Sometimes life is about crossing the finish line and the lessons you learn on the way to do just that.
Thursday night we left for St. George during traffic. 5:15 from our house. We had to drop the two youngest off to Jeremy's parents and I was hoping to meet them at Walmart to quicken the trip. Jeremy's grandparents were staying with Jeremy's parents though and he wanted to see them. I was really anxious about taking more time and getting to St. George late. We stayed and ate dinner which atleast saved us time going through a drive-thru. We arrived at my Aunt Cathy's after 11:00 p.m. I had texted for them not to wait up for us.
Thankfully Sandra read the handbook on the way down and figured out we couldn't check our bikes in until 1:00. I was just showing up to the race pretty clueless. We made it to the 10 am meeting and the joke was that beginners chose this one because it was so "easy." From three of my friends who had done this before they had said it was super hard- and they are all super athletes. So if it was hard for someone who is extremely fit and athletic- what did that mean for me?
The logistics were amazing to watch. Not the headache I'd ever want to take over, but it was amazing to watch the set up and organization. You begin to realize $300 is a pretty good deal.
We headed to sand hollow to swim. I'm usually confident about the swim and the least nervous about this part of the event. But not this year. Unfortunately I had only made it to the pool about once, few times twice, to swim. After having Will my swim time has increased about 20 seconds for the 100.
I've also kept on 20 lbs and couldn't fit into my wet suit. Triathlon training- for me- has not been weight loss training. I had to borrow Sandra's wet suit. It was tight in the shoulders. We got in and the water was cold! People were swimming the whole distance! Not us. We swam around two bouy's and climbed out. I was not comforted looking out over the course knowing I would have to swim it the next day.
We set up our bikes and then headed to set up our run bags. It took all day and we hadn't realized that setting up would do that.
My Aunt made this really awesome dinner and my Grandma came over for her 85th birthday. I went to bed at 8:30. I woke up on and off all night.
Jeremy was the lucky one to drive us to the shuttle bus. It was really nice getting to see Charlie, Janna, and Sabrina as we got off the bus.
Sandra and I saw people biking and we thought they were a little nuts. Now in hind sight I should have spent the time to do just that. It would save me a few tears and feelings of disappointment.
It was so fun to see our friends- Amber, Christina, Renae, & Mikayla at the start. It took some stress off of having to wait so long to start.
We were off into the water and it time ticked slowly. I can't imagine ever not doing a rolling start. I kicked my share of people when I put in a breaststroke kick to figure out where I was.
At one point it was so pretty. I had relaxed into a nice pace and the sun was shining on the lake. I couldn't help but thank God for the beautiful morning. For me racing often is spiritual because I often find myself praying and thanking God that I'm doing what I'm doing- or praying I'll make it.
Towards the end it became crazier with the amount of people clustered trying to get out. I got out and kinda felt in a daze. Luckily Janna spotted me and told me what to do. I could hear friends cheering and it was a lift.
I grabbed my bag and sat down. Looked inside. My brain couldn't figure out why my stuff looked different. It was not my bag! I had grabbed someone elses. Thankfully I returned it and they had not got out of the swim yet. I grabbed my bag and slipped my wet stuff into the bag. I ate a apple sauce packet which I'll do again because it is really easy to digest.
I found my bike and was out of the gate.
I couldn't quite remember where the hill was that Sandra and I had biked in October, but everything seemed so daunting. Overall the course wasn't that bad because we had put hours and hours on the trainer. The roads were closed now too and that made it so much better than when we had come down in Oct.
I quickly knew something was not right with my bike. It was making a Whirrring sound. It wasn't riding smoothly. I didn't believe it was the break on the tire though because Jeremy had specifically checked that right before we loaded my bike onto Sandra's car.
My watch wouldn't change screens and I couldn't get it to show me my pace. Ugh! I took it off my wrist and tried multiple times. Nothing. It was stuck on the screen telling me the brand name. I put it in my back pocket of my shirt.
