Hub City Hustle TRI -- last TRI for me in 2017
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| LOVE THE SHIRT I was actually registered in the past for this race and decided not to do it at the last minute. I believe because the MCM (Marine Corps Marathon) was the same month and I didn't want to risk a bike wreck. I had heard the bike course was tough and hilly. So this year I was looking forward to doing the race with no marathons directly after it. It's local which meant no travel expenses. Yippie. And the swim is in a lake where I skied almost every weekend as a teenager. Race week however, I began to get nervous. Everyone was talking about how hard the bike course was going to be. So that plus me not really running (still doing my jog/walk intervals)... made me nervous about finishing within a decent time. Kathy texted me the night before to see what time I would be at the race site the next morning. She likes to be early. She always says she has nervous energy she needs to work out. Heck... so do I when it comes to a TRI! I wish I could remember her exact words to another girl during the run segment. The subject came up about how hard the run is and Kathy reminded the lady that the run for a TRI is not like a typical 5K race where you line up and just run. We had to swim, then bike, and run last.... so it's basically a Swim, Bike, RUN. ... Your legs feel differently after you've done two other sports before the run. And they feel really different after a hard bike ride!    The water felt great. Several people were out testing the water which made it nice. I tend to get scared in dark water all alone. I mean there are fish and stuff in there that can bite you! I figure the more people in the water scares them away. LOL I remember when I was a teenager skiing in the lake, I would pray not to fall because the whole time I had to wait for the boat to turn around and come back and get me, I was kicking my feet / skis like crazy to keep stuff away from me. :>) Soon it was time for the race start. We had to line up in number order. Somehow I was in the 30s and they (Kathy, Serina, & JoAnn) were like in the late 70s. I told them not to drown me as they swam past me. :>) The swim started ok and then I was pushed under by another swimmer that was almost swimming on top of me. I took in a ton of water and got chocked! It was all I could to to catch my breath. I knew I didn't need to be up front with those fast swimmers! Anyway, I turned over on my back and reminded myself of what Frosty said in the movie Chasing Mavericks.... Fear is ok, put Panic will kill ya. So I begin taking deep breaths while still coughing from choking and trying to relax. I spotted a canoe coming over and told myself I had to get a grip or he was going to pull me out. So I turned back over and began swimming again. I told myself to count 15-20 strokes and then raise my head to sight and just keep it steady. Once I begin counting and focusing on that, I relaxed. I didn't push it and just swam steady. You may be physically strong, but you've also got to have your mind right to survive. That's one reason I always talk about having a positive outlook. Think positive .. no negatives. When I exited the water my watch said 14 minutes. I'd love to be around 10-12 minutes, but was happy to be at 14 at the moment. We had to run up a hill to transition and the clock was still going on swim time because they didn't have the timing mat until the top of the hill before going into the transition area. Oh it hurt my feet going up that hill! There were acorns and stuff on the ground. Thankfully they had a few pieces of carpet at the very top to help. When I finally crossed the mat, my watch said 14:50 on time. I also noticed that none of my friends were in yet because their bikes were still on the rack. I quickly got on my helmet and shoes and took off on the bike. Everyone said the first hill going out was a monster.... and YES it was!!! I was almost to the top when I passed a young guy .. His calf said 32 (yes, they put your age on your calf in TRI races) and he was huffing and puffing. Which so was I, but I was still climbing. I turned and told him they were not joking about the hill and he grinned and said GEEZ this is hard. It made this 51 year old feel good to know that a younger person also had the same thoughts I was having at that moment. :>) The bike course continued with continuous hills for 20 miles! I kept expecting Kathy to pass me at any moment. She's very strong on the bike and I figured Serina may be hanging with JoAnn since this was her first TRI. I finally pulled into transition and as soon has I got off my bike running in.....guess who came in behind me.. Kathy! We congratulated each other on a great bike ride and begin getting our running shoes on. I left out of transition slightly ahead of her but knew she'd catch me on the run before too long. It was probably about 3/4 mile into the run and she came up behind me. I was stopping to walk some and she stopped too. I told her to go on and not wait on me. She just smiled and we walked together and then ran together. We did this the entire run. I ran way more than I had expected too. I ignored my beeps on my watch which tell me when to walk and when to jog. I so enjoyed having company and even when I wanted to walk, I continued on with her. It's been so long since we ran together. We chatted off and on and even meet up with Amanda who ran with us for a little while too. Finally we had one more hill to run up with the finish line at the top of the hill. Kathy asked me if I was ready to just run it on in and I told her I'd try my best.... she was slightly ahead of me crossing ...... because boy I was tired by this point. :<>) I was so glad to cross that finish line! This sprint TRI is slightly longer than most and I was thrilled to finish in 2 hours 3 minutes. Kathy and I hung out at the finish line to cheer in Serina and JoAnn. Serina wasn't too far behind us! The three of us cheered JoAnn in and it was so nice to see her complete her first. I had no doubt she would finish. Heck she was in the military so I know she's tough! We grabbed a couple of pictures afterwards. 
Waiting at the finish line for Jo Jo
All 4 of us .. Kathy, Serina, Me, & Jo Jo
Me and Serina
Kathy took this and said.. "you'll love the background". :>)
JoJo Finishing! So Proud of her!
  Kathy placed 3rd in her age group. Serina got 1st place in the Athena Division and Amanda and I got placed 4th in our age groups. Below are my times.. I'm in age group 50-54:  Didn't even notice until I looked at this pic, but my cousin that is in age group 55-59 got 1st place. I talked to her briefly at the race and wish I had grabbed a picture of us. I was so focused on waiting for Jo Jo to finish I totally forgot about Pam being at the race after it started. I have a one track mind sometimes. :<( So that's a wrap for TRIs this year for me. Not sure which ones I'll be doing next year .... however I sure hope to do Augusta next year. It will be the 10th anniversary for the ironman race in Augusta, Ga and I'd love to be there.  MUAH! D |
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