LUCKY #69

It is 4:30 in the morning and I'm headed out the door to my first ever triathlon in Greenville at the YMCA. It is a sprint one with a 300 yard outdoor pool swim, 9 mile bike, and 5k run on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I get to the parking lot and find the last spot right next to Katie Malone's SUV. I'm hoping to absorb some of her speed by parking so close to her. I busily do what triathlete's do, setting up in transition, rechecking their set-up, go to the bathroom and repeat. I head to the marking area where I am swarmed by teens holding Sharpie's. They say to me, what number are you.....? And, I meekly says, #69. Oh great, I got the golden ticket. They all laugh when I give them my number and happily write it on both arms and calf. I have been branded indeed like a calf.

I was very excited to see my teammate Kimberly Morgan entering the transition area. She came in with confidence and answered a myriad of questions that I would entertain her with. Thanks Kimberly!

The race. Over 200 triathletes assemble on the pool deck in numerical order. Every 5 seconds, athletes are sent into the pool. You jump in and just go, as easy as that! NOT! I jump into a pool of chaos, it is a tidal wave. I feel completely overwhelmed and start to panic. I'm panicking in a POOL, where I can touch the bottom at all times. This is crazy! I feel like I'm going to throw up and start breathing way too fast. I stopped at one of the walls in the pool, regrouped and told myself to calm down. I hated to waste the time, but I physically and mentally had to as the pool walls were closing in on me. I exit the water 23rd out of 91 women with a very slow swim time.

On to transition which is actually the 4th event. You can save precious seconds here and luckily everything was still where I had left it. I have never done a swim to bike brick and was dreading getting on my bike wet. Seriously :). But, it felt good to get on and my wet skin enjoyed the cool air. The bike course was approx. a 3 mile loop. I rode in my drops and felt great. Good safe, fast course with 3 turns. The two best things about the bike portion were passing people who had TT bikes and aero helmets and Giselle yelling at me near one of the corners. Thanks G, that was awesome!!

Back to transition I go, I made up some good time on the bike course and was 9th ranked. I throw on my running shoes and head out for the last event. The course is uphill for a bit then flattens nicely. I feel good and keep my chest up, passing a handful of women which just motivates me that much more. I place 4th in the run, which is ironic because I have done zero sprint work lately opting to do some long easier runs instead.

I think I'm hooked. I can easily see where I can save precious seconds. The pool panic, the non aero bike, and by doing some speedwork I will get faster. Anytime I do a 'first' event, like a marathon or something notable, I frame a picture and my race number. Lucky for me, #69 did end up being good to me. I won my age group and placed 5th overall.