Chicagoland Danskin Triathlon Race Report

Vivacious. That was my word for the day.

Granted I wasn't vivacious when my alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. and it was still dark outside. Or knowing what I was about to do. Nervous. That's what I was feeling then. But by the end of the day, I was definitely feeling vivacious.

Like I said, my day started early. It sounds silly, but I gave myself enough time for a quick shower. There's something about a morning shower that wakes me up. And at 4:15 a.m. with a triathlon looming before me, I needed to be awake. So I showered and then Mom and I hopped in the car and drove out to the parking area, where I got on a big yellow school bus full of athletes and went to the race site.

Plugged into my iPod, with Kanye West's "Stronger" pumping me up, I set up my transition area. Then the race officials were telling us transition was closed and it was time to head over to the other side of the lake to the swim start.

I had an hour and a half to kill before my swim wave started. So I headed over to the line for the port-a-potty. At that point, I didn't really need to go, but I was sure nerves would kick in and by the time I got to the front of the line, I need one. So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. But I chatted with the women standing near me and I even met Running Jayhawk, who gave me some good words of encouragement: Good luck and remember, have fun.

Then I headed down to the lake to test out the water and warm up a bit. And before I knew it. It was time to become a triathlete.

The Pep Talk
Heading into the water for the swim start, I started to get nervous. But I got my high-five from Sally Edwards, who then lead us in our pre-race pep talk. Wearing our light blue swim caps, our wave was going to be a group of women who were vivacious swimmers, vivacious bikers, vivacious runners and vivacious triathletes. We jumped around and handed out high-fives, telling our fellow competitors "You go girlfriend."

Then the countdown from 10 began.

The Swim
I'm not going to lie. I swallowed a lot of lake water at the swim start. It was crazy. A group of 100 women taking off for a half-mile swim all at once? It gets a little crowded. Legs kicking. Arms flailing. People trying to swim. The swim angels handing out noodles. It was crazy. I should have just hung back a few moments, wait for the craziness to clear out a bit. But by this time, the nerves had been replaced by adrenaline.

I wanted to swim. I wanted to conquer this triathlon.

So I swam. Once I hit the first platform, it had started to clear out a bit. It wasn't as crowded and people weren't swimming into each other anymore, well except for an occasional stray swimmer who was swimming in the wrong direction. I alternated between freestyle and a backstroke during the half-mile. I just kept swimming. And eventually the swim finish was in my sights.

And the madness from the start? It came back. Once again you had swimmers who were swimming over each other or swimming into you. Occasionally you'd get kicked. But I made it to the shore, stopped swimming and ran up the sandy beach to the transition area.

The swim? It was done.

Transition 1: Swim to Bike
As hard as I tried, I couldn't dry my feet off and put on my shoes and socks standing up. So I had to find a little piece of cement to sit down on. Which I did. Then I threw on some shorts, a tank, bike helmet and sunglasses. I grabbed part of my Clif Bar and my bike and I was off.

The Bike
After the swim, it felt good to be on the bike. There were no stray arms hitting me or kicking me. It was just me and my bike. And we're good friends. So I wasn't worried about the 12.4 miles that stretched before me. The course took me out of the park and onto the Kenosha County roads.

Remember how I wasn't what kind of course to expect? Hilly or flat? Well, that question was answered right away and we headed uphill almost immediately. But it wasn't too bad. I was biking along, passing folks every so often and maintaining a decent pace.

Then we hit mile 7 or so. And it got a little windy.

Like 30 mile per hour windy. And suddenly I was looking at biking into this wind for the remainder of the ride. Hmm. This could be difficult I thought.

But then Sally's words came back into my mind: I will be a vivacious biker. I can do this. And the words that Running Jayhawk told me started echoing through my head: Have fun. What I was worried about? This was just a random Sunday morning bike ride. And it happened to be a little windy. I could handle it.

I kept pedaling. And I kept getting closer to the park. And all of a sudden there was just one hill standing between me and the end of the bike ride. I'm not going to lie. That hill? It was nasty. I mean think about it. Uphill. Into 30 mile an hour winds? Not easy. But I kept pedaling. And even though it felt like I was crawling, I kept my spirits up and kept repeating "I am a vivacious biker" to myself.

And before I knew it, I was at the top. And you know what they say, what goes up must come down. And going downhill is so much easier than going up. Before I knew it, I was back in the park, dismounting my bike and heading back into transition.

Two down, just a run was left.

Transition 2: Bike to Run
The hardest part here was trying to find a place to rack my bike since someone else's bike was occupying the spot where my transition area was set up. Luckily, there was a spot about two bikes down from where I was supposed to rack it.

The Run
After swimming and biking, my legs were starting to feel like lead. Although I hadn't done a ton of bricks during my training, I knew this would happen though. So I took it slow. Very slow. At times it felt like I could walk faster than I was running, but I just kept plodding along.

The 3 miles seemed like some of the longest miles I've run. And there were times when I just wanted to stop running and walk. But I was determined to run every single mile. So I kept running. One foot in front of the other. The only time I stopped was when I walked through the water stations, because it's a lot easier to drink water, and pour it over your head, while walking.

And the guy who was manning the garden hose near the baseball diamonds? That felt good to run under. Thank you.

Pretty soon I was rounding the last corner and I was on the home stretch. The crowds along the path started growing. It was crowds of spectators and athletes who had already finished the race. And they were yelling words of encouragement and little kids were holding out their hands, wanting a high-five.

My pace quickened a bit and I gave out some high-fives and smiles.

And then the finish line was in my sights. And I kicked it into high gear, mustering a sprint to the finish line, where Sally Edwards was waiting with my second high-five of the day.

***

Sitting here 24 hours later I still can't quite describe what it felt like to cross that finish line. I had a sense of accomplishment. Knowing that I set a goal for myself and followed through with all the hard work needed to achieve it. And there was a sense of pride, knowing that I'll always be able to call myself a triathlete.

Yet at the same time, while it was hard, I know there are people who have it harder. Like the cancer survivors who participated. Or the 74-year-old woman who finished her swim, crashed on her bike, went to the hospital and got five stitches before coming back to finish the race.

Thinking about all of those things, I think Running Jayhawk summed it up best Sunday morning. It was all about having fun.

And I did. The women that I met were amazing. The experience was fun. And I look forward to doing it again.

For two hours Sunday morning I was vivacious.

A vivacious swimmer. A vivacious biker. A vivacious runner. A vivacious triathlete. And I had fun doing it.

***

So I wrote about the triathlon experience, but I bet you're wondering about the numbers. Like I've said in the past, the time isn't what matters to me. It's just that I finish. And I did. But numbers are nice to look at as well.

Swim: 20:42
T1: 6:29
Bike: 54:06
T2: 4:00
Run: 40:59
Total: 2 hours, 6 minutes, 19 seconds
Place: 2,826 out of 3,650

The numbers are about what I was expecting. I was shooting to finish somewhere around 2 hours, which I did. And the times are about what I did in training. Well, the run took me a lot longer than a normal 3-mile run. Then again, I don't usually go for a 3-mile run after swimming and biking, so my legs weren't really used to it.

But it gives me room for improvement. And I can always use another excuse to have fun again next year. Because I think I'll be back.