Woo-hoo!!

See Jane tri was today. . . .
I started getting particularly anxious yesterday afternoon- what had I thought signing up for this? Geez I wish I would have signed up with someone, sometimes a buddy is what it takes to get you inspired and keep you going.
Thank goodness I had Randy in my corner.
We got up and left the house while it was still dark outside. The park opened at 6:00 in Pleasanton, but since I was in the final wave I didn't think we needed to be there too early. I thought leaving at 6:00 was fine.
Off to the Starbucks for Randy's daily drink (and a grande iced Americano for me) and then off to the park. Finding parking wasn't hard although already about 75% of the spots were taken. As I stood in line to get my race packet Randy found a staging area to claim and hung up my bike. Kudos to him here as the area he chose was PERFECT.
After retrieving my check in packet I looked at the wave schedule and found that I was in the FIRST wave, not the last. Evidently they want the old ladies to go first so we don't hold the whole event up!
A few trips to the potty (nervous) and then down to the beach to wait to start this thing. As I looked at my fellow competitors I was amazed at the high tech gear they were wearing. Lots of tri suits (one piece short sleeve with shorts that are padded for cycling) . . . some wet suits and various combinations. I was one of only a few in just a bathing suit, cap, goggle and nervous smile. When chatting with some sweet 20 somethings earlier they asked what I was wearing, I told them I was doing this "old school", no tech gear. They both laughed and said I would be fine. Later I told them that this was my first . . . they were incredibly sweet and supportive.
Before I knew it the bullhorn sounded and off we were. MUCKY!! and a little SMELLY! slowly walked into the water and then started swimming. Wow, lots of arms and legs everywhere. It was quite easy to get disoriented. I found myself having to heads up breaststroke the first 100 yards about 1/2 the time just to see where I was going. Occasionally I got to break away and start free styling but would occasionally swim up on what felt like a seal or a whale- these were women in wet suits! The second and third quarter I back stroked- I was able to move away from people and relax a little, a started to go slightly off course, but corrected it pretty well. The final 1/4 was confusion again but before I knew it- I was walking up the beach and to the transition area.
The problem with not wearing the technical gear- I had to put clothes on for the bike ride and lost a great deal of time doing that. Minutes later I was on the bike, going up the hill, safely clicked in and off on what I hoped would be a good ride. I still am a nervous rider (from being hit by a car) but this ride was incredibly well marked and we had police at all intersections. Now I hit my "stride" I was passing people! I wasn't being passed! I probably rode a little harder than I should have, but . . . I felt good! Randy was standing up on the road as I entered the park- what a boost to see a smiling familiar face! Naturally, just as I was watching me, I got passed. But, in my defense, they were 20 somethings. This I know as we had to mark our legs with our age.
Now, back to staging and prepare for running.
This transition didn't take me as long and off to the run.
The temperature is starting to climb and immediately I start getting hot. Man, I'm having a hard time keeping my breathing steady. What is with my legs? Have they ever met my body? I'm feeling a bit awkward and uncomfortable, man my legs feel like to bricks! Oh, looks like I may have pushed the biking farther than was smart!
I probably walked 1/3 of the "run" portion BUT, was only passed by a few other 50 somethings (quite a few were ahead of me, some behind) I was passed by loads of 20's though. They started 10 minutes after us so between the swim and bike it didn't take them long to overtake me!
It felt like 10 miles, not three but soon it was over and the finish line was near.
Now, I wanted to stop and walk SO BAD! There was only about 500 meters to go and I was dying! Fortunately there were heaps of people cheering so it was impossible to stop.
Before I knew it I was crossing that line and hearing the beep beep of my electronic ankle band.
And there smiling at me were Randy and Kyle. I nearly cried I was so happy to see their smiling faces, I'm so pleased that they look so proud.
I did it! It's done!
No recriminations for the walking- I'll just do better next time!
And I will do this again . . . because I can!