There is a first for everything

This past weekend I did the Hy-Vee Tri, and it was full of firsts!

1. The race changed distances the morning of the tri as I arrived to transition zone from an Olympic distance to a Sprint.

2. I walked on Hampster bedding to get to the transition area on the morning of the race.

3. I did my very first ever time trial swim start.  You line up according to your number, and a swimmer enters the water every 3 seconds, instead of a large wave entering every 4 min.

(This is me, coming out of the swim, It was a nice easy swim, it was more of a warm up than a hard swim. I really wished it was longer)

4. At several times I had to be uber careful not to slip and fall while getting out onto the race course, and had several volunteers telling you to becareful not to slip on the course.

(This is me in transition, going from swim to bike)

5. While out on the bike course I saw a guy riding past me with a flat tube hanging out his back tire.. ODD!

(This is me coming in to transition from the bike,  my jersey is the one with the white strip in the middle and red on the sides, and a silver helmet, I almost thought I wasn’t in this pic.. ahaha.. cuase I thought they all looked to fit!)

6. When I started the run, 10 min into it, it started lighting and thundering and I kept going

7. While on the run, and less than a mile left, I had a firefighter who was a volunteer on the race say “go go go, just think in less than 5 min you’ll be seeing your smiling face on that big jumbo tron!” I said “that’s right” and he gave me a high five  

8.  As I got closer and closer to the finish line I wondered if the race had stopped, there were no cheers, large crowds, people were leaving, I could no longer hear the music playing, or the announcer dude, I heard dead silence, but I was soo crossing that finish line.

9. As I got closer to the finish line, you would hear, thunder, than see lightening, and then hear large amounts of screaming, like scared screaming from people leaving.. it made me laugh

10. As I crossed the finish line, warning sirens were going off, I am assuming for a severe thunderstorm warning, and then the announcer says seek shelter immediatly (nice)..

(this is me, really close to the finish line Horray!)

11. I didn’t end up in the medical tenT!  

12. I RAN the entire run! (PR in the run, woot woot!)

13. I still got to hot on the run, even in the cooler temps, and in the rain, booo! (at the water stops, I was pooring water on my head to keep me cool)

14. I saw ALL of my fam throught the race, even my dad!!!

15. When I collected my gear, it was in a puddle of mud up to my ankles.. ewww, it was soo yucky.

(this is one of my lovely towels that I had my gear sitting on in transtion, and by the time I got to transition since it was a mud pit.. so was all of my stuff, towels, gears, clothing, all of it)

Other random facts!

• I wasn’t nervous at all going into the swim.
• The water def, was NOT 75 degrees
• I was consistantly worrying on the bike about having a flat tire, I infacted prayed several times, that I wouldn’t have one.. whew!
• The run was way to hilly!
• I found my self seeking “shelter” in the massage tent, best idea ever!
• I had some cramping in my calves on the end of the bike and the first half of the run, but thankfully it eventually went away.
• My family rocks! I couldn’t do it without them.
• I have never felt better doing a tri.