So let me tell you about a little time I challenged a big fear...
{and I think I won.}
I have to admit that I was always one to pull a face or groan like a small child when asked anything
remotely competitive in the form of exercise previous to this. Why? Well, 1) I hate to sweat in front of people.. (I know, I'm weird. So what.) 2) I have had no desire to "prove" myself with people that could probably trample me into the ground, and 3) I always worried I'd be the one they'd be scraping off the side of the road when I couldn't complete the said race I'd entered into on my
own free will mind you.
So for these so called reasonings, I decided exercise was best intended in either the confines of your own home or out so early {and alone} that no one will know if you
did happen to die on the side of the road until some later time in the day at which point you wouldn't be coherent enough to care. Logical, right?
Right. Who needs to see that mess :P
I have
never been a person who "enjoys" running, in fact, I'd rather be heckled on a stage while dodging tomatoes than submit myself to "running for
fun"?? Believe me, I have family and friends that have tried to get me to sign up for even a 5k.
Didn't happen :P
So why a triathlon as my first race? Well, for one, I have a little sister who has done it the past two years and a dad who did it last year. They snuck the idea in my head {
somehow} that they wanted to add a person from the fam for 2011. Now I may hate sweating in a cattle herd of people who are all trying to kick my butt, but I
also just may hate losing to my family, particularly my sister Breanna, even
more... That part of me
is competitive. Just ask my sister, we seriously kept{a.k.a. keep} a running tally on something as silly as who wins board games or cards.... (Is this too much weird/nerdy personal information? .....*Probably :P)
Even more so though, I found myself running a lot as a way to exercise or just time to think and funny but I sort of liked? it... I don't run fast. I don't expect my 5'0" frame with midget legs to get out there and burn rubber baby or anything, but I sure liked feeling like one day I couldn't do that next stretch, but hey, the next day I
could. And so it began. I would test myself. I would try to be better than I was the week or the day before. I got to where I'd run and I'd get a second wind and I didn't mind going further. I'm still not amazing or anything, but I
improved.
When I finally committed to doing this thing, I had not ridden a bike in years. No lie :P And even though I grew up with a swimming pool, I rarely did laps. {I mean, pools were for laying out by, right? :P} I tell you all this because if I could do this, anyone can. My dad and my sister were majorly supportive, and I just can't thank them enough for pushing me when I was finding every reason to back out.
We didn't train for super long prior to our race, but what we did helped prepare me for sure. Nights of biking or swimming laps, early morning runs while the sun came up, combos of the three, and even mock trials of the full race. I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself mostly because I cut my own personal best time by 20 minutes when the real deal came into play. That's all that really mattered to me. To be the best I could for myself. I didn't tell a whole lot of people because that is what this was about. Proving I could accomplish something I'd never even dreamed I'd ever do. But hey, I did it! :)
Blah, blah, blah. So let's skip to the race, shall we?
Nerves. A ball of nerves I tell ya. I had trained for this day, but as much as I tried to calm myself down, I couldn't sleep the night before. I thought of
all the worst possible scenarios in my mind, I decided to go with a bike I'd never rode before
THE night before, & worst of all my knee decided to give out just days before the race. No.bueno. So I woke up {or more like I barely slept}. I ran over to test the road bike I rented the night before. {Yes, I seriously hadn't ridden a road bike in my life til
that morning.
Ever. :P} I had butterflies like
crazy... My dad pep talked me. Reminded me I would in fact survive. :P My sister tried to calm my nerves. And then we were off.
