We drove up to Baraboo on Saturday afternoon and pulled into the parking lot of the Willowood Inn, which is the ADORABLE motel I picked out for us. We stayed in the “Wildlife Room,” in which every opportunity for an adornment or an embellishment was taken–the shower curtain rings were little bears hugging pine trees; the walls were covered with owls and wolves and moose and bears. And you could rent VHS tapes for a buck! AND they had lawn games! Anyway, we’re not supposed to be talking about our accommodations, we’re supposed to be talking about the race!
So we went to bed around eight thirty, but I couldn’t sleep for a long time because I was hella nervous. We got up at five thirty, had some breakfast, and headed out in the dark for Devil’s Lake State Park. Upon our check-in we were given Devil’s Challenge Triathlon t-shirts, plastic coffee mugs, our numbers [I was 676], and our ankle strap-timers. We put the tires on our bikes and took little ride-arounds to make sure everything was in working order, and then got our bodies marked. I got a big “676” on my left arm [it’s still there, faintly] and a “3” on my left calf to denote my wave–Novice Females. After that we set up our stuff in the transition area and put on our wetsuits. Gosh, I’m getting all nervous and tingly just writing about it.
Phil was in Wave 2, so he was the first of us to start. After him, my wave went in, and Josh was in Wave 5. When the whistle blew for me to start, I ran into the [surprisingly warm] lake along with all the other Novice Females. We had to run or swim out to this big blow-up yellow pyramid buoy, swim around it to the left, then continue straight across to the other yellow pyramid, then take another left to shore. I’m not sure why–maybe because I was nervous and there were all these other people swimming around me–but I pretty much backstroked and sidestroked the whole swim. At one point around the middle I accidentally was backstroking like, straight to shore, and had to get back in with the pack. I kept reminding myself of what Josh told me right before the race started: “Don’t get outside yourself.” So I just calmed down and got through it. Swim time: 13:31.
I ran out of the lake, taking off my goggles and swim cap as I went. I didn’t think to start taking off my wetsuit until I got to my transition area. I didn’t dry off at all, I just put on my shirt, pants, socks, shoes, and helmet. I took a couple bites of a Clif bar and a couple gulps of water, then grabbed my bike and ran it out of the area. T1 time: 5:29.
About three miles into the bike I passed Phil walking with his bike in the opposite direction. He had gotten a flat. Such a colossal bummer! In the couple seconds it took to pass him he just told me to keep going, so I did. And we had driven the bike course the day before, so I knew it was hilly, but damn. That shit was hard, y’all. Allow me to repeat myself: that shit was hard, y’all. Some people were walking their bikes on the first hill. Not me! If I wasn’t trudging uphill for minutes and minutes at a time, I was hurtling downhill at terrifying speeds. And did I mention it rained? So I was slowly making my way up these unbelievably long and steep hills in the rain and then speeding down them on slick roads. My fingers and toes were like little blocks of ice. I would try to downshift but my fingers were so weak that I wouldn’t be able to and I’d wind up taking a hill in third gear. The countryside was beautiful, though. And at one point we passed horsies! There was a line of about five beautiful dark brown horses just watching us all go by and I called out, “Hi, horsies!” right when some dude zipped past me. The bike course ended with one last huge hill and then a winding downhill path back into the park. Bike time: 1:17:29.
I ran my bike back into the transition area and immediately blew my nose. I heard Phil say, “Say cheese, boo!” and I looked over to see him taking a video with his phone. I fixed my ponytail ONCE to fit it through the back of my Old Capital Brew Works baseball cap, took a bite of a fun size Snickers, had one or two more gulps of water, then took off on the run. T2 time: 2:34.
I felt pretty good on the run, actually. Obviously I was tired, but I knew how my legs were going to feel getting off the bike, and I knew I could get it done. The run course was a little hilly–we ran out of the park and over into a campground, where we did a big uphill loop and then turned around and came back down and out. The hill was challenging, but still, the thoughts I did have that took the form of words were all positive. On the way out of the campground I passed a sign that indicated that I was on the last mile of the run. I planned to pick up my pace but about a third of the way through that last mile I was struck with what might have been the worst side cramp I have ever had. My whole torso spasmed and I almost doubled over. I tried to keep running and rubbing my side but it hurt so much. I walked for a bit, and a runner passed me, saying something like, “Come on, you’re almost done, you can finish.” I started to jog again and looked up and saw Josh coming towards me with a water bottle. I started to cry a little bit, and he told me if I needed to walk, I could walk. But I took a drink of water and it’s like the cramp just went away. We picked up the pace for the last two hundred feet of the race, and I finished! Run time: 31:55.
So I finished 39th out of 69th in my division, and 475th out of 549 overall. I always have a hard time feeling proud of myself–I feel like I have to qualify my accomplishments; temper them or lessen them or think of how I could have done better. But for now I’m trying hard to drive the point home to myself that I could not have done this six months ago. I could not have done this EVER in my life before now. I finished a triathlon–I am now a triathlete. And you know who else was a triathlete? GI Jane.
wow! you did awesome! your run time was great especially after swimming and biking!!
Pretty remarkable accomplishment!
You are so right about perspective.
Take it from here and to the next rung, one at a time.
U Dunne Good!
Proud of you.
Next time with the cramp, try running with your arms straight up over your head for awhile, stretch them up, up, up! Sometimes that works, but the water did too, right?
Onward, ON, WARD!
Nice work. You rule! Thanks for including me on your journey!
HAHAHAHAHA “‘Hi horsies!” right when a guy passed you. THAT’S SO LIZ!!!!
You are such a fabulous badass. G’ON, GIRL!!! I’m amazed by your triathlon.
FUCK YEAH, Liz!
Congrats!!! Sucks about Phil… almost like it was scripted to require a sequel? Whatevers, enjoy this finish, amazing!
I totally backstroked through 75% of our swim test in college, and have never ever ridden my bike past horsies, so proud of you! I was feeling you in the biking through the rain on the hills, hard and terrifying. Nice work!
i started crying at the end of this post – but in a good way! i’m so proud of you, liz. and i’m SO glad you remembered to say hi to the horsies.
this one’s for you: