Atlantic City International Triathlon (Sept. 15, 2012)

Here we go - Triathlon #3 - (Damn, these things are addicting!) Let me start by saying that I have only ever raced in July, which is clearly far different than racing in September. The water is colder, the air temp is colder, and it is pretty much a crap shoot as to what kind of weather you'll face. So that was a bit of a wake up call. (Haha... pun intended!)

   I arrived into Atlantic City Friday evening to pick up my race packet/bib. My whole family was coming to meet me so that they could cheer me on the next day, which was totally awesome. When I arrived in AC, Karli and I picked up my sister Laura at our hotel who had arrived about an hour ahead of us, and together we went to pick up my information and scope out the scene. We were dressed in jeans and hoodies and we were freezing our asses off. The wind on the water was wild and, like a fool, I wanted to test the water temp just to see what I would be facing the next day. Thankfully, my better judgement kicked into gear and I figured I better not since, if it was too cold, I probably would change my mind and not show up. 

   So I enjoyed the evening with my sisters and my parents; we hung out and walked the boardwalk, until it was time for me to tuck in. Now, I had weirdly pulled a muscle in my back about 2 days prior and was still nursing the injury as best as I could. Not fun. So between the muscle pull in my back, and the imminent freezing water, along with the crack of dawn wake up call, I was already dreading the next morning. According to our race info, all competitors had to be checked into (and out of) transition by 6:30am NO EXCEPTIONS and the race began at 8:00. So I planned to leave our hotel at 5:00, which was only 10 minutes from the venue, leaving me plenty of time to set up and stretch and relax before my heat. 

    The alarm rang at 4:30 (ugh), I got dressed and grabbed my bag, prepped to meet my dad in the lobby at 5:00. I gave the valet our car slip and waited for my dad. Time ticked. 5:05. 5:08. My dad arrived and we were ready to go... just waiting on the car. And waiting. And waiting. 5:15. 5:20. I'm having a mini-heart attack, but am trying to remain calm. I'm thinking, "I might just have to cab it on over, but MY BIKE IS IN THE CAR!" Frick! The valet and his manager return and say that they can't find our keys and therefore, can't find the car. Are you freakin' kidding me? 5:30. 5:35. It is now a quarter to 6 and I am about ready to cry. I am a ball of nerves and anxiety, not what you want to be before a race. We FINALLY locate the keys (they hung them on the wrong rack, dumbasses!) and we jump in the car and SPEEEEED like lunatics over to the race. Now, I want to vomit. I wasn't nervous before, but now I only have like 30 minutes to get marked, get my transition set up, and get out of transition with everything I need. Yeah, no pressure. 

Freezing my #@$% off before start time!

     Did I mention that it is like 50 degrees outside and windy as all get-out. Seriously, I'm having trouble standing up straight, that's how windy it is. And all I'm thinking is, "There is NO WAY that I'm getting in that water!" I was freezing just standing there - how on Earth was I jumping into freezing water and then back out to finish the race? Impossible. I was tempted to just grab my dad and say "eff this, let's go to breakfast!" But my conscience got the better of me and reminded me that I am not a quitter. Ugh. Stupid conscience. I was also the second to last heat to go. So I'm standing there in my hoodie, shivering and trying to stay loose, but to no avail. And all the while thinking, "Forget this, I'm going home." Too much time to psych myself out. Long story short, my heat's horn blew and we got in the water and oddly enough, the water temp was higher than the air temp, so the water actually felt WARM... like really warm. Now I wanted to stay in the water and feared how cold I'd be getting out. Yikes, what a head-game!  

My sisters, Laura and Karli, running me into the finish.
*Note: The time on the clock is the TOTAL time, not my personal time.
I was one of the last heats to go. My finish time was 1:36:28.

     Anyway, I did it. I drank a good amount of bay water because of the choppy-ness and the waves smacking me in the face. Yummy saltwater. I did well swimming, especially in such different conditions than what I am used to. I got out. Froze, of course. Toweled off and then just jumped right on the bike. The bike was the WORST. Always is for me, but this time the wind made me feel like a was pedaling backwards! My legs were going and going and I felt like I was on a stationary bike, going nowhere fast. We biked up the parkway, which was kinda cool. And it was a flat course which I was thankful for. Finally, after what seemed like a 13 hours bike ride, I made it back and began my run. It was such a scenic and beautiful course up on the boardwalk. I ran almost all of it, which made me happy. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and best of all, the last 100 meters or so, as I was coming into the finish line, my sisters snuck under the ropes, grabbed my hands and ran me through to the finish just as Eye of the Tiger blasted through the loud speaker. How triumphant! It was such a cool moment and I was so thankful to have finished, and even more thankful to have had my family there to support me.

STATS: Place overall: 411/502; Swim Time: 9:29 - Swim Rank: 205 (Whaaat!); T1 6:37 - T1 Rank: 352; Bike Time: 36:05 - Bike Rank: 397; T2 Time: 4:44 - T2 Rank: 382; Run Time: 39:33 - Run Rank: 444; Total Time: 1:36:28