As I sit here and try to think of a good place to start, I think back over the week leading up to the event I had been training for over the course of the past 9 months. I remember the day I decided to set my sights high and acheive a goal that I never imagined that I would accomplish in my lifetime. I had entered the swim challenge at our wellness center shortly after giving birth to our beautiful baby girl, Harper. I initially set the goal in my mind that I would take this challenge and see where I ended up.
A few weeks later, I decided to extend my goal to accomplishing a triathlon in the following summer. I remember thinking to myself, "Is this attainable? Will I really be able to do this?" I decided to set my mind to it and see where it took me. I started researching where I should be, training programs and times that I needed to reach before I could enter a competition of this size. I started with the swim and focused on getting my ability to endure extensive workouts in one setting. When I first started swimming 9 months ago, I remember that I could barely swim 10 laps without feeling exhausted. I kept pushing myself and soon I was swimming half a mile at a time. By the end of a few months, I was able to swim a mile in 45 minutes or less and this is when I knew I could accomplish my goals. I was swimming a mile or more every day or every other day and lost over 50 pounds in the process. With the weight loss I saw an overall easier ability to run, bike or swim longer and harder than I had ever been able to in my life. More importantly, I felt like I could accomplish anything and it was at this point that I knew that not only had my body changed for the better, but my mind had too.
I then moved my focus to running. Soon after my feelings of being invincable, I succombed to the fact that starting a running program was going to be hard. I remember getting on the treadmill and feeling defeated. "Wow, this is hard," I would think. "Running is going to be my weakness in this race," I would tell myself. But, I kept on and stayed more determined than ever. I eventually could run a mile on the treadmill without feeling exhausted and knew that I was making steps, small steps, but steps none the less. There were times during the training process that I wanted to give up and felt like there was no way that I could accomplish the running portion. However, I continued with the program and I slowly increased the distance I was able to accomplish in a workout and made it to a few miles a workout. Springtime came around I knew it was time to make the transition to running outdoors...yikes, that was so different than what I had initially expected. I precisely remember the day that I decided to give it a try. I walked into our pharmacy to pick up a prescription and my friend (and pharmacist), Dana, asked me if I wanted to join her and her running buddy on one of their runs. I was very hesitant at first, knowing that they had recently completed a half marathon, but decided that it was time to "Go big or go home." It was hard. They started their route going up a slight incline and continued on a five mile stretch. I had to take a break in the middle and didn't finish their five mile planned route early, but I made it 3 miles that day outdoors and this instantly movitated me to push myself past my current known limit to run further on the treadmill than I had been training. I was up to 3 miles indoors at this point and was getting motivated to keep the training going. I started training outdoors in combination with my treadmill run. Outdoor running got easier with time and what most runners will tell you is true. It's hard to run outside at first, but as time goes on, it will become preferable to run outside. Today, I am already dreading the days where it is not nice enough to run outside. I am in love with it....some might even call it an addiction. :)
Now...onto the bike training. I asked for a bike and bike trailer (to carry my kids with me during my rides) for my birthday and was a lucky woman when I received my wish. I immediately started riding 4-5 miles 2-3 times a week. Pretty easy and not a lot of hills during training (Later I found that this was my main downfall in training). I moved my training mileage on my bike to reach 10 mile rides....again without too many hills (oops!). I also didn't focus much on my biking and continued to focus on my running time and distance. I ended up running a 5K at least 6 times a week and integrated hills and worked on lowering my time on a weekly basis. I fell in love with running and interspersed this training with swimming.
A few months before the race, I started doing my "brick workouts" where I would do 2 or 3 legs of the race at a time to adequately prepare my muscles for the transition. I remember reading about getting the times you want in a triathlon. Swim with your arms, bike pulling up with your legs and run pushing back with your legs. Use different muscles for each leg. So...that became my focus. The brick workouts were hard, but became easier over time. I remember trying to bike 10 miles and then run afterward. My legs felt like jello after dismounting from the bike. But, your body adjusts and you soon find your grove and pace in your run. It gave me confidence to know that I could transition from event to event, but I remained nervous about being able to finish the entire race.
Now onto the final stretch of my training...Well, first off, I decided to move my event date back two weeks because of harvest last minute. As a result, the new course was 3.5 miles longer on the bike, which I had not accounted for in my goal time or trained for with distance. Regardless, I was at the point where I was able to complete each leg of the race (- the full bike portion) with ease and started to convince my mind that I had done it. I had accomplished the level of fitness that I had sought months ago and I was excited to be at the point where I felt ready for the big event!
The week before the race, I tapered off my training and started to let my muscles rest. The day prior to the race, I went to the course and drove out each leg of it. I am not quite sure this was a good idea as it increased the already looming anxiety present in my head. The swim and running portions looked fine...meaning, I thought I could do them without a lot of stress on my body. It was the bike leg that really cranked up my nerves. I had trained on a few hills each ride, but this was an up and down course. Once you get down a hill, you work your way back up one. Yikes..this made me nervous as I am not good on hills with my bike. I remember going home and telling my mother-in-law that I wasn't sure I would be able to finish and I was nervous that if I did finish the bike course, I would be too wiped out to run the last leg. However, I decided at that point that the worry was not doing me any good and I put the anxiety aside and spent a nice evening with my family. Loaded up on carbs at Olive Garden and went to bed early. The. BIG. Day had finally arrived!!!
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