WHY EVEN TRI??

Non-Fiction by Nicole L Jackson

So I have been asked whether I have written about my second attempt at a triathlon yet.  The answer is no.  No, I haven’t written about it because…well quite frankly, my 2^nd tri experience was a tad less than awe-inspiring.

2009 was the year I was going to break the records.  Not necessarily the record books…but my own personal tri records!!  I have trained harder; I am more experienced (that is if you can count my one previous uncoordinated attempt as experience…well, then I’m experienced!)  This year I would be ready.

I even had my own posse heading down to Pleasant Prairie, WI!!  My two best friends, and a few others, signed up to do the triathlon with me.  Yaaay!!  (They, however, weren’t exactly jumping for joy the closer race day came though...I could see the look of sheer panic in their eyes – which reminded me a lot of a look I sported last year…)  But, the deal was, if they weren’t pregnant or dead, they would have to join me in the race.  Last year, they got out of it.  (Which does lead a person to question the motives behind the births of  a couple babies who have now turned 7 and 10 months old…..hmmm.)  But, this year there are no excuses.  In fact, I have even been gracious enough to help provide training for the last 18 weeks…so if anyone was ready…well, at least I was!!

The weekend started out exactly as expected – registration went smoothly, racked my bike, got my number permanently marked down my arms…oh, I looked the part.  We “carb loaded” the night before the race, got plenty of rest before the big day, everything went as planned.  We even got a ride – although packed like sardines (much to the chagrin of the many cops we passed I’m sure) right down to the Rec Plex the morning of the race.  Everything was going perfectly!!

We were all in high spirits and able to relax a bit before our wave was called.  The first of the yellow caps (the mixed age group) was called to line up around 8:20am.  I jumped in the water to get acclimated to the temperature before lining up.  Oh this year I was doing everything right.  I was ready!!  I got in line with my “peeps” (although we felt more like a herd of cattle…I’m sure I heard some “moo’s”) and made our way to the edge of Lake Andrea.  Oh yeah…this was my time.  We grabbed hands, prayed for God to keep us safe and thanked Him for the strength and abilities He has given us.  FINALLY!!  Time to get in the water. 

I pushed my way toward the front of the pack – I was a fast swimmer and I certainly didn’t want anyone slowing me down.  For goodness sake, I swam it in 15 minutes last year; I was certainly going to smoke that record this year!!  I was ready!  I dunked myself a couple more times, put on my goggles and got in my I’m-ready-to-kick-some-tail stance.  Sally Edwards said a little goofy cheer to get us all riled up.  Oh, I was above this silliness.  Let me out here…let me loose…let me show you how great I am!!  “Ready”….she yelled.  “Set”….she screamed.  “GO!!!!”

I took in a deep breath, lunged forward into the water, opened my eyes and … GASP!  Oh my word.  I took a few strokes, face down, sand filled water surrounding me…I whipped my head out of the water… GASP!!!  What the heck?  I forced my face back down again, another couple strokes…COUGH, CHOKE!!!  I started to hyper ventilate….I hear “RESCUE!!!!”  Oh my word…am I going down?  I took another couple strokes.  The sound of blowing whistles filled the air.  I just kept swimming.  (Much like Dory in the Disney movie Nemo…but definitely not as perky!!)  GASP!!  COUGH!!  SPUTTER!!  Oh I was NOT going down like this.  Another few strokes.  This is awful!!  Each time I took a stroke I literally GASPED for air.  (Which doesn’t work so well when you’re face down in murky lake water.)  For the remainder of the swim I had to take a full stroke with my left arm, lift my head out of the water on the stroke with my right, keeping my eyes on the little flags a half mile across the lake on the other side.)

About half way through, as I’m wondering why the heck anyone would EVER put themselves through one of these races…and I clearly knew at that moment that I was certifiable because this was my 2^nd time doing it…I began to pray.  Not a nice little prayer in my head asking God to help me through.  NO, it was a very forceful no holds barred, OUT LOUD: “Ok God, you HAVE TO get me through this because I am going down!!!”  It was the Titanic all over again, and there were no icebergs in sight!!!

Thankfully, God did help me…SLOWLY the flags crept closer…and I finally found the sandy bottom on the other side of the lake.  I made my way up the bank, saw Aunt Sally and gave her a “thumbs up” because, well…I didn’t drown… and moved on to find my bike.

I easily found where my bike was racked, grabbed my helmet, put on my shoes and was off.  I had a slight slip up as I swung my leg around to sit down.  The running skirt I was sporting caught on the back of the seat...um yeah, not cool.  But I was able to quickly defuse the situation, and am happy to report that there were no embarrassing tip-overs or anything of the sort.  So really, the bike leg was starting off pretty well.  This year I borrowed a friends bike, which had road tires on it…although it was a much higher sitting bike, I kicked some tail as I rode.  I passed people left and right, the breeze felt wonderful in my face, I waved at all my fans cheering me on along the bike course…oh, I enjoyed the bike.  I rode and rode and knew I must be close to finishing this leg.  I started to feel fatigued, but not too bad…I was GOOD!!  I saw a mile marker coming up, oh there must only be a few miles left.  I passed the sign.  It read: MILE MARKER 4.  WHAAAAT???  This is a 12 mile ride!!  We’re only at mile marker 4??  Needless to say, the rest of the bike leg took a loooong time.  But, I made it through…came to the end of the bike leg, had to dismount my bike…whew, no problems.  Although it was at that point that I realized that I had to rack my bike, and still had a 3 mile run!  Yeah…my legs were feeling a bit like rubber.  Walk it off, walk it off…

I removed my helmet, put on my ball cap, took a swig of water and off I went.  The run started slowly.  My legs as I mentioned before felt like rubber…but not only that, but weighted rubber!  Oh man I was slow.  But I was determined to keep running.  All 3 miles.  Just keep running.  There were several times I wanted to stop.  I had a nice side ache in my left side practically the whole time…then when I thought that I must be at least 2 miles into it, I saw the mile marker sign indicating MILE 1.  That’s when the side ache in my right side started.  I was NOT going to walk.  I figured at that point, the sooner I get to the finish line, the sooner I’m done.  I kept running.  The sprinklers were a welcome sight, that and the drink of water revived me in mile 2.  I kept running.  I passed the MILE 2 marker.  Almost done.  I passed a girl with a t-shirt that read Philippians 4:13; “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Perfect timing Lord, thank you!  I kept running.  In mile 3, I was feeling pretty good…my legs were just sort of on auto-pilot, and the finish line was getting closer and closer.

I kept running.  The crowd got louder and louder.  The finish line was about 50 yards out.  I CAN do this!  I decided to sprint the rest of the way in.  The crowd cheered, Mom & Dad and Aunt Sally cheered, I crossed the finish line, and…… wanted to throw up.  Seriously!!  I had to tell myself that I WOULD NOT throw up in front of all these people….so I held my breath, got my medal, and walked it off…

Whew.  I was done!!  I did it!  AGAIN!!  I’m a triathlete!  AGAIN!!  Wow.  Even after everything – struggling through the swim…  it was worth it.  Overall, my time improved over last year.  My swim was longer, 4 minutes longer!  But I knocked off 3 minutes in the bike, and 4 minutes in the run.  So, I did what I came to do.  I have done something, now twice, that most people in the world can never say that they’ve even tried.  I have completed a triathlon!!