Run. I will admit getting all my equipment set up I started wondering what in the
crap I was doing there... But I trudged through the line to get marked up anyways and checked in. I had my own mini fan club meet me there last minute, as Greg had brought the kids to send me off. So that was nice motivation for me :) And as the race started, I waved goodbye to my cute little kiddos :)
{Yes, I look silly here :P And can you believe how SHORT I look??}
I mentioned I had a knee issue days before the race. It killed. Seriously, no lie. I was feeling really bad thinking how I would ever run on that.... Well, I am going to just say it now that I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father helped me that day. I took Advil, I slathered my knee up with Icy Hot {like the good ol' cheerleading tryout days :P} and said a prayer. I decided if I even had to walk that puppy, I was GONNA finish! I am proud to say that I did not walk a single step. I may have had to slow jog, but by golly I kept going! I followed a 19 year old girl who would sprint, get tired, walk, and I'd pass her. Back and forth, over and over :P haha She must of got sick of me :P But hey, it goes to show slow and steady can win the race! :P
Bike. After practicing on a mountain bike, switching over was like flying. I passed so many people thanks to that. Well, that and being so stubborn to not let anyone kick my butt :P Especially after my slow start with the run. I kept telling myself, "You can do this. You can do this." And hey, it seemed to work :P I let those little legs of mine show me what they had! I got to the turn around point {where they had recruited my dad to volunteer a station}, and I was pretty happy to see his red truck :P "YES! I'm half-way there!" Unfortunately, there was a woman in front of me that totally biffed it RIGHT where I needed to turn around! She was spread out like a snow angel on the asphalt and I had a tight squeeze to make it around her without running off the road which did I mention was a drop off...? I felt bad as I passed her, hoped she was okay, heard my dad helping her and cheering for me at the same time :P, and booked it away. The woman got up, passed me, {only one of two that did thank you very much} and I kept on her tail. We got to the opening of the parking lot to get to our next transition and what did Miss Snow Angel do? She fell... again :( This time she didn't get up. I heard them tell her not to move and heard the ambulance soon after. Poor girl :( All I can think of is she took her turns pretty fast or something. I wish I had a bike pic to show you, but my dad was kinda occupied with hauling the injured list back... :-/ {Who knew this kinda thing could be so dangerous?} And I have yet to see any pics posted from the race by the officials. Sorry.
Swim. After hopping off that bike, I had a couple of thoughts run through my head: Should I run? And more importantly, CAN I run? By now my legs felt like someone had either beaten me into jello or possibly that they were made of rubber entirely. I ran, felt like I was gonna stumble, walked, saw my sister had just finished the swim and decided I needed to run :P I couldn't be that far behind her. Awesome. I could do this! She was crazy and ran next to me to the pool as I felt like Rocky or something being coached from the sidelines. The fact that I have never even seen a Rocky is irrelevant :P You get the point. She was making me laugh so hard that she was cheering that I dove into the first lane and couldn't help but watch her as I swam :P haha I know, stupid. You are racing, Dana! I also am ashamed to say I made stupid faces at her each time I got to her side of the pool. A thing I will regret later seeing as I added 20 seconds onto my normal swim time :P Grr. I finished the last lane, jumped out and sprinted to the finish line. Breanna came over and told me my time and I asked, "You finished then?" "No, YOU Dana! You did awesome!" That's when I screamed "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" and passed out in unbelief :P I was so excited! :P Including transitions figured in, I was only 12 minutes behind my sister who had raced this twice before, so please excuse me that I basically freaked out and beamed with pride :P I know this was a sprint triathlon, but I still really couldn't have been more proud that I had done it. I mean, after two kids, a basically Biggest Loser kind of weight loss I achieved all by myself, and two health issue surgeries later, I had just accomplished something I never thought I could do! Something to be proud about I'd say :) And in my best time ever! :)
{
Straight out of the pool and happy to have survived!}
If I was to do a tri again, which I quite possibly might since I just loved this experience, I'd practice transitions. That added unnecessary time to my total. From the run to the bike I was so hopped up with adrenaline or something that I kept fumbling with my stupid bike helmet! I swear I wasted almost a whole MINUTE trying to do that thing up! BLEH! I was so mad. I also had baskets on the pedals that I couldn't seem to take the time to do... so I eventually just went :P Sans the baskets :P The bike to swim transition I should have just quit looking at my sister :P All there is to it :P So transitions, yeah, didn't think about practicing that.... Oops. That and I'd totally recommend using a road bike. Rent one like I did if you have to. I am SO glad I did! Biking wasn't ever where I was planning on cutting time. But I sure did. Totally awesome :)
I so recommend living out your goals! I'm just done looking at things and wishing deep down I did them! I plan on living my life by if I want something, I can't hold myself back because I don't think I can or I won't be good enough. How do you ever know if you don't let yourself even try? Go for it! I have learned I can do what I set my mind to :)
A HUGE thanks to my family who supported me. I will always be grateful for making me come out of my comfort zone and in the process found something I really loved :)
Well peeps? Look at me. I DID IT!!!!! :)
I initially wasn't going to share this, but hey, who really cares? :P So here's my stats, in case you wondered:
Dana Smith Run: 0:33:59 T1: 0:01:15 Bike: 0:40:45 T2: 0:01:20 Swim: 0:10:10 Total: 1:27:29
If you
really want to see the proof, {
because you think I made this all up :P} and I wouldn't blame you, I can't quite believe I've done this
myself :P Click
HERE.
And that, my friends, is all about my big day :)
