Triathlon Triumph

I almost forgot to write about the triathlon!

I just re-read my post from last years "My First Tri" and although this one felt easier in a way, I still had the same amazing feeling at the end...such a high and once again that was mainly due to having friends along for the journey either taking part with me or spectating and supporting on the course.
The race was well organised and quite a bit bigger than the one I did last year. The main difference was that this was a pool swim. I had been concerned about 2 things going into the race: the distance as it was double the lake swim, and the chaos of the pool. It turned out okay though, the distance was hard for me but I was expecting that and just plodded through trying to focus on one lap at a time. We each had a lap counter but mine got a little confused and told me I was finished after only 6 of 10 laps. I was confused too and then she checked and said she was wrong, which I already knew. I committed to not looking at my watch throughout as I didn't want to be demoralized by knowing just how slow I was going. Laps 1-6 were torturously slow at accumulating but I don't recall counting 7-9 as I finally found my groove. Lap 10 was of course the sweetest and then I popped out of the pool and ran out side to the sea of bikes. The bike ride consisted of about 250 metres uphill right out of the transition zone and the resultant first loop of 4 was hard going. My legs were cold from the water and my heart rate was high with adrenaline. I settled into a rhythm soon enough though and laps 2, 3, and 4 were all faster than that first one. The bets part was seeing and hearing my friends cheering as I turned at each loop and seeing my co-competitors whizzing by on the other side each lap. As there was some uphill on the course, that meant there was downhill too and I hit 45km per hour at one point which felt awesome. The final stage was the run and again it started with about 1km of uphill right out of the T zone. I was breathing heavy and was concerned about hyperventilation but felt fine and just pushed pushed pushed. The run was my favorite part and I was feeling so high, I was soliciting high 5's from race marshalls and supporters along the way. I finished strong and saw the two loveliest faces of Paula and MJ at the finish line and I practically knocked them over as I blew past the timer for a giant celebratory hug.
Post race activities involved a massage, shower and beer and nosh up in the pub. A good day all around.