This is a super long entry/email, but please stick with me-
If you don’t want to read the entire recap, just know that it was a great race
with some road bumps. Thank you to all
who supported me financially and those who supported me through prayer. Both were very much needed and very much
cherished. Now, if you want to read the
whole “recap” see below…
Race weekend has come and gone. Unbelievable!
On Saturday morning, Stacey, Allyson and I drove out to Knoxville. Once we got out there, I headed to the expo
and got checked in- picked up my packet, timing chip etc. I then met up with Andy and the Knoxville
team, and we went out for a short bike ride (to make sure that everything was
working). After that, we met up with
Coach and then Andy and I jumped in the river for a practice swim (I guess to
make sure our arms were working..) ha!
It was about 400m I think- waters were choppy, but it was a great
temp. After our practice swim, we had
lunch with the Knoxville and Atlanta team and then headed to the hotel. That night, we had an inspiration
dinner. This was an absolutely amazing
time. Anthony honored the coaches and
mentors, he then recognized those of us who raised at least $1,000 over the
minimum commitment (I was part of that group), and then he recognized the top 5
fundraisers for this season. Surprisingly,
I was one of those people! I was SHOCKED
when he called my name- I was the #5 fundraiser, and Andy was #2!!! So 2/5 top
fundraisers were from Nashville! GO US! We also got to hear from a survivor who had
first hand benefited from the funds of TNT.
I cried a lot that night.
Then it was time for bed because I had an EARLY morning.
4AM- race morning
I woke up and went downstairs to get my oatmeal ready. While down there I actually ran into one of
the female pros who was competing also.
She was soo nice and super encouraging to me as well. I then headed back up to my room to have my
quiet time with the Lord and pray over my day.
I so cherished that time as it set the stage for the day. I prayed for myself, Andy and Bridgette. After spending time with the Lord, I started
getting ready. Already, at 5am, I was
getting emotional as I put on the full Team In Training race jersey. I could feel the weight of the day as I put
on that jersey- even though I had been training all along, there was something
different about putting on the jersey. I
got all “tatted” up and headed out to meet Andy and Coach. We headed down to transition and I started
setting up my area. We took a lot of
pictures, laughed, messed around some, but then the nerves started to hit. I realized that I was getting closer and
closer to jumping in the water and that meant I was getting closer to having
this event being over. Time to walk down
to the swim start. Coach, Andy, Cary and
I walked down there- the entire time I was wishing I had my headphones with me
so I could “get in my zone” but I didn’t, so I settled with singing worship in
my head as we walked. Just before we
jumped in the water, I was able to pray with Bridgette, who was super nervous
since this was her first tri, and that was a sweet moment.
Swim-
I felt really strong going into the swim. I had 2 goals for myself for the swim- 1.
Swim the entire thing- don’t hold onto the kayaks and 2. Finish the swim in 30
min. I successfully did #1- thanks to my
training and my swim time was 32 minutes.
SUPER HAPPY with that. About 400m
away from the finish my calf started cramping but I was able to push though and
finish up. They pulled me onto the deck
and I took off for transition. I was
able to see Coach, Allyson and Stacey, which was soo helpful! T1 was slower than I would have liked, but
that’s ok because I had to take my wetsuit off, put my knee brace on etc.
Bike-
I went into the bike with a small cramp in my calf still,
but overall feeling strong still. This
was supposed to be the strongest part of my event. Once I got out of transition, I was able to
find my pace and “relax” some. I had 24
miles of open road ahead of me- tons of time to pray and enjoy it! The first half of the ride went well. I came up on the first hill, and had to get
off my bike to walk. This was unexpected
because I didn’t have to walk it when we rode the course a month ago, so I was
disappointed about that, but once I got to the top, I jumped back on my bike
and enjoyed the downhill. I recovered,
played cat and mouse with a couple other cyclists and got to the
turnaround. Then I came up to the
mountain- I knew I was going to walk this part (per coach’s orders) and I made
it up in about 10 minutes. I jumped back
on my bike at the top and enjoyed the fun switchback downhill. This downhill immediately went into another
climb. About half way up that climb, the
unthinkable happened. BOTH of my quads
not only cramped up, but they seized up on me.