Was my tire losing air? I tried looking over the handlebars at it and was thinking that must be it. I hadn't checked the air pressure, other than by feel. Maybe it was low? Sandra quickly passed me early on in the race and I knew something was wrong because I couldn't even see her.
Getting close to mile 10 I saw a bike repairman ahead of me on a scooter. He was pulled over to the side helping someone. I tried to increase my speed to get to him, but it was too late. I battled on knowing Jeremy said they would be around the 25 miler marker.
I heard my name called and looked up to see my family and friends cheering. I yelled at Jeremy if my front tire looked low, he said no. I looked to see if it looked like my break was rubbing but it didn't look like it was, but honestly I don't know what it's supposed to look like.
By now my lower back was killing. I had about enough and told myself I was going to quit. I got my $300 worth. I was good to go home. I could cheer Sandra on at the end. I was feeling done. Thankfully my family and friends positioned themselves in a key spot where I would see them twice.
Renae thought I looked mad- I probably was mad and gritting my teeth from the pain. My mom later said she could tell something was wrong. I was super frustrated turning the corner to head up snow canyon. There was no way I was going to make it. I had to do something.
Ahead of me was a black truck coming down the road with ironman signs. I flagged him down. "Something is wrong with my bike." He told me he wasn't a bike mechanic but would take a look. "I think it's my break." "Oh ya," he said, "It's rubbing on your front tire. You can see it." He went to his truck and grabbed a tool to fix it. Instantly the bike felt different. It was crazy the difference it made physically and mentally.
I powered up the hill and was pleased I wasn't having to walk. Bless those bikers who walked their bike up the hill. That could've been Sandra and I had we not come down in Oct. and prepared for the monster.
(Bytheway Suncrest is MUCH harder... it made this seem like a baby hill.)
I no longer had the strain in my back and got to the top. I had a surge of energy and zoomed down the hill. I even passed people. I was not touching the breaks and I was praying I wouldn't crash.
I came into the transition and was changing my shoes. Some gal next to me asked to borrow my sunscreen. I gave it to her. There was hardly any left when I went to use it.
Luckily my friends were yelling at me what way to exit. My legs felt great. Unfortunately my stomach didn't. I had ate at least four gel packs. I was hungry at this point but nothing sounded good. I had put a waffle nutrition in my fanny pack but the sun had ruined it. My stomach felt like I was going to throw up.
The sun beat down. Every mile they had aid stations. Surely there could be a better route than this?! No one was running continually at this point. Everyone was walking up the hills, and running down.
It was a pretty lonely race and I found someone to talk to. We will call him 32 because that was his age. He had just done the full in Arizona in November. His parents got him into this and had already finished around the five hour mark. Incredible.
I was happy to see my family and friends twice. I could see my arm burning. I had no idea the back of my legs would be the worst. It was miserable. Thankfully at the 10 mile mark it was downhill from there.
Sabrina and Janna ran with me the last little bit and I teared up a little. About the fourth time during the race I teared up after seeing friends and family. I couldn't think about it or I would've full on cried. I could hear my sister yell that she was proud of me as I ran to the finish.
The guy that gave me the medal. I hugged and hugged and was like thank you! I was so excited to cross!
It's been a few days and it's taken me a few days to write this. I have felt every emotion the last few days- nervous, excited, anxious, curious, scared, frustrated, happy, relief....
but more than anything I'm grateful. I'm grateful for friends and family that support me. That believed in me- when I wasn't believing in myself. That cheered for me and sacrificed their time and day to encourage, lift, and strengthen me. I'm so blessed.
I'm thankful for workout partners that picked me up to swim, didn't give up on me when I stayed in bed (Janna), and walked miles on the treadmill talking to me when I ran.
For Sandra who has dreamed this dream with me for a long time. Our stories of adventures have created such a great life.
For Jeremy who said he'll buy me a new bike. Maybe he should just force me to learn how to fix it! Who drove down and figured out where to be at the right time. Our life for sure is the greatest ride.
I'm thankful to God who no doubt hears our prayers, strengthens us, and puts people in our lives who lift us when we need lifting.
St. George it was a good time!
THE END
P.S. I've sworn if I do bike again I'm taking a bike fix it class, lol!
