T-Minus 12 hours 'til my First Triathlon

What. Was. I. Thinking? This short question has been running through my head since March 1st.

What happened on March 1st?

I took a leap waaayy out of my comfort zone and signed up for The Boston Triathlon - my first.

Maybe I was delusional from training for The Boston Marathon or something. But, here's the full story of how the registration came to be.

It took me awhile to really get into the training since well a lot of stuff happened around the Marathon. And I just couldn't find a training plan that I could relate to.

So finally on June 24, I attempted my own personal sprint triathlon at the gym with the same distances as the Boston Tri (0.5 mile swim, 9 mile bike and 4 mile run) and here were the results.

I survived!!

After that I finally found a training plan I liked and got to serious work. As I mentioned the ride for the race is 9 miles, but by far the bike is my weakest area so I wanted to get as much practice on the bike as I could. So I actually attempted a 2 hour bike ride on Saturday, July 13th and I made it 1:42:30 into the ride (24+ miles) before getting a flat tire. Yay! Third time on the bike and my first flat tire. I figured it was better then especially with my wife just minutes away to rescue me than on race day!!

But, with just two weeks to go until the race I realized I still had YET to do an open-water swim. Now, I have read many people who never did an open-water swim before their triathlon and lived to tell the tale. I couldn't do that. I needed to see how swimming in the pool differed from open-water ... with a wetsuit!

So finally, this past Wednesday, I met a group of ZOOM Multisport Triathlon members and fellow Tedy's Team members and met them at Carson Beach - the site of the race - and finally bit the bullet. It was AWESOME!! I love swimming anyway, but the wetsuit really adds some great buoyancy to the experience. We actually swam the 1/2 mile which would be used for the actual race, which was great exposure.

(Thank you to my friend Darcie who is letting me borrow her wetsuit)

I even managed two BRICK workouts - once I looked up what that meant. :P I did get out and bike then immediately run twice and felt great. It was interesting how alive the legs felt coming off the bike. Hopefully that sticks tomorrow. :)

And Friday marked the end of my #runstreak at Day 18. How did I finish the streak? With a solid 4-mile run to test out the race belt I would be using for the race because I didn't want ANY surprises on Sunday morning.

What was left for me to do? Why channel all of the amazing positivity, love and encouragement from all of you - my amazing blog readers. It also helped to get me out of my own mindset.

Every time I try something new I immediately zip back to the 230 lb me and freak out. Well, this time I will be using the amazing words from Tedy Bruschi to push me through the race ... see how amazing they are yourself here.

But, today was race packet pick-up day. Eek! Races ALWAYS get real when the bib is in hand.

They were just setting things up because you know me - I was there right as they opened. But, I did do a lap of the transition area to see where my bike would be.

Sooo this whole thing is much more complicated than a normal race. :P There are numbers for you and your bike and tattoos to adhere to your arms, hand and legs. Oh and you also have a special swim cap based on which wave you will be in. They seem to be based on gender and age. I will be in Wave 5. The race starts at 8am and it looks like my wave will head out around 8:12am.

As I munch on some wheat pasta (yum!), I am all tatted up, I've watched transition videos on Youtube, my swim/bike/run stuff is all packed in my bag, the bike rack is on the car, Roxie is primed and ready to go, the alarm is set for 5am and I realize I have done all I could do.

I'm also trying not to think about how this race does NOT have a Finisher's Medal (BIG BOO!!) and the post-race beer sponsor is Michelob Ultra. Ummm no thanks!! I definitely went and purchased some Slumbrew so that I can have my own celebration at home!! :)

For now, I leave you all with this. The preparation is done. The accessories are organized. Now all there is left to do is freakin' enjoy it!!

Tomorrow I, Dani Holmes-Kirk, will complete an actual triathlon. It doesn't matter that it is the smallest triathlon they have in terms of length because all that matters is crossing that Finish Line.

With one HUGE smile on my face!

***

If you would like to track me tomorrow, I am Bib #339 and you can enter it on this site. They have "auto refresh" available as well. It looks like my wave starts the swim around 8:12am EST.