Well, yesterday we did a practice swim in the lake where the triathlon will be in 2 weeks. It was awful.
I was (and will be on race day) in the first wave with the rest of the geezers. I started swimming, got thrashed with others' hands and feet, and got spooked by the murky green water filled with scratchy sea grass type stuff. I nearly had a full-blown anxiety attack. For a while I thought the canoes were going to have to come rescue me.
This was very unsettling, as I've always been a good swimmer. Not necessarily fast, but I swim with a steady stroke and I don't get tired. Growing up, my mom had a few rules we had to follow--don't ride motorcycles, don't eat mushrooms growing wild, don't wear red shoes (only hussies wear red shoes), don't swim in a lake--so I had a psychological barrier from the start. But after about 5 minutes of breast stroking and breathing fast, I calmed down and was able to complete the 0.6 mile course in 25 minutes. I'll be fine with that time on race day.
Then we did the "run"--3.3 miles on a hilly course. I walked most of it. I only started running 3 weeks ago, and I've been running on a flat street, and I just didn't have it in me to run yesterday. I have to kick it in the butt now and run on the hilly streets in my neighborhood that I've been avoiding, but I've decided that if I have to walk the course that will be ok, too. I would like to run at least half of it, though.
I rode the 17.5 mile bike course last weekend and it, too, was hilly, but not that bad. At least you can't drown on a bike.
There were several hundred women at the practice session, and it was very discouraging to find that nearly everyone was young and skinny. I had the idea that there were going to be more women of all shapes and sizes there, but by and large they're all thin and fit. Maybe the big, fit women will show up on race day. Surely among 1800 women there will be more than 5 that are overweight.
I am so glad the race organizers had the practice session. I can't imagine how anxious I would have been hitting that green water for the first time on race day. They also went over transitions, nutrition, etc., and the race director was very motivating. 60% of the women participating are doing their first triathlon.
Maybe my reward for finishing will be the red Sidi Dominator biking shoes, on sale for $200 now...I NEED red biking shoes!
http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=18173
