On Sunday, September 26th, my little sister, Becky, and I joined the ranks of the Ramblin’ Rose Super Sprint Triathletes. We had such a blast at this event – realizing our triathlete potential quite unexpectedly. Our older sister, Katie, had participated in this event 2 years ago, and got us on board to join her in the fun. I would have never signed up for a triathlon if it hadn’t been for Katie. My swimming skills amount to doggie paddling and my own creative variation of the breaststroke… and Becky and I have forever joked about how we cheated our way through the Guppies and Minnows swim class at the Y when we were kids. But I signed up in support of my sister despite this limitation, ’cause that’s what a sister does.
The week before the event, Katie decided she had too much going on to participate this year. I reconsidered my participation, doubting if I was truly prepared. However, I decided since I would be going down to Charlotte to cheer Becky on anyway, I might as well go for it.
My training for this event consisted of the following:
+ 2 mile run: began the Couch to 5K training program in April and completed a 5K in June, continued running 3x/wk
+ 250 yard swim: figured out exactly how many laps = 250 yards and practiced ONCE in my Mom’s neighborhood pool in July
+ 9 mile bike: took a few spin classes over the summer, rented a bike and did a few rides on vacation at the beach the week before the event
Once I got my body back into running and realized how manageable a 250 yard swim was, I felt fairly confident about completing the race. I figured I could get on a bike anytime, anywhere and do the 9 mile ride no problem. Becky did the research to learn what it meant to set-up a transition station and took care of all the logistics. Yay, Becky! Then for our final psych up, we went out the night before and got matching outfits, ’cause that’s what a sister does.
The morning of the triathlon, gathering with the 1000 other women who were anxiously awaiting to begin, Becky and I started questioning ourselves. What were we thinking signing up for a triathlon? Would we make everyone we were swimming with mad because we calculated the wrong swim time? Would running be crazy difficult after swimming and biking? We just needed to get in the pool and begin. Becky started her swim at 8:40am, 40 minutes before me, so I got to cheer her on for her 10 laps of the pool. I was inspired by how far she had come with her freestyle stroke since Guppies and Minnows class! When she finished, she disappeared from the pool area off to the next stage of the triathlon.
I was in the pool and began the triathlon at 9:22am. I was able to pull off my swim stroke without breaking into a doggie paddle, and was so exhilarated from the water. From there, I transitioned to the bike portion. Here’s where it became eventful for me. About 5 miles into the 9 mile bike ride, just as I was feeling confident about my riding, the left pedal and crank came off my bike. Of course, this really wasn’t that surprising since I didn’t think to get my bike tuned up before the race and hadn’t ridden my actual bike for several years. The bike mechanics came and attempted to help me fix the problem. But without the bolt, which I had probably left far behind on the road, my bike couldn’t be repaired along the race route. An event official showed up in a car to drive me back to the finish line. At this moment, I remembered my Dad’s race advice from when I ran a marathon many years ago: Run ’til you can’t run. Walk ’til you can’t walk. Crawl ’til you can’t crawl. And slither on in! I was not ready to stop or to accept defeat to my poor race preparation… I was determined to slither on in if I had to… so I walked my one-pedaled bike the remaining 4 miles.
I proudly finished the bike portion of the event, walking my bike across the transition line, waving my pedal in declaration that my positive attitude was no match for this obstacle. And my reward… by the time I was transitioning into the run, Becky had already completed the triathlon and had time to recuperate. She joined me and we ran my final 2 miles together, ’cause that’s what a sister does.
Of 961 finishers, I was number 937! Becky finished 345th. My hero.
So, any Asheville sisters or Asheville mamas want to join me for Ramblin’ Rose 2011?
This post is dedicated to my Title Nine Last Resort Sports Bra xo
Tags: ramblin' rose, running, triathlon
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