Yesterday was my Olympic Distance triathlon race.. NO, not THE OLYMPICS.. So it’s a 0.93 mile swim, 24 mile bike (40k) and 6.25 mile (10K) run.. This particular race is very popular, mostly because it’s a super flat and fast course. But it’s also for the triathlon club championship bragging rights, so needless to say, there were some UBER competitive athletes.. And this time around, instead of being psyched out by them, i was MOTIVATED by them.. YEP! seems my BRAIN FITNESS has been working!
 So I show up to the course about 90 minutes before race time.. It’s cloudy, somewhat cold but not too cold, and EARLY! I walk my bike and backpack to the body marking area.. MAN! i have to say, this is my FAV part.. not sure why the bodymarking fires me up, but it does! Then i walk in to the transition area and I start my IPOD and listen to my most inspirational/chest beating/pump up songs as i set up my spot. Then suddenly, i hear "SONJA! MOMMY! SONJA! MOMMY!" YAY!! my family just showed up!! I was feeling rather lonely cuz so many people had their fellow tri group members to socialize with and I couldn’t get ahold of mine.. =( Oh well… My family gives me their "atta girl" and then the cow bell rings (yep, really a cow bell) which signals it’s time to move to the water!!
I make my way to the lake, which has a stated temp of 63 degrees.. and i’ve heard how freezing the water is. So i’m thinking it’s freezing like the lake i’ve been training in.. i step in and i’m thinking, "this is like warm bath water!" It was perfect! I did a light warm up and made my way out for the last minute briefing..
then, at precisely 0800, the countdown begins for the red cap wave.. This is the elite group.. obviously not mine! haha.. then 5 minutes later the next wave.. then it’s time for mine. We wade in, swim out, and start treading water till the countdown… 3……2…..1…… SWIM! and this time, no panic.. no second guessing my ability.. i just starting breathing and stroking.. I was slow. I won’t even lie about that. But i wasn’t the slowest. And yes, i got passed. And my feet were grabbed.. and i was swum into and cut off.. and I WAS OK WITH THAT!! i just kept going! What a difference from a few weeks ago!
then finally, the swim is over and it’s time to run up the hill to T1.. and there my family is, yelling their support.. T1 was pretty uneventful. The wetsuit came off easily. My socks and shoes went on easily.. I grabbed a last minute GOO and was off with MOXY! The shoot to the bike mount area was rather long but it was good to get some movement in my legs. As i’m clipping in, my mom’s yelling "CATCH "EM ON THE BIKE KIDDO!" and i hear her saying "that’s my daughter.. i’m very proud of her".. ok, that’s all i needed and i was off!! I got my rhythm really early and just stayed steady. Sure I was passed many times by men, but only once by a woman, and she wasn’t in my age group, so no worries.
with about 2 miles left, i start preparing myself mentally for the run. I drink more Super Pump and Endurathon.. I slam another GOO.. then the mental talk begins.. "run your run, girl. it’s only two 5k’s. it’s FLAT!".. i dismount and run back to T2. again, pretty uneventful. again, i’m happy the run from the dismount to the transition area is long because i got to work out that less than easy transition from biking to running, so when it came time to start the run, my legs felt great! i passed a few more females in my age group and there were tons of people on the course. it was great having so many other runners around.. mentally, i was in my zone (and deeply i might add) at about mile 2.
i was cruising along until suddenly i was rocked OUT of my zone as i realized i was in the air, about to fall! WTF?!?!? i came to a crashing and skidding halt on the concrete, my right hand and shoulder bracing my fall.. "you ok?" ’Ummmm.. yeah.." i said as i got back up and looked at my flesh wounds, while i continued to run.. i looked back and saw this tree branch about 8 inches in circumference sticking out of the trail,about 5 inches off the ground. then i looked at my right hand, and my knees.. i’ll spare the details but there was chunks of skin and dripping blood.. it kinda fired me up =) Mercifully, this happened at mile 4 on the run, so i only had 2 miles and some change till the finish.. NO WORRIES! At this point, the only women in front of me in my age group I knew I couldn’t catch. My goal was to finish strong and not get passed by anyone in my age group, which I accomplished.
As I came across the finish line, there was my family again, cheering me on. I found one of my tri group friends and we waited for the others to finish. My family was about spent, cuz while I was out moving and grooving, they had all that down time to sit and wait. They’re gonna have fun in a few weeks when they’ll be waiting like 2 HOURS for my return.. I tolg them they should go out to breakfast and come back .. haha.. i think they really will =)
SOOOOOO, with all that said, here is my overall finish..
 2:42:28(total time)  20(age division rank)  0:34:11(swim) 3:09(T1)  1:13:22(bike) 1:53(T2)    Â
0:49:52(run)
now with less than 3 weeks before my 1/2 ironman, I feel strong, both physically and mentally! and i can’t tell you how good that feels! What will my goals be? Maintain my fitness. I will work on speed in the off season. But I wouldn’t change anything. Well, maybe just one thing.. Not to go so deep in my "zone" I’m unaware of my surroundings..cuz that falling shite HURTS! =(  Â
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