Today was the Marshman Creek Triathlon. A 1/4 mile swim in Marsh Creek State Park Lake, a 12.5 mile bike up and down the hills of Chester County, and a 2 mile trail run up and back. Sounds simple. Actually, by comparison, it was!
This was Kiki's big day. She was "inspired" at the Philly Tri to complete an event like a tri. She was so enthusiastic. She started swim class, borrowed a bike from Uncle Kip, and swore she was never running again. The J Clan Van rolled into town around 8PM and Missy had dinner just about ready. Shrimp pasta for our carb load. They brought a marianted London Broil which was great. Our plans to be in bed asleep by 10 with a full belly was delayed a little bit but definitely in bed by midnight. Great news unless you were meeting everyone for the caravan to the tri at 5AM! Missy and I loaded into their car and met the ever supportive Big Tone's Mom and Dad who dragged Missy's parents along this time. They seemed sure a triathlon would be an event worth watching! The reason for leaving so early was to avoid walking the 1.5 miles from overflow parking down to the lake where the tranisition area as located. My biggest conern for the morning.
Upon our arrival the air temperature was around 50 degrees and the lake was shrouded in fog. With the fishing piers and the fog, Missy likened the scene to a horror flick. She's always coming up with those "comforting" thoughts. Thanks, honey. Ha Our first obstacle was the fact that Kiki did not bring her ID to check in. I had to vouch for her with the event people. I told them almost everything about her that I know! They gave her the race packet anyway. She seemed calm but surely was a bit nervous. Our next concern was getting in line for our "biologic stop". A line of 2 dozen port o potties is a great place to bond with other triathletes. The looks of nerves, the odd pre race routines, the smell of said port o potties, and the sounds of racers vomiting to ensure they are at proper race weight. I chose to pick a different stall than vomit boy in front of me!
The National Anthem was great. I just absolutely love hearing that song before any workout or race. I know I've said that before... I eased into the water with a little trepidation. The water temp was actually warmer than the air temp which was kind of weird. The last thing I heard from our crowd was from my dad. He said, remember, one stroke at a time. I was just hoping and telling myself not to panic, breath too quickly and enter into the same state of mind and body as the near death experience as my last tri. Well, he had a point. When I started, I just kept telling myself to find a rhythm and take one stroke at a time. I got out to the first bouy and wasn't breathing hard or feeling like I would need a kayak break. As I turned at the first bouy towards line towards the swim out, I spotted Missy's PSU sweatshirt and my mom's breast cancer fleece. I tried to wave big enough for them to see me but small enough so I wouldn't seem like I was in distress to the life guards. They saw me and I felt pretty confident. I spotted a blow up light house by the swim out and just "Ashley B"-coached breast stroked to the end. My goggles were very foggy and I could barely see the swim out. Despite my visual impairment, I could still make out the outline of Big Al on the shore! He's really not that hard to spot! I called out to him just so he could see me since they really had no idea where I was and I saw him turn around and look back. Later, he told me I thought something happened and I had to quick the swim and I was behind him. Silly, Al, there's no quit in Big Tone.
I waited in the transition area for Kiki to finish. She did great! She finished her swim in just about a minute quicker than me. We headed out on the bike together and were determined to finish as a team. Our biggest obstacle on these hills was not the incline but the cold. Wet and in the shade, our fingers felt fronzen and cold toes in wet socks made it a bit uncomfortable. We pressed on. Except for Kiki chatting it up with other cyclists on the first of the return hills we pushed on to slice 10 minutes off our bike time from last weekend where we gave it a good dry run. The run came and went without a hitch. We ran to the hill, walked up the hill, got some water at the turn, and ran to the finish. It felt great. We were very happy. The fans were absolutely great. We got high fives from everyone. I couldn't believe how much better I felt compard to the last time. My only goal was to be strong enough to help Kiki on her first tri adventure and I think I did that. As for the diabetes, my blood sugars were great too. 183 after the swim and 146 after the bike. No worries there. I had some sports beans on the way out to the run just for good measure. My mom was there to take my trash. Just like I was 8! Ha
So thanks for all the pre race well wishes. Thanks to our crew at the race. It means a lot to see familiar faces when you are streaming by. And thanks Kiki for making my tri year fun, challenging, and rewarding.
So, what's next for Big Tone? Stay tuned...Go Big Tone.
