frogprincess72’s BodyBlog

I DID IT! And for once in my life, I can say that I’m PROUD of me! tho I must admit that still feels conceited to say. But dang it! I DID IT!

 So family all arrived Saturday and we headed to Lake Stevens to get our rooms and attend the mandatory race briefing and drop off my bike the night before at the Transition area. By dinner, I was getting a bit overwhelmed with all the family dynamics but overall, it went very smoothly. I had Mom and step-dad; Dad and step-mom; sister and bro-in-law; hubby and little man; Janice, her boyfriend and their 3 sons. WOW! And it was kinda fun to keep hearing "it’s all about sonja this weekend. What does sonja want to do?" OH, a gal can get used to that!

About 8 pm everyone left me alone. So I packed and chilled in my room. I was trying to keep my nerves in check. At bedtime is when I struggled. No tv to distract me. No more packing. It was quiet time with me and my brain. At 11 pm I finally whispered "are you still awake? i need some help over here!" So hubby and I talked about the race.. about my fears.. about what i was about to do. And then I was able to sleep. Until 3 am, when I woke up and couldn’t get back to bed. Nerves and anticipation and excitement were in full effect! AND I WAS READY!

So at 5 am, we all converged at the hotel and headed to the race. They left me to go to the transition by myself, but not after LOTS of pictures and pep talks! And in i went..

then it was time to leave transition and head over to the start. And there were all my family and my tri group friends. And then the National Anthem and then LET THE RACE BEGIN! and at 6:57 am my wave started. The water was perfect! the Water so clear! and I swam my slow swim. And yes, I was kicked. And I had some guy try to swim over me (his left arm and left half of his torso on my back at one point) and I just kept swimming! no panic. no getting me out of my groove. and i swam the entire swim in freestyle! My back up stroke is breast stroke (panic/heart rate too high/arms tired/whatever) and I was super pumped about that! So I may have been slow but that alone was a big accomplishment!

And finally out of the water I came and 1.2 miles down. Family was there cheering, as usual. Fyi… for anyone reading this who has ever been a spectator at ANY event, let me tell you from a competitors point of view, we LOVE you! even if we don’t know you personally. Even if we don’t acknowledge you with a smile or a wave, we can’t do what we’re doing without you! … back to story… So I run up to transition and get out in one of my fastest T1 times … My sister said she was in a full sprint to get from the swim to the bike start to see me.. and she made it..

Time to face the hills.. Holy cow.. The hills.. Once around wasn’t so bad, but the worst was the second time you knew what was coming! but I owned those hills. I was strong. And i was efficient. I drank so much water, superpump, endurathon and consumed so much goo and power bars i thought i would get sick for the run but I knew i had to do it. And oh, the down hills. FREAKIN’ AWESOME! I was fearless. I thought, what the heck. If i crash and get road rash, it’ll be a GREAT story.

And finally lap 2 was over on the bike and time to head back to transition. and then the crowds. and the cheering. and then my family! screaming like i’ve never seen them scream before! And 56 miles down! And into T2 i went. Again, super fast. And out I came… I knew at this point I had to go slow. I had already given my self persmission on the bike to alter my goal. It was originally to finish in under 6 hours but I realized that wasnt’ going to happen and I had to let go of that goal. And I was ok with it. It doesn’t make me a loser. Everyone will still love me and be proud of me. It doesnt make me less of an athlete. And once i let that go, I was ready to finish.
The run went pretty well. again, a double loop so the second time around you knew what was coming. But TONS of water/gaterade/gel stations. I think every mile. and boy, did i used everysingle stop. And during the run is when the real motivation came. From fans and from fellow athletes. This is where the race began for me. This is where I was going to find out exactly what I’m made of! And this is where my personality got to shine, because this is where many of us were struggling the most. I ran with one woman who’s mom had just passed away 2 days before. I ran with one man who was having knee pain and wanted to walk. And we all talked and got our minds off of our physical and mental pain and encouraged each other to finish strong, for today is our rest day!

AND OH MY GOSH! I MET THE TRIATHLON NUN! i don’t know how many of you know about her, but she is 78 years strong and has ALWAYS been my motivation. EVERY year I cry when I see her story on the NBC replay of the KONA IRONMAN championships. SO TO MEET HER?? i’m not gonna lie! I CRIED! I saw her in front of me and when i caught up to her I said "great running".. and i started to pull past her without saying anything but I knew i had to. So i asked if she was the tri nun and she said yes. so i told her about what i wrote above and she grabbed my hand, gave it a squeeze and said " you made my day dear. thank you. now go finish your race strong".. OH SNAP! how can i NOT now???? so with tears in my eyes, I adjusted my stride and in to the last leg I ran. My family said that when they saw me this last time, I was so focused and determined and they knew I was reaching deep down to grab onto anything that I could. Up to this point, when I would see them, I would wave and smile but this time, I did not. I looked down. I could hear them and I soooo needed them at this moment, but I was afraid that if i broke my zone, I wouldn’t get it back and I still had 3 miles to go!

And I was feeling pain. My toes hurt. My left calf and hamstring were on the verge of full on spasm. My hips, neck, shoulders, my EVERYTHING hurt! But it was mind over matter and Into the gate I ran.. It was INSANE!! I could see all of my family screaming for me and the other athletes! I saw my tri friends.. and as I limped out of the gate, there was Janice, strong as ever to give me the biggest hug EVER! I think she was actually more holding me up at that point! haha..

 When we get back to the hotel, my mom and step dad are asleep on one bed.. My sis and bro-in-law asleep on the other. My dad and step mom are sitting in the only 2 chairs in the room.. Hubby and little man went to swim.. and no one offers to let me sit.. or lay down.. i’m on my own.. haha.. then my mom says "being a specator is VERY hard work.. and exhausting!" OH REALLY MOM?? I’m happy to specate next year .. and we all started laughing

 SOOOOOO… will I do this again?? HECK YEAH! maybe not next season, but I will. I think I would like to maybe work on speed for next season. But we’ll see, because I would also like to improve on my Lake Stevens race time. I’m competitive llike that

And today i feel better than yesterday. I am still sore and sitting down is no vision of grace or beauty, but I can actually walk down stairs without hopping down! I can bend my legs! haha.. I did hyrdotherapy when we got home last night (hot/cold shower alternating.. i wasnt really excited but what the heck.. i’d already tortured myself, what’s another 15 minutes?? haha) Tho I must admit, I’m still waiting for my appetite to return. I am only hungry enough for a few bites of something and that’s it.. Oh well, I know it will return and when it does, it will be in full on mode! haha

So here’s the low down and what you’ve all been waiting for……

My chip time was 6:07:59.53 My actual race time was 6:04:59.53 (we were waiting in the water for 3 minutes for our wave to start and the chip pad had set off our chips) My swim was 48:21 …T1 2:09… bike 3:14:53.. T2 1:38.. Run 2:01:01… I finished 30/65 in my age group. And 131/300 women. 555/876 overall. And over 1400 people entered but only 876 finished… ME BEING ONE OF THE FINISHERS!!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 12:06 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.