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On Friday night Mom and Dad got into Champaign and we went to pick up my race packet for the next day.  After packet pick-up we decided to get some dinner, and once again I requested Chili’s.  Yes, I ordered the exact same thing again, and it was fantastic!

While in the parking lot waiting for beeper to go off that meant we had a table, we adjusted Kelly’s bike that I planned to use for the triathlon.  Dad was a genius and brought his tools so that we could get everything squared away.  Once we were back home we used the air compressor (that Dad was also smart enough to bring) to get the tires properly filled up.

We called it an early night and Mom and Dad headed to their hotel room.  I tried to get to sleep early but it was futile.  My roommate had a beer pong tournament going on at our apartment, not that it was the only source of noise on campus.  It was a Friday night so naturally it was very loud, I’ve just never cared before because I never go to bed early.  Even once it quieted down I was too nervous/excited to sleep, so I didn’t get much rest.

Saturday morning my alarm went off at 6 a.m.—a time I haven’t seen since working at the nursing home last summer.  I got cleaned up and ate some breakfast, then Mom and Dad arrived at 6:45 a.m. to pick me up.  We headed over to the ARC and I quickly realized that I was surrounded by hundred of serious triathletes.  It was fairly intimidating at first, but I couldn’t help but laugh at myself and decide to just have fun with the day.

We headed over to the body marking area and got in line.  All participants had to submit a swim time, and your race number was the order of swimmers.  The person who gave the fastest swim time would go first, and then there was a 10 second increment between each person.  My race number was 225 out of 307 people.  My race number was written with permanent marker on each arm, my hand, and then my age was written on my right calf.

My race number became very alarming once I began setting up my transition area.  There were many triathlon clubs wearing uniforms, and many people in such uniforms had higher numbers than me.  There were also people who were to start after me that had professional triathlon bikes and were clearly very fit and serious competitors.  I began thinking that somehow I must have miscalculated my estimated swim time, and therefore been placed inappropriately.

The real reason this could be problematic was because the swim portion was done in the indoor pool at the ARC and it was a snake swim, meaning you swam one length, got to the wall, went under the lane divide, pushed off that wall, and started back the other way in the new lane.  Because there would only be 10 seconds between the time I entered the water and when the next person would begin, I was afraid that an embarrassing amount of people would have to pass me before I finished my laps.  I seriously considered asking to just be put at the end, but assumed they would not want to deal with changing my race number.

Robert arrived along with Aunt Teresa, Bridget, Mallory, Delaney, Hailey, and one of their friends.  It was so nice to have everyone there cheering me on.  Mom was amazing and made signs for everyone to hold and it was so great to have so much encouraging support.  I was nervous and unsure about how this triathlon business really worked, so it was so comforting knowing I had people there with me.

Surprisingly enough the swim time I submitted was inaccurate in an unexpected way.  I was generous with the time I provided in case it was wrong, but apparently I was too generous.  I submitted an estimated swim time of 8 minutes 30 seconds, but I swam it in 7 minutes 16 seconds.  I passed one or two people, and one or two people passed me.  When I was swimming I could hear and sort of see Mom, Dad, Robert, Teresa, and the girls cheering and I couldn’t help but smile and laugh.  Mom later said she was worried I’d accidentally swallow some water or something and need a life guard. Overall, it worked out just fine, and I don’t know what I was so worried about.

After jumping out of the pool and running outside to the transition area I once again realized how inexperienced I was at this.  I didn’t really know what to do first, and even wasted time on pinning on my race number bib to my shirt because I forgot to do it before the race.  I had a pathetic transition time, really laughable actually.  It took the first place finisher just 34 seconds in the transition area to put on whatever clothes he wanted to bike in, get his helmet on, and do anything else he needed to do before jumping on his bike and taking off.  Somehow this took me almost 8 minutes, which was longer than it took me to swim.

The bike ride wasn’t too bad, although at one point I just kept thinking, “Why are we still headed away from campus?”  The bike course was mostly out in the country of Champaign and only had a couple of small hills.  About half way through a girl my age who I had talked to in the transition area came up next to me and we started talking.  For the remainder of the bike portion we talked, which helped to pass the time and made it much more enjoyable.  It was also her first triathlon and she was in college too, so we found a lot to chat about.

The second transition went much faster, only about 3.5 minutes, but my legs felt pretty funny after the bike ride.  I changed out of the pants I biked in and put on some shorts, switched my helmet out for a hat, and ditched the sweatshirt I had tied around my waist.  I hadn’t trained for the running portion at all, so I knew it was going to be my weakest point—especially considering it was the last leg and I was already a bit worn out.

Once I started running I decided to set one more goal for myself other than just finishing the race: not to stop.  I hadn’t needed to stop swimming or biking, so I didn’t want to stop while running either.  I decided to just take a really pace so that I could stick with it.  I ended up with about a 10-minute mile, very slow, but I didn’t stop so I was happy!

Mom, Teresa, and the girls were on the Quad cheering me on and it was such a nice boost of encouragement.  Once I passed them by they moved locations so that they could see me go by again closer to the last part of the course, and they really did it perfectly.  They were at the point where I had about a half-mile left, and they were essentially running behind me cheering, “Go Katie, you’re almost done!”  It was so fantastic, and even though they couldn’t see my face at that point I hope they knew I was smiling the whole time!

Dad and Robert were waiting at the finish line and it was so great to see them as I ended the race!  Because I had taken it easy I really wasn’t too exhausted, but I was definitely glad to be done.  I finished my first triathlon without having to stop and it was such a great feeling.  I was so lucky to have Mom, Dad, Robert, Aunt Teresa, Bridget, Mallory, Delaney, Hailey, and her friend there and I hope they know how much I appreciate it.

I got some pictures with everyone and said goodbye to Aunt Teresa and the girls.  Robert headed off to work and Mom, Dad, and I grabbed a free slice of Domino’s Pizza!  I progressively became more and more tired throughout the day, but still ended up going out last night with Robert to see some of my girl friends for the Bulls game and then to an apartment to play some beer pong!  It was a relaxing night with food and friends and I got to sleep in, although I sort of feel brain-dead today.  This probably isn’t the recommended way to recover from a race, but it was fun.  I’m a little sore and expect that tomorrow I will be very sore, but it was definitely worth it.

I decided to give the triathlon a shot just to see what it was like, and I think I’ll keep my eyes out for other triathlons in the area to work for a new personal best.  If anyone is interested in doing one with me let me know!  You certainly don’t have to have any experience, it turns out no one cares and everyone is just really nice! 

Thank you to everyone who was there and to everyone who wished me luck!