Thursday night we left for St. George during traffic. 5:15 from our house. We had to drop the two youngest off to Jeremy's parents and I was hoping to meet them at Walmart to quicken the trip. Jeremy's grandparents were staying with Jeremy's parents though and he wanted to see them. I was really anxious about taking more time and getting to St. George late. We stayed and ate dinner which atleast saved us time going through a drive-thru. We arrived at my Aunt Cathy's after 11:00 p.m. I had texted for them not to wait up for us.
Thankfully Sandra read the handbook on the way down and figured out we couldn't check our bikes in until 1:00. I was just showing up to the race pretty clueless. We made it to the 10 am meeting and the joke was that beginners chose this one because it was so "easy." From three of my friends who had done this before they had said it was super hard- and they are all super athletes. So if it was hard for someone who is extremely fit and athletic- what did that mean for me?
The logistics were amazing to watch. Not the headache I'd ever want to take over, but it was amazing to watch the set up and organization. You begin to realize $300 is a pretty good deal.
We headed to sand hollow to swim. I'm usually confident about the swim and the least nervous about this part of the event. But not this year. Unfortunately I had only made it to the pool about once, few times twice, to swim. After having Will my swim time has increased about 20 seconds for the 100.
I've also kept on 20 lbs and couldn't fit into my wet suit. Triathlon training- for me- has not been weight loss training. I had to borrow Sandra's wet suit. It was tight in the shoulders. We got in and the water was cold! People were swimming the whole distance! Not us. We swam around two bouy's and climbed out. I was not comforted looking out over the course knowing I would have to swim it the next day.
We set up our bikes and then headed to set up our run bags. It took all day and we hadn't realized that setting up would do that.
My Aunt made this really awesome dinner and my Grandma came over for her 85th birthday. I went to bed at 8:30. I woke up on and off all night.
Jeremy was the lucky one to drive us to the shuttle bus. It was really nice getting to see Charlie, Janna, and Sabrina as we got off the bus.
Sandra and I saw people biking and we thought they were a little nuts. Now in hind sight I should have spent the time to do just that. It would save me a few tears and feelings of disappointment.
It was so fun to see our friends- Amber, Christina, Renae, & Mikayla at the start. It took some stress off of having to wait so long to start.
We were off into the water and it time ticked slowly. I can't imagine ever not doing a rolling start. I kicked my share of people when I put in a breaststroke kick to figure out where I was.
At one point it was so pretty. I had relaxed into a nice pace and the sun was shining on the lake. I couldn't help but thank God for the beautiful morning. For me racing often is spiritual because I often find myself praying and thanking God that I'm doing what I'm doing- or praying I'll make it.
Towards the end it became crazier with the amount of people clustered trying to get out. I got out and kinda felt in a daze. Luckily Janna spotted me and told me what to do. I could hear friends cheering and it was a lift.
I grabbed my bag and sat down. Looked inside. My brain couldn't figure out why my stuff looked different. It was not my bag! I had grabbed someone elses. Thankfully I returned it and they had not got out of the swim yet. I grabbed my bag and slipped my wet stuff into the bag. I ate a apple sauce packet which I'll do again because it is really easy to digest.
I found my bike and was out of the gate.
I couldn't quite remember where the hill was that Sandra and I had biked in October, but everything seemed so daunting. Overall the course wasn't that bad because we had put hours and hours on the trainer. The roads were closed now too and that made it so much better than when we had come down in Oct.
I quickly knew something was not right with my bike. It was making a Whirrring sound. It wasn't riding smoothly. I didn't believe it was the break on the tire though because Jeremy had specifically checked that right before we loaded my bike onto Sandra's car.
My watch wouldn't change screens and I couldn't get it to show me my pace. Ugh! I took it off my wrist and tried multiple times. Nothing. It was stuck on the screen telling me the brand name. I put it in my back pocket of my shirt.
Was my tire losing air? I tried looking over the handlebars at it and was thinking that must be it. I hadn't checked the air pressure, other than by feel. Maybe it was low? Sandra quickly passed me early on in the race and I knew something was wrong because I couldn't even see her.
