Well, the race was outstanding. The day before the race, Nate and I got up early and drove around the whole island, like a mini-vacation. Then we got Kim and the two of us (with Nate as our trusty driver) scoped out the whole bike course. After we finished, we swam a little out from the race swim start to see what it would feel like. After a few inspirational words and big plates of pasta, we turned in for the night so that we would be fresh to catch the 4:30am shuttle the next morning.
We arrived early and got body marked. As I was hydrating and trying to get focused, I realized that my race packet didn't include my race number. Yikes! Panic just before the race! Fortunately, I found out that the race numbers are mostly just for the "photo finish," and because I was properly registered and had my smart-chipped ankle band on, I was just fine to race so long as I was comfortable knowing that I wouldn't be offered an overpriced package of professional photos of myself offered to me after finishing. Indeed, I was just fine.
The swim began at Waikiki Beach. It was a half mile out, and half mile back. The water was ridiculously warm. It was at least 80 degrees. I wish I had gone faster during the swim--I know I could have...well, okay, it was my first triathlon and I really wanted to make sure I had enough energy to do the whole thing--but after training in the freezing Bay, I felt like I was on vacation in that darn island water!
The transition to the bike was fast. I just crammed some shot bloks in my mouth and threw on my shoes, socks, and helmet. We biked from Waikiki Beach to Pearl Harbor. The road was closed to cars, so it was totally safe. It was also totally flat. Again, training in San Francisco was to my advantage. There were a bunch of TNTers from Florida in the race, and I passed just about all of them both on the up and the down sides of the only "hill" in the race (it was a freeway overpass). Go TNT SF!
I was more tired than I expected transitioning to the dreaded final piece: the run. By this time, it was past 9:00am and the sun was out in full force. The run was an out-and-back 1.5 miles in each direction; hence, we did the loop twice to reach 6 miles. We just beat this flat track back and forth in the sun. Gaaa. I was tired. I didn't have any negative thoughts whatsoever until the final half mile, when I was getting really tired and hot and the negativity started creeping into my brain. To counter it, I thought about how proud I was of myself, of everyone who supported my throughout my training and fundraising, and mostly, how proud I am of Jessica for being a great mom to Jaden no matter what obstacles life hands her. I also thought of how proud I was of Kim, as I kept passing her and seeing her smiling the whole way. She looked so happy and healthy. What a terrific experience!
Here is a link to the photos Nate took all weekend.
Thanks, Nate!
3 comments:
Rebecca,
Words cannot properly express how I feel knowing you worked so hard to train and raise money for L&LS for me, and all the other people dealing with blood cancers. I am honored that you pounded that hot Hawaii pavement for me!
GO TEAM!
Congrats on your first triathlon! It was so fun to read about your progress on this blog. You even inspired me to start working out!
You are so worth it, Jess! I hope one day that I can be a great mom like you!
Irene, I am going to try and get Nate to do TNT with me next year...so feel free to tell him what a great idea you think it would be for him to do it before he finishes school and gets real busy :0)
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