An Update of Sorts - 13 days from Race Day

Alright, I'll keep this brief b/c I all know you come to see pictures....and well I realized tonight that I haven't taken 1 picture since we went to the art museum and I believe that was 2 weeks ago! Gasp! Yes, I know for me that is pretty hard to believe. I guess we haven't done anything picture worthy and my camera (batteries really, need new rechargeables I think) has been giving me problems.

Okay - the race. So Saturday I did a mock-triathlon. Mock, meaning it wasn't a race but we did all the events in almost the same lengths. (Saturday was 2 weeks from race day.) This was my first attempt at swimming in a race setting and boy am I glad that I practiced that b/c I FREAKED out! It was like day 1 in the pool all over again. I was too conscious of people around me and worried about too much that everything I've been practicing went out the window and I was all over the place in the pool. I completed 6 of the 10 laps and decided to get out with everyone else. I know I could have finished but my friends were going to wait for me and one had to leave and besides I was sort of embarrassed! :)

So we set it up just like the tri, with transitional areas and everything. My friend is even loaning me a triathlon suit - I promise race day pics of me in all my glory. But it is nice b/c then I don't have to waste precious time putting on clothes and it has a padded bum for the bike ride! So we ran out the doors into the 55 -60 degree weather (Saturday morning 7am) and hopped on our bikes soaking wet - and of course we stopped for shoes. We biked 9 miles and the race is 12. It wasn't quite as easy as the 10 miles we had done on Wednesday b/c this 9 miles included probably about 10-15 hills. It wore me out. I did learn that I need to get a little bag that attaches to my bike so I can snack on the race b/c I was STARVING on the bike ride and definitely in need of some food. Luckily my friend shared her Gatorade energy jelly beans - YUM!

Okay, and if you've never done it let me just tell you when you jump off your bike to begin your run - seriously it feels like your legs weigh 1000lbs EACH. I don't know what it is but it is a terrible feeling. We ran 2 miles - partly b/c I thought I was going to die and partly b/c we had to finish up. The first mile was torture but then we walked for about 1 minute and the last mile was easy. I think my legs had finally warmed up and I got over the lead feeling. Driving home I thought - I could have done the third mile. However, 2 hours later I was ready to drop into bed and sleep until the next morning.

We started all of this at 7:20am and we finished the run at 8:30. My friend told me to add the extra 4 laps, 3 miles and 1.2 miles I should add about 20-30 minutes to that time, so I'm looking at completing the triathlon somewhere between 1 hour 30 minutes and 1 hour 45 minutes. My goal is to not go over 1 hour 45 minutes - or actually its probably more just to complete it period.

So - I said this would be short - but it wasn't. It was a book. But I did gain confidence in my ability and renewed dedication to finish out the training strong. So I start tomorrow bright and early with a cycling and weights class. I've got to get in about 2-4 swims this week especially since you're really supposed to take it easy race week.

I probably won't update on this until the race, maybe the night before. So stay tuned.