, but I made it to my spot, the girls were there and came up to me and kissed me, I got my feet dried off and shoes on, there were other women near me getting their gear and told me good job. I appreciated the encouragement; I was colder than I have been in a long time. I got my bike off the rack, and pushed it out of transition. When I hopped on, I couldn’t get my foot into my new pedal strap thing, finally got it and started the 13.9 mile ride.

My speedometer wasn’t working, which really bothered me, I like to know how far I’ve gone, so I can talk to myself about being half way there… no luck, I just had to ride and hope for the best. As I left the development area, I saw my in-laws pulling in to watch me race, it was nice of them to come watch, and nice that they got to see me before I was out on the course. I came upon a mile marker sign a while later, I was thinking I was doing pretty well, till I realized that it wasn’t saying two miles left, but that I had only gone two miles…. Ouch! I got through the 11.9 remaining miles by alternately crying and asking myself why I got myself into this mess, and singing a song from one of my girls favorite movies, I’m sure you’ve heard it before, it goes something like this…

We can do it, we can do it, We can help our Cinderelly, We can make her dress so pretty, There's nothing to it, really, We'll tie a sash around it, Put a ribbon through it, When dancing at the ball, She'll be more beautiful than all, In the lovely dress we'll make for Cinderelly
Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, Gonna help our Cinderelly, Got no time to dilly-dally, We gotta get a-goin'

Ah… Disney saved me again. :) Once the bike was over, which really didn’t end up being that bad, it was back to transition, took off my helmet, grabbed some shot bloks and was on my way. I gave a half hearted jog till I was away from the people, and then walked. I kept an eye on my monitor, and kept my pace at less than a 15 minute mile. Once in a while I’d jog a little bit, but I mostly walked. When I neared the 2 mile mark, a nice lady caught up to me and we started chatting. It was great to have someone to jog and walk with, it helps me motivation wise to have someone with me. Thank you Cassie for helping me keep up the motivation at the end!
I finished the race, I survived, which is saying something because when I was in the water I seriously didn’t think I’d make it. Watching the awards made me feel pretty proud that I had competed with some really great athletes! My final times were: 25:44 swim, 3:55 T1, 55:56 bike, 1:08 T2, 40:14 run with an overall time of 2:06:57. I got 98th place out of 106 athletes, but I finished!

As I was packing up my space, I kept hearing, “great job, I don’t think I could have done it without a wetsuit,” and “You’re the one that didn’t have a wetsuit, right? Great Job!” and other similar compliments, it was nice to hear, and nice to know I made an impression, lol.

On the drive home, I began thinking that an Olympic distance race in 5 weeks probably isn’t the easiest goal, but I’ll up my training and see what happens. I’ll check into avoiding “the look” and getting myself a wetsuit… and maybe start running a bit. And when the going gets tough, I’ll just remember… We can do it, we can do it… hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, gonna help our Cinderelly, GOT NO TIME TO DILLY-DALLY, WE GOTTA GET A-GOIN’

Keep me honest, all you readers, you obviously know me, or you wouldn’t be reading this, so poke and prod and scold me, I need all the motivational help I can get! Stay tuned!