Getting close to mile 10 I saw a bike repairman ahead of me on a scooter. He was pulled over to the side helping someone. I tried to increase my speed to get to him, but it was too late. I battled on knowing Jeremy said they would be around the 25 miler marker.
I heard my name called and looked up to see my family and friends cheering. I yelled at Jeremy if my front tire looked low, he said no. I looked to see if it looked like my break was rubbing but it didn't look like it was, but honestly I don't know what it's supposed to look like.
By now my lower back was killing. I had about enough and told myself I was going to quit. I got my $300 worth. I was good to go home. I could cheer Sandra on at the end. I was feeling done. Thankfully my family and friends positioned themselves in a key spot where I would see them twice.
Renae thought I looked mad- I probably was mad and gritting my teeth from the pain. My mom later said she could tell something was wrong. I was super frustrated turning the corner to head up snow canyon. There was no way I was going to make it. I had to do something.
Ahead of me was a black truck coming down the road with ironman signs. I flagged him down. "Something is wrong with my bike." He told me he wasn't a bike mechanic but would take a look. "I think it's my break." "Oh ya," he said, "It's rubbing on your front tire. You can see it." He went to his truck and grabbed a tool to fix it. Instantly the bike felt different. It was crazy the difference it made physically and mentally.
I powered up the hill and was pleased I wasn't having to walk. Bless those bikers who walked their bike up the hill. That could've been Sandra and I had we not come down in Oct. and prepared for the monster.
(Bytheway Suncrest is MUCH harder... it made this seem like a baby hill.)
I no longer had the strain in my back and got to the top. I had a surge of energy and zoomed down the hill. I even passed people. I was not touching the breaks and I was praying I wouldn't crash.
I came into the transition and was changing my shoes. Some gal next to me asked to borrow my sunscreen. I gave it to her. There was hardly any left when I went to use it.
Luckily my friends were yelling at me what way to exit. My legs felt great. Unfortunately my stomach didn't. I had ate at least four gel packs. I was hungry at this point but nothing sounded good. I had put a waffle nutrition in my fanny pack but the sun had ruined it. My stomach felt like I was going to throw up.
The sun beat down. Every mile they had aid stations. Surely there could be a better route than this?! No one was running continually at this point. Everyone was walking up the hills, and running down.
It was a pretty lonely race and I found someone to talk to. We will call him 32 because that was his age. He had just done the full in Arizona in November. His parents got him into this and had already finished around the five hour mark. Incredible.
I was happy to see my family and friends twice. I could see my arm burning. I had no idea the back of my legs would be the worst. It was miserable. Thankfully at the 10 mile mark it was downhill from there.
Sabrina and Janna ran with me the last little bit and I teared up a little. About the fourth time during the race I teared up after seeing friends and family. I couldn't think about it or I would've full on cried. I could hear my sister yell that she was proud of me as I ran to the finish.
The guy that gave me the medal. I hugged and hugged and was like thank you! I was so excited to cross!
It's been a few days and it's taken me a few days to write this. I have felt every emotion the last few days- nervous, excited, anxious, curious, scared, frustrated, happy, relief....
but more than anything I'm grateful. I'm grateful for friends and family that support me. That believed in me- when I wasn't believing in myself. That cheered for me and sacrificed their time and day to encourage, lift, and strengthen me. I'm so blessed.
I'm thankful for workout partners that picked me up to swim, didn't give up on me when I stayed in bed (Janna), and walked miles on the treadmill talking to me when I ran.
For Sandra who has dreamed this dream with me for a long time. Our stories of adventures have created such a great life.
For Jeremy who said he'll buy me a new bike. Maybe he should just force me to learn how to fix it! Who drove down and figured out where to be at the right time. Our life for sure is the greatest ride.
I'm thankful to God who no doubt hears our prayers, strengthens us, and puts people in our lives who lift us when we need lifting.
St. George it was a good time!
THE END
P.S. I've sworn if I do bike again I'm taking a bike fix it class, lol!
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