At long last, the day was here! After a week of pouting because my ankles were killing me, I felt rested for the race. READ: I did not go to the gym to do the workout tailored to my need for more stretching in my hip flexors and quads; I did not do my bike, run or swim unless I had to train with my training group; and I barely used my foam roller. I was a mess. I was disappointed. Once again, I had trained too much and injured my feet. MEH.

Well, my wonderful husband also surprised me by saying that we should look at bikes. So, we did, and I got a new, super fast bike! I did not get clipless pedals/shoes because it was Friday before the race on Sunday, and, technically, you’re not supposed to have anything new on race day. However, I figured a road bike (versus the mountain bike that I already had) was a fine exception.

Saturday, I rode my bike to the expo where I picked up my race packet with three numbers and a timing chip in it. What were three numbers supposed to be for? 1. for me to wear on the bike and run 2. to attach to the bike 3. to stick on my bike helmet. Oh, right!

I met Denise Geroux’s (my coach) mentor, Sally Edwards. She was inspiring and very energetic. Then, since I was new, I stayed for the race rundown with Sally. That was completely useful as I learned where all the numbers went as well as a few tricks to use during transitions.

Then, I rode my new bike home enjoying how fast the wind whipped through my hair as I raced along the road at super speeds unattainable on my clunky mountain bike. I then dropped my new bike off at the race transition area and got ready for the race.

Sunday morning at 5am, my alarm went off. Wow! No one said that race day would start so EARLY! Surprisingly, I did not really need any coffee to get going! Adrenaline is amazing.

My husband and I headed out and picked up TEAM ERIN – Ollie, Brandon and Julie (Adam was already in the car with me). They are some of the most amazing friends. They wore the hot pink shirts with “TEAM ERIN” printed on the front and got up at 5am on a Sunday! Thanks guys!!!

Anyway, I got to the race, stood in line for the port-a-potty and squeezed into my wetsuit. I then headed down to the swim start about 15 minutes early to get into the water and acclimate before I had to race. As I was standing waiting for my wave to start, I couldn’t believe it was here. I wasn’t really nervous. Instead, I was excited and incredulous that it was actually happening.

Then, the countdown for the swim began, and we were off! I alternated between swimming all out until I couldn’t breathe and breaststroking until I had control again. I feel like I should send a thank you note to the woman who kept up with me because I shaved 4 minutes off of my time trying to stay ahead of her 🙂

Once out of the water, I had no brain, I was on auto-pilot. “Take off the swim cap and goggles in one swoop, then unzip and peel off the wetsuit to the waste…” In the middle of my refrain, Adam starts yelling from the sidelines. I’m completely disoriented because he’s not part of my plan at this point! What’s he doing here, anyway? Oh, yeah! That’s awesome! He just watched the whole swim and he’s taking pictures (that’s why the pictures are so good- hahaha!).

I continue to the transition area, and just when I think I can get back to concentrating on continuing to remove my wetsuit, while watching for pebbles under my bare feet, Ollie and Brandon show up out of nowhere along the trail! HI!!!  Totally awesome! When I arrive at my transition plot, I somehow manage to get out of my wetsuit, but not before removing my timing chip from my ankle. I went through my mental list – helmet, glasses, shoes, number, bike. And I was off!

My new bike was amazing! I did not have pedal cages or clipless pedals or shoes. So, it was just my foot and the pedal with mostly downward pressure to propel me along. I did great until the ramp onto I90 (YES! We got to ride down the express lanes of a major interstate across a floating bridge! SWEET!), I did not gear down enough, and my bike stopped. So, rather than fall over, I chose to get off the bike and run it up the hill. To my great surprise, everyone else was walking their bikes up the hill. I kept thinking in my head, “Isn’t this a race? Shouldn’t we be running?”

Needless to say, my new bike was kicking butt down that express lane. I was feeling really great about my speed until the first person passed me. At this point, I look at her pedals and shoes. My mind responds, “The only reason she passed me is because she’s got clipless equipment.” 😉 I was passed my many more people, most of which also had clipless pedals/shoes. Yep, I’m definitely going clipless now!

Halfway through the ride, I realize that I’m not wearing my timing chip. YIKES! What happens? Will they kick me out of the race? Nah. I’ll just have incomplete times. Good thing I remembered to take note of my bike start time on my own watch.

So, as I entered the transition area, I noted the time at 1:09. I had started the bike at 27 minutes. Yeah, that brain organ is just not cognitively active at present. I’ll ask Adam later – wait! I hear Adam now! AWESOME! The bike to run transition was much quicker – take off helmet, put on hat, put on timing chip and GO!

I started out strong because I knew that “Team Erin” would be there to cheer me on, and I didn’t want them to cheer me walking 🙂 Once out of eyesight, I walked. No one is kidding about that “lead leg.” My legs felt like they were made out of wood or lead or both. Picking them up was torture. Then, one of my team members ran up next to me, and I decided to run again.

I made it about one mile, then my ankles started to burn. Next, shooting pains started to travel along my posterior tibial tendon. GAHHH! I walked. Another of my teammates caught up with me. She and I kept playing catch up for a while. The most amazing thing throughout the entire race was how our team kept cheering for each other when we would see each other along the route. This happened a lot during the run when the route doubled back. We would all high five as we passed one another along the route. Yes, this definitely spurred me on to run as much as I could. I alternated running until my ankles were too painful and walking until I felt like I could run again. I finally gave up after I ran up Genessee Hill and walked in.

Now, I was saving up for the finishers shoot. If there’s one thing I know, people remember how you start and how you finish. So, I was going to RUN down the ENTIRE finishers shoot! And I did. I even pumped it up at the end to finish in 1:48! Less than 2 hours!

Adam and Brandon did the math on the bike, and at 21 minutes on swim and 42 minutes on the bike, I had shaved four minutes off the swim and about 10 minutes off the bike. My run was around 36 minutes (I have no idea how long my transitions were due to forgetting my chip during the bike), which was about 4-5 minutes slower than I normally would have run a 5k, I think.

Overall, what a great way to start triathlons! Ollie bought me a recovery massage at the end, which was such a delight! Thanks, Ollie!

I think meeting up with my training teammates throughout the race was amazing! Seeing “TEAM ERIN” on a field of hot pink was just fantastic! I really would not trade that experience for anything in the world. And next time, I hope to run the ENTIRE 5K.

As for the following days, my ankles got pretty bad – very tight, painful when walking, very painful when running. I started making phone calls – Dr. Larry and Brian Crosier (PT who was recommend by Mac at Born to Run). I plan to make this sort of the final round of foot rehab. I want to get it right this time so that I can run a marathon.