My muscles contracted so much, I couldn’t even pedal, so I jumped off my
bike and tried to walk- couldn’t do that either!!! The pain brought me to my knees. I immediately started praying and massaging
my legs. I was so scared. This has never
happened to me before and I wasn’t sure what to do about it. This was the first time in my entire journey
that I actually had the thought- “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to
finish” and that, of course, was absolutely disheartening. I cried a lot. I asked a few people if they had salt, and no
one did. While on the ground, a shag car
came by and asked if I needed medical attention. I knew that if I said yes and received help
then I would get a DNF (did not finish), which in my book wasn’t an
option. When he asked me if I needed
help, I said no. I made the
determination that I was going to finish this race… after about 5 minutes, and
after receiving some Gatorade and Gu from a fellow TEAMmate, I was able to get
back on my bike and finish out the ride.
It wasn’t pretty, but I did it.
My goal for the bike portion was 1:20, and I ended up completing it in
1:50
Run-
I came out of T2 in pain. My quads were still super tight, but manageable. As I came out of T2, coach met me and ran with me. We talked through the ride a little bit, and then my quads seized up on me again! Practically took me to my knees again. At this point we started asking EVERYONE if they had salt. Finally, someone did and was generous enough to give me some.
 |
| Coach telling me to "SLOW DOWN" (my pace was too fast) |
I
ended up walking the entire first mile. Once
I reached the mile marker, my legs were feeling better, and so I decided to
start jogging. I determined that I would
jog until my body wouldn’t let me anymore.
1 mile… 2 miles… 3 miles… 4 miles… WHAT?! I was able to go 4 miles without
stopping! At about mile 4.5 my quads
started hurting again, so I stopped and stretched and walked a bit, took a
little more salt and then started running again. This was soo unexpected because I had not
trained for running at all (due to my torn meniscus). I ended up only walking about 1.5 miles of
the 6.2 – that was totally the Lord’s strength because I was hurting, and
hurting bad! Coach met me about ¼ mile
away from the finish line and ran the rest of it with me. As soon as I turned the corner and saw her
standing there, I immediately started choking and tearing up-because I was
hurting, but also because I realized I was actually going to finish this
thing!! This has been such an emotional
journey for me, and I intentionally didn’t allow myself to cry at points but
when I saw my coach, I was undone. She
asked me how I was doing, and I was honest when I told her I was hurting. I had to walk a minute, but I realized how
close I was that I had to dig deep and push a little more. Allyson jumped in for a brief minute, but
then met me at the finish. We saw the
last bend in the chute and coach said: “you know what you have to do
right?” “Yep coach- sprint”. We reached the last bend and I took off… I
had NOTHING LEFT, but I knew I had to finish strong: I had to dig deep to find the strength but I
did it.
Once through the finish line, I
collapsed in my coach’s arms and just cried.
One thing I noticed on both the bike and run was that there
is a certain respect that comes from putting on that purple Team in Training
jersey. As I was out on the course,
every single time I saw someone in the TNT jersey, we both either shouted or
barely got it out: “GO TEAM” (it depended on our physical state at the
time). And, even those who weren’t part
of TEAM would shout out “Go TEAM” as we passed by. Everybody knew that we weren’t out there for
ourselves, but that we were out there for those who couldn’t be. We were there for those who are currently fighting,
those who have won their battles and those who have lost their battles with
cancer. I was so encouraged and again, I
shed a tear every time! (again, it was a
very emotional day). I was truly part of
something bigger than myself.
I went into this journey unsure if I could do it. Scared to death about the fundraising. I started this journey looking for a way to
join a team and be part of something bigger than myself. I started this journey looking for a new way
to push myself to the limit. I did. I know that I made Caleb and his family
proud. I made my coach proud. I made my family proud. I made myself proud.
I had expectations of what TEAM was going to be like, and
while it wasn’t a large team, like Caleb’s in San Diego, my little team was
PERFECT. We started with 5, but 3 of us
crossed the line, but I was most excited about Andy and I finishing. We started this together, trained for 5
months together, and finished together- even with both of our laundry list of
injuries… I made friends that I will cherish forever. It was an absolutely amazing experience that
I wouldn’t trade for anything! I’m
going to miss seeing Andy and coach every week (well twice a week), but I know
that we have established a friendship that isn’t going away. Andy is taking a little time off and then
training for a half, so I know he will be riding, and I’m sure coach and I will
go out and ride with him sometime.
Through all the training, Christ met me when I was weak- He
met me when I felt strong- He did the same thing during the event itself. He made me a strong person, but my strength
only goes so far. HE IS STRONGER and HIS
strength shone bright through my race. Again,
I would not trade this experience for anything.
2 days later I had knee surgery. My dr. was amazing and let me finish out what I had started. I'm now in the process of rehab, and am planning on doing one more triathlon this season... in San Diego with my family present!
