Leading up to race day I was a bundle of nerves. I had not been sleeping well all week, but Saturday night I slept like a baby and when I woke up on Sunday morning I was surprisingly calm. A sort of Zen state had taken over. Sure I was excited but the nerves really weren't there.
I worked a lot on being mentally prepared for the day. I think that helped.
We got to the race course and things started flying. We got our race day packets, got our numbers marked on our arms and our legs, got our race chips and set off to set up our transition area.
I am amazed how fast the two hours went between arriving at the race and the start time.
The whole day was kind of like that, a blur.
My Dad and Evan (my brother-in-law) and I were all in the last heat of the day, heat 17. So we got to see how everything worked while we waited for our start time. Once we got on to the beach to start the swim I was feeling pretty confident that I knew what to expect.
I decided to hang back a little in the swim so I didn't get freaked out by the surge of swimmers all starting at once. Turns out I may have been better off trying to jump out front. I was probably a better swimmer than half the people in my heat, so I ended up having to swim around a lot of people.
The swim is still a blur. I can't believe how well it went and how little I needed to rest. I got out of the water and I was feeling tired but pure adrenaline was pushing me to go, go, go. And I saw my family right there cheering me on which helped give me an extra bit of speed going up the beach.
It was a long barefoot run on blacktop to get to my changing station for the transition to the bike. Again this part is all a blur. I feel like I made my transition really well, but I couldn't tell you what I did good or bad. I was on auto pilot.
The bike was by far my favorite part of the race, and it shows in my time. I was flying. My average speed on the bike was almost 3mph faster than my workout average. I passed a ton of people too, which made me feel good.
We all had our heat numbers marked on the back of our leg so it became a fun game to see how many people I could pass from the most heats in front of me.
About a mile into the bike I meet up with a guy who seemed to have the same pace as I did. We spent the whole race jocking back and forth and had some fun banter going on. It was just one of the many ways I felt like I really belonged in this place.
The bike to run transition went a little less smooth. Through no fault of his own my brother-in-law knocked over the bike rack so all our stuff was lying on the ground. It threw me for a loop, but I recovered pretty fast and hit the road.
The run was by far my least favorite part of the race. My legs felt good but I was losing steam fast. It is amazing to me how far 2.5 miles can feel. There were three water stations on the run, and every time I hit one I thought to myself this has to be the turn around. And every time my will broke just a little more. But I kept on running. I was tempted to take a walk break a few times but I knew I could make it, and somehow I kept on going.
Turns out I wasn't going as slow as I thought either. My split times on the run are almost 30 seconds faster than I was doing in practice. Gotta love that adrenaline.
As I rounded the corner to come into the finish area, I started thinking,"I have to put on a good show", so I kicked it in to high gear and out and out sprinted for the last two or three hundred yards.
As I crossed the finish line I heard the announcer say my name and I got a little misty, but before I had a chance to get all emotional I was swept into the athletes area where my timing chip was removed and then I was herded to the food tent and all I could think about was getting some water in me. So while it was an extremely emotionally victory there was not a lot of time for the emotions to take hold.
All in all it was one of the best days of my life. And I am so happy I was able to share it with my Dad and Evan and Teresa and Judy and my wonderful wife and my adorable kids and all of my family.
This is an Accomplishment with a capital A. One to go in the books. Never in a million years would I have thought this is something I could accomplish...and accomplish well. Heck, never in a million years would I have thought this is something I'd want to accomplish.
Think about it. 1 year ago I couldn't run for more than 2 minutes with out fear of losing my lunch and know I am a triathlete. That is something you can never take away from me.
Although, to put all this self backslapping into perspective, there was a guy at the race who had lost 360 pounds and he completed the long course, which was more than double what I did and it sounded like he has become a tri regular. So I can't get to high and mighty, since there are a lot of people out there with more amazing stories than mine.
Then again...I do feel very proud!
Thanks again for all the cheers and support and encouragement. And thank you so much to all my loving family and my loving wife for being so amazing during this whole period. I know I can get a little obsessed so I really appreciate your patience and understanding.
Tony
