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27 February, 2009

Pre-race Jitters

This originally posted in my private blog on February 27, 2009...


I've always wanted to be an athlete, but never had the motivation to practice or really, what it comes down to is...I didn't like to do anything that requires effort, pain, and occasional failure. Never mind the endorphins, new friends, and occasional successes!

Over the Summer I set out to loose some lbs, tone up, and tackle something new. I joined Lifetime fitness, and have been (as Cassi would say) sucked into the Vegas like vortex that is Lifetime. A few months ago I heard on the music loop at the gym that Lifetime offers an annual INDOOR TRI. I checked it out, learned that they're usually in the spring, and decided that would be my goal. An indoor tri - no winners, no losers, no finish lines, etc. Well, Eric caught the bug and decided to whoa-up me and shoot for a half-Iron man, also known as an Iron Man 70.3 In the mean time he would have to do a Sprint distance and an Olympic distance to help train. He found a spring distance in none other than Statesboro, GA (where Katie goes to school!) that fit his training schedule. Being the motivating fiance that he is, Eric challenged me to train for this race and not just in the indoor tri at the gym. Challenge taken.

Two - three months and countless hours of swimming, biking, and running, race day is here.

My nervousness. 
I am mostly afraid of the unknown. I've never raced before. I don't know what the transitions between sports are going to be like. I don't know what it's going to be like to not have my water bottle, towel or snacks. Let's be honest, I'm most nervous about changing from my swim suit to bike shorts in an unknown location (I'm praying for the locker room, but I've heard it can be, um, me and my towel...in front of A LOT of people!). I keep telling myself that it's just like our practice races just with a number pinned to my shirt....but it's not helping!

My excitement. 
It's my FIRST RACE!!! I've been training hard. I've been visualizing the finish line for two months. All my siblings will be there to cheer me on! It's a loop course, so Eric can cheer me as he laps me (haha)! I will be able to call myself not only an athlete, but a triathlete. I get to be a part of something new :)

My silly dream last night. First off, in real life, it's supposed to rain. hard. tomorrow. aah! Not helping. So in my dream they decided to re-order the race from SWIM BIKE RUN to RUN BIKE SWIM so that we could do the swim part in the rain. However, this threw off all my transitions and I ended up jumping in the pool with my bike helmet on. This added confusion only lead to messing up my swim stroke that I've been working so hard on....and I started swimming in the baby lane (between the real lane and the wall!) What a mess. I was so glad when my phone rang this morning to wake me up from this chaotic nightmare.

And with that - I'm off! Alex and Deirdre will be here in an hour to pick me up. Eric's driving down after work. I have to go pick up our race packets and I wanted to get oriented to the transition areas tonight so I can sleep a little easier. They say the first one is the hardest because of the unknowns and the transitions, but after tomorrow, I'll be an experienced triathlete! 

Let's pray that the storm moves slower or faster and doesn't effect the race. I will be SO SO SO sad :(

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