I Swam the Dam!

This past weekend was our long awaited triathlon. We chose the Magrath triathlon "I Swam the Dam". We chose this one because it was advertised as a family event, with all levels of athletes and it was being held on Saturday instead Sunday like most races. It seemed like a good tri to make our first. For those of you familiar with the area the race started by Spring Coulee at the St Mary Reservoir. You swim in the reservoir and then ride your way up to highway 5 and bike into town. Then start running at the high school around, out and back in again along highway 62.

We traveled down to Cardston on Friday afternoon and we were able to visit the temple before we headed to Magrath where we needed to get our race packages. The woman at the registration table must of recognized the fear on our faces because she asked: "Have you guys done a triathlon before?" I replied: "No, so any and all information you have... please." She gave us the run down - pin your race number to what you'll be wearing across the finish, clear bag is warm up bag, blue bag is T1 area (transition 1), make sure you secure the timing chip securely to your left ankle and so on. A little overwhelming because at this point all I could think was: "Am I really doing this?" Then we walked over to look at the map of the course. I said out loud: "I'm confused already!" A very nice man came over and proceeded to explain the course - red line is the sprint distance, black line is the olympic distance, start here and finish there. He continued to ask if we were doing the olympic distance. I laughed and said: "No, no... this is our first triathlon. We're doing the sprint." Then he said: "Oh yeah, well this is my warm up race I'm doing the Ironman 70.3 race in Calgary next month." We exchanged pleasant words and went on our way. I left thinking: "What have a got my self into? A warm up race?? I'm not sure this is a race for all skill levels... I'm going to humiliate myself!" Dean did a pretty good job of calming my nerves but I'm sure he had his own set of anxieties that he was trying to calm. We then checked into our hotel in Lethbridge and met my sister, brother-in-law and nephew for dinner. We had a very nice dinner and visit, and I was glad to think about something other than the race. We showered and got to bed early and set the alarm for 5am, as we had to get our breakfast in early enough to digest and to set up our transition areas and get marked with our numbers. However, I think the combination of nerves and being away from our little guy overnight for the first time didn't allow us much sleep.

The morning of the race I was a basket case. I could barely manage to get down my protein shake and banana. Thank goodness for the port-a-potty at the reservoir (I will say that I thought they needed more than the 3 they had... big line ups!). As soon as we got to the first transition area to set up our bikes I felt at ease. I saw the other competitors and saw that some of them were nervous like I was and that I was making the same preparations as they were - I didn't feel so out of place anymore. I thought to myself: "I can do this! I've been training for 7 months for this - lets just enjoy it."

Once the lady with the permanent marker wrote our numbers on our shoulders, we drove our car back to Magrath to catch the shuttle bus back to the start. The olympic distance started first. They were about 10 mins late starting, so we thought they would start us late but they only waited until they had done their second lap and we had a clear path in the water. Dean and I were fussing with our wetsuits and I felt rushed. We decided to take our time getting in the water. We had timing chips on so if we waited it didn't matter because the time we crossed the mat was our start time, not when the first person hit the water.

This is where the day became a bit blurry. I remember the shock of the water. It was so cold that I couldn't keep my face under the water very long. The water was rough and choppy and I felt annoyed when the waves hit my face. I had to flip to my back before I reached the first buoy because I couldn't catch my breath. I remember being in the water and feeling like I had just woke up from a deep sleep and couldn't remember how I got to be in the water in the middle of a triathlon. I was floundering quite a bit and felt like all the swim training I had done was being wasted. Somehow I made it to the T1 area entrance. I felt relieved that the swim was over and I was out of the water. I heard a volunteer yell: "Way to go! 2-4-7" I put my gear on, guzzled a bunch of Gatorade and walked/jogged up the short distance to the highway. I was pretty sure I was one of the last ones out of the water but hearing the volunteer yell out my time 2-4-7, 24mins 7 secs, and I was feeling pleased with myself. I felt like I had spent a lot more than 24 mins in the water. I was thinking: "Alright! I can't be doing too bad - 24 mins". My goal was to finish the swim in less than 30 mins. In my training the fastest I had done it in the pool was 21 mins. And feeling I had done so poorly in the reservoir and hearing 2-4-7 really got my hopes up. It wasn't until I finished the race that I realized she wasn't yelling my time but my race number 2-4-7, 247. Of course... my race numbers 247! I think I was a bit delusional coming out of the water :) However crazy I was it helped me get motivated for the bike and run. I don't remember a whole lot but I did really enjoy the bike. It was a beautiful sunny day. We passed canola fields and the enormous wind turbines of southern Alberta. I remember dropping my ipod as I got off my bike and a volunteer picked it up for me. I remember blowing a kiss to Dean as he was riding in and I was running out of T2 and giving Dean a high five as we passed each other on the run. Near the finish after a big hill, I remember saying out loud to myself: "You're almost there, you can make it!"

Then all of a sudden it was over and I was hugging Dean after he'd finished. It was seriously a blur. I still think to myself: "Did it even happen? Was I even there?" Dean was feeling exhausted right away but it wasn't until I got to my sister's house that the adrenaline wore off and I felt tired. I am still feeling a bit sore but mostly proud of myself for finishing it. Dean is feeling pretty awful, because on top of having to recover he has a horrible cough and cold. Poor guy! He rarely gets sick but when he does it seems to hit him hard. I guess the physical stress of the tri was enough to push his immune system over the edge.

We weren't the last one to finish but we certainly weren't very far from last. I think there were about 7 people behind me in the sprint category. It doesn't matter though - I proved to myself than I can be athletic! I wish we would of got more pictures. Especially one of Dean and I together but Dean was pretty wiped and we were too busy filling our stomachs with the yummy food they had for us after the race. It was a great triathlon (not that I have much to compare it to). I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to do their first triathlon.

PS - Em had an good sleepover with Auntie A and Grandma. He didn't wear them out too bad :) And he learned how to crawl out his playpen while we were gone... well sort of. He didn't quite make it all the way and got stuck in between the playpen and the bed. Scared Auntie A to death but survived it without a scrape or bruise :)


The before picture. Trying to show off my numbers.




The after picture. Enjoying the shade of the tree.