Race Recap: Cleveland Triathlon and 100th post!

Gosh, today's triathlon was AWESOME. There's no other word for it! I wasn't entirely thrilled during most of the race (the steep and crazy hills during the bike sorta got me down in the dumps, and the run was so short I hardly realized I started before it was over!) but by the end I was like..."OMG! I can't believe I am a triathlete now!" and I was filled with euphoria (and relief). Now, I'd love to do some Olympic distances (and maybe more?) in the future. I'll use my automatic pool membership at school this fall to get a leg up on my swimming, which is certainly my weak link. However, today it was my favorite event! Crazy!

Let me walk you through my day. Until it was happening, I really wasn't entirely sure how everything would go! Get ready for 908327894 pictures. I'm really excited to go through this with you guys in detail because I had a lot of exposure to things like running races through my parents and Alex before doing those, but this is a completely new, raw experience for me!

• At 4:55AM, I (finally) got out of bed and got dressed in my make-shift trisuit (spandex, suit, and jacket). I ate a piece of toast with a tiny bit of butter and grabbed all my bags. We loaded up my bike and were off by 5:23. 

All my stuff. Just as much as I'd bring to a regatta! Almost forgot the helmet, that would've been badddddddddd.

• At 5:45 we parked and walked to transition area where I organized all my stuff. I'd been waiting for this moment all week! I like knowing that everything's organized and it's proper place. The first thing I noticed was how beautiful it was this morning:

Claiming my spot and organizing happily :)

These are unedited--can you believe it???

• Upon entry, I got my number (lucky number 31) written on my right calf, left thigh, and right wrist. None of them were really legible except for this one though...

• By 6:45 I was sorta warmed up and ready to go for the swim. Ankle bracelet, swim cap, goggles, check, check and check!

Uhh...swim cap struggles...

Got it!

• The men went out in the first wave, and then they had us women jump in. I wanted to delay it for as long as possible but finally a race official kinda pushed me and this other (scared) girl to jump in, saying that though the water was cold, it would be way warmer than the air temperature at the time. She was right! My only issue with the swim was that I got all tangled in seaweed when I jumped in...it was annoying, at the worst! The swim went about how I expected it to go though, it was not too hard while I was going but I didn't feel like I could do a big amount more. And on the latter coming out, my muscles were screaming! So I know I worked hard :)

I'm somewhere in here:

• Then it was time to plow through T1 and get on that bike! I was pretty speedy in here, though certainly a little wacked out from the swim. I found my spot and got myself together though.

• I went off without a problem. Now as I said earlier, the bike was 8 miles of HILLSSSSS. Ouch. I've been training for up to 30 miles, but only on FLAT land! I need to start mixing things up because this hurt really bad. My bike worked very well though, and I'm still digging my new tires! I met my goal time for the bike and hurried into T2.
• T2 went the speed of light for me! I chose not to switch shoes (wore my running shoes for the bike) and just put on my hat and number and got going!

• And before I knew it, I finished! I held the run pace right where I wanted. Garmin had me at 7:44 pace but they clocked me at 7:55. No matter, I still finished in under an hour (my goal!) with a time of 58:56. I even won my age group!

Done, done, and DONE.

• By 8:00, I packed everything up and we slowly headed out and the happy feelings sunk in :)

Sorry, can't resist one more pic of the beautiful day we got!

So, overall, today was great. I met my personal A Goal, had a small victory, and LOVED the experience! I'm not sure if I'm crazy about the course for a first-time triathlete, but I seriously do think that challenges like this toughen us up and are for the better. So next time, those hills will be sorry they ever met me! 

When I got home, I had a low-key rest of the day; made banana bread and took my classic post-race afternoon mini-nap. I can never nap except for when I do big races (which usually involve getting up super early). My legs are more tired-feeling than after either of my half-marathons, but I know that I will not be as sore (today's experience is not quite on that level!). Tonight I'll relax with Shark Week and watermelon.

I owe (as always!) a BIG thank you to one of my biggest supporters: MOM. She's the best for always getting up early with me, driving when I'm too exhausted to do so, and make sure I get where I need to be. And of course be the best photo-documenter ever! Thanks, Mother!

And because I knew excessive pictures just wouldn't make the cut, I compiled a video of a bunch of video clips my mom took throughout the event! I used my technological prowess to make an iMovie AND upload it to Youtube and the blog. It took about 5 hours but I think the end result is pretty nice!

P.S. This is my 100th post, waddup!