Day 39

This is it. I can do this. Can't I?

I'm sitting in a hotel room with my family. I'm wondering how I'm going to sleep tonight. Tomorrow is my first triathlon. A super sprint! Quarter mile swim, ten mile bike and 2 mile run. I'm supposed to walk the run due to my injured right leg. I don't know if you've met me yet, but all bets are on that I end up running it. Running is my thing and it's been killing me that I've had to substitute not only walking, but slow walking for short distances. On the plus side, I've developed an infinity for my bicycle.

I used to hate cycling but couldn't figure out why. Until I got my new bike! Turns out my old bike, which was naively purchased when I was in college, was sized entirely wrong for my frame. It's a men's small; I take a men's large. On the plus side, my son now has a new mountain bike sized perfectly for him. I'm looking forward to the bike leg. And it's a flat course so I'm expecting some hills. If you've ever run the Tex Mex in North Wales you'll know why I wrote that...

Then there's the swim. I love the water! The pool with the kids, the waves at the beach. Yes, I love the water. Swimming? Not so much. I have trained over the past several months but not near as much as I probably should have. Which led to much anxiety on the way down to Delaware this morning.

Fortunately, I had the foresight to sign up for the swim safety and warm-up clinic. Unfortunately, the clinic talked about drowning and how swimming is the most dangerous leg of the tri. About pulling people out of the race so they wouldn't be a hazard to other participants. That if you had to you *could* hold onto a kayak or buoy and try to continue. And try to avoid floating on your back to catch your breathe because that makes you look like a floater and they'll try to rescue you.  Uh, thanks guys. And to think I was mostly concerned about the water temp.

Now panicked, I'm allowed to swim a short portion of tomorrow's swim. The water is blessedly warm, about 72-74 degrees. No wetsuit - WooHoo! People start their practice swims and I'm frozen, shin-deep in water. After a few minutes I think, "What the hell." And wade in further so I can dive under. My first lap is horrible as I'm all panicked and rushing and forgetting all I learned about swimming. My second lap I take my time and feel much better. Lets hope tomorrow's swim mimics lap #2.

All in all, I'm looking forward to this experience tomorrow. I have my Isagenix nutrition with me and will be using the e+ shot for the first time tomorrow for a little boost. Assuming I actually fall asleep, I'll be up around 4-4:30 a.m. and at the course between 5:30-6:00 a.m. to set up my transition area and get marked up. My wave goes at 8:30 a.m. I plan on doing my best and have faith that I've prepared enough. But for right now, I plan on trying to sleep.

Peace,
Susan