Echo Olympic Triathlon THOUGHTS...

First... I am so HAPPY that I was able to just finish this triathlon. I really have NEVER finished a tri this long. I did one in Las Vegas in 2001 that really was shorter than a full Olympic. Between the Olympic and Sprint Distance. I was estimating if I had a GREAT race that I would finish in about 2 Hours 45 Minutes AND... I finished in 2 Hours 40 minutes!!! I was ECSTATIC!!! Going into the event I was so nervous about my conditioning and being able to finish and my knee. My conditioning turned out to be GREAT! My knee... SUCKED!!!

My overall RESULTS:

Total Time = 2:40:43
Swim = 24:24
Transition #1 = 3:24
Bike = 1:16:33
Transition #2 = 1:41
Run = 54:44

For those that don't know the triathlon distances let me help you out. There are (4) major tri distances:

Sprint = .75K swim / 20K bike / 5K run

Olympic 1.5K swim / 40K bike / 10K run

1/2 Iron Man = 1.2 mile swim / 56 mile bike / 13.1 run

IRONMAN Hawaii = 2.4 mile swim / 112 mile bike / 26.2 mile bike

My brother Steven and I did the Oympic distance tri. And... it's kind of cool that we both finished 24th overall for females and males. Steven placed 2nd in his age division. I had a very strong age division and I finished 7th in mine. I think it's really cool that we have so many great athletes here.

More about the race... My swim felt really good. I felt weird trying to keep looking for the buoy's. I do wish I had a wetsuit. Just knowing that my time / place would have been faster does suck a little. I thought it wouldn't matter, but it does a little. As Steven and I were comparing swimming training times, Steve seemed to be training FAST! He was starting 5 minutes after me, and I thought he might pass me. HE DIDN'T!!! I was so excited. He didn't have a wetsuit either.

During the swim/bike transition I freakn' put my tri-shorts on BACKWARDS! LoL! I was all wet and had to spend the time turning it around. IT SUCKED!!!

My Bike seriously was bugging me the entire race... Which reminds me NOTE TO SELF: Go get your bike tuned up! The gears just felt like they were slipping. But... I had a great bike. Faster than I thought it would be. That's really where I made up the time. I thought my bike would be about 1 hour 20 minutes and it was 1:16:33. AWESOME BIKE! And... As I was biking I could see the bike time on my bike, and I knew that I was under the time I was hoping for. I didn't wear a sports watch like most of the athletes, so I really had no idea at the time. But... Randy bought me a great odometer/clock thing for my bike. So I WAS so excited after the bike.

Last the RUN: It's so, so, SO weird after you're done biking to dismount and start running. Your legs are just wobbly and you feel so weird. I was questioning whether I would be able to run at all. LOL! I started out my run and felt weird at first, but after about a half a mile I was really starting to feel GREAT! I didn't have a watch so at each mile station I would ask them for the "real" time, and I knew that I was still under my goal. Although... man there were some FAST women out there. They were passing me on the run, which I expected. I LOVE to run, but I am not really a FAST runner. I was happy with my 9 minute miles.

So... back to the run... things were really feeling great and as I passed mile four and was still under my time I even shouted "Woo-Hoo"!!! Then... the nightmare began:

Somewhere between mile 4-5 my knee really started to give me pain. It's the weirdest thing to me. I can constantly slightly feel it, but it usually isn't sharp pain, but when it starts "going" as I mentally know it as... I just know that the inevitable is coming. Inevitable meaning the SEVERE pain which usually means STOP running.

As the pain stated becoming stronger and stronger I began pleading with God. Please, please, please take care of me and help me finish this race. I know He was helping me. I was starting to cry and get really upset, but I suddenly was calm and just started thinking be GENTLE try your best to keep running, follow the girl right in front of you, and don't over-compensate for it. Just run smoothly. Do NOT push it. Just run smoothly. I knew I had to control my breathing and stop panicking. IT WORKED!!! God helped me acrosss the finish line!

My brother Steven was there cheering me on! I was an emotional mess from the pain. We went straight to the medic and got ice. I was so happy/sad all at the same time. I was so worried about being physically unconditioned and worried that I'd be exhausted, but I really had conditioned perfectly. I felt GREAT! Better than I had ever expected. But... my knee just couldn't handle it.

The other sad thing. Randy had done the sprint distance and had finished 30 seconds ahead of me. 30 seconds!!! We couldn't find him. He didn't see me cross, and I didn't see him either of course. Plus... had I caught up to him in the run, which I almost did, I really think I would've stopped and walked with him knowing I had that support. So... I really think things worked out the way they should.

What another PHENOMENAL moment. That I LIVED, ENJOYED, and WILL CHERISH FOREVER!!!