July 21: My First Try at a Tri

After a week of sheer laziness, I was looking forward to our group practice today. It would be different than all of the others, for a number of reasons. For one, it was over two hours away from where I lived. It was also the first and only time that the entire Team Michigan would be practicing together. (We had Team East, Team West, and Team Grand Rapids.) This was also the day that we were to go through all three emphases, making our practice a true triathlon.

I was excited and nervous at the same time. I left at 5:30am, and arrived at Sleepy Hollow State Park (in Lainsburgh, MI) on site at 7:45am. I was the first one there, which made for a very peaceful opportunity to capture some photos.

Our practice today wouldn't be a full Olympic distance, though it did end up being longer than a sprint. All of our coaches were there, along with some of the TNT staff and mentors, which meant a lot to many of us.

On the far left is my swim coach, Ironman Anne D. Next to her is the Grand Rapids Cycle/Run Coach, and then there is our favorite TNT staff member, Mary Ellen. The two guys in the photo are the cycling/run coaches for Team West and East, Brian and Kevin. To the right of them is one of our mentors, Emily. Her husband Todd (not pictured), is a cancer survivor and our Team Hero.

The practice race itself was pretty much everything that I expected it to be. After being briefed on what we will be doing and where we need to go, we hopped in the lake (which smelled like goose poop). Delightful. The water was cold at first, but I got used to it fast, probably because I was more focused on hoping not to touch something gross with my feet. After a few minutes of warming up, the "practice tri" started. We had to swim 30 minutes straight, however long that was. We kept swimming in circles around the bouys, back and forth, back and forth. The visibility of the water was next to nothing. The farthest that I could see under water was my hand, which was probably a good thing. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what was at the bottom of that lake anyways.
As I swam, a single hair of mine must have escaped from my swim cap, because it kept finding the edge of my mouth. I kept thinking it was seaweed, and I kept trying to brush it away. I also kept very conscious of not swallowing water, again because I couldn't bear to think just what was in it.
When the 30 minutes was up, we had to run around 300 yards to our T1 (first transition area), where we put on our bike gear. (That's me, with the blue top and black tri shorts, running in the middle of the photo.)

My T1 went well, though I was in such a rush that I forgot to put on my biking gloves and my shirt. Good thing it was hot outside!
Our next part of the race was a 12.5 mile bike ride that took us outside of Sleepy Hollow State Park. There were some hills which made for good opportunities to see if I could peddle out of my seat (which I did successfully!).
I finished the bike route in 45 minutes, being the 4th female to make it back in. I immediately went to T2 (second transition area) and got ready for the run. I don't need much to prepare for the run part, being that I don't have separate cycling shoes. The serious racers have those, and I do intend to get those someday. But for now, I'll settle on using the same shoes for the bike and the run.

Our run consisted of about 4.5 miles, which included some trails. The trail running is fun for me, but it is very hard on my shins. I use muscles in a trail run that I don't normally use on a flat surface, and that can make for a pretty rough ride sometimes. Today was no different. My left shin started bothering me half way through, but fortunately that was the same time that we hit asphalt, so I soon forgot about that issue.

I caught up to good friend Brian M., who had taken a wrong turn at the beginning of the run course that added on an extra mile and a half to his route. I never would have seen him otherwise, he's a pretty fast runner. He and I decided to run the rest of the route together, and that was a lot of fun. Brian was nursing an injured achilles tendon, so he enjoyed the slow pace that I was going at (though it surely wasn't slow for me!). We did end up stopping a couple of times to walk. I could have kept going, but I preferred to stick it out with him and just make a go of it together.


We ended up finishing up side by side, which was a nice thing. Overall, I feel that I did quite well. My left shin was tender and my body was tired, but I did it. I did an actual triathlon, however long it was.

So this is just the beginning, and the seed of dreams has been planted once again, only to grow into the belief that I can, and I WILL, accomplish this Olympic Triathlon on September 29.

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Check out my fundraising progress at:
http://www.active.com/donate/tntmi/DunCAN

Comments

Anonymous said…
Andi, I have absolutely no doubt that you can do this, and do it well! Way to go. That's a huge accomplishment. We're proud of you. Margaret
July 25, 2007 at 2:09 PM
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