The MOMENT I got off of my bicycle I knew that I was in
trouble. My legs were CRAMPED, so
cramped and so tight. This has happened
to me in the past (but never nearly this bad).
I was told that cramping is often due to a lack of hydration and/or
critical nutrients. Well, I did my best
to prepare for this. I had, on the bike, a
Camel Back hydration system and two water bottles all filled with water PLUS
tablets containing electrolytes etc. These tablets are made for endurance
athletes and should have done the trick.
I drank it all. I also had one or
two GUs and some Power Bar gummies.
Other athletes will know what I mean by GUs and gummies. If you don’t, just take my word for it, it’s
what you are supposed to have – concentrated nutrition.
Well, it didn’t do the job.
My legs HURT. I took off my bike
shoes and put the running shoes on. Then I attempted to run. I saw a TEAMmate just a few yards away from
me and wanted to catch up with her. I
was very optimistic. There was NO WAY I
could run. Maybe I just had to walk the kinks out. I figured that I could walk the kinks out and
then start running. I HAD EXCRUCIATING
PAIN WITH EACH AND EVERY STEP. Each step
was a brand new torture, but I didn’t consider stopping. I did, however, consider crawling. My only consolation was that my TEAMmate was
walking in front of me not gaining any headway.
It felt good to know that wasn’t the only one walking.
When I got to the first aid station I asked the volunteers
how far I had gone. They said a
mile. You would think that it would have felt
like more than a mile to me, but for some reason it felt like less. That gave me great hope. If I could do this for one mile I could do it
for six point two. It wouldn't be fun, but I could do it. At the station
I had half a banana, Gatorade, a salt tablet and some bags of water. You read me right. They had these cool bags of water, about the
size and shape of a soda can. You just
bite the corner of them and squeeze the water into your mouth, or over your
head. The cool part about them is that
you can take them with you, unlike a paper cup of water. Well nourished and hydrated, I tried running
again, but I was just kidding myself.
Soon after that we got off the road and onto a greenbelt
trail. I loved it. It went through a park with fields, streams, and wild flowers. What a pretty course! The next aid station was manned by Team In
Training. I was so happy to see the
purple. I had some similar food and nutrition
and picked up a purple grass skirt from a volunteer at the booth (I can only
assume the relative of a TNT participant).
I wore the skirt and continued on my way.
Another aid station, this one with an actual bathroom! (a luxury for endurance athletes) It had
running water, toilet paper and everything.
(It takes so little to please me.)
I just had to be careful of my purple skirt while in there. Don’t worry.
I was. More salt, more Gatorade
and more water and I continued on my way.
When we hit the three mile mark (or so) we had to turn
around and go back the way that we came.
At that point I began to see some of my TEAMmates that were doing the
Half Ironman. We cheered each other on,
they commented on my skirt, but we never stopped. I was walking and they were running. It was then that I noticed that my legs
didn’t hurt as much anymore. I attempted
to run and nothing terrible happened. I
ran for a little bit but then decided that it was hot, I was tired, and my time
was shot anyway so I should just walk and enjoy the day.
When I passed the TNT booth I returned my purple skirt,
chatted a little with the volunteers and refueled. Afterwards I felt plain and boring without my
purple skirt so I picked a flower, put it in my hair, and continued on my way. You should have seen the look of defeat of
my coach when he asked me where I got the flower and I told him that I picked
it. I guess that he trained me to be a
triathlete, but didn’t train me to be competitive.
At this point my toes were beginning to hurt, not cramping,
but blistering from rubbing the against my socks. I swear I could feel every fiber in the weave
of my socks. This was not fun. Trust me!
I’ve tried about six different brands of socks during my training and
ended up throwing the others out. These
were the only ones that didn’t bunch up on me.
Next time I will coat my toes with Vaseline to avoid the friction.
If the first mile of the run was short the last one was
excruciatingly long. I passed many, many,
many volunteers handing out water and directing traffic. I would like to thank them. They cheered me on as if I was the only
reason they were there that day. I was
hot and tired and my toes really burned.
Their cheerful attitude was a real pick-me up at that time. That, and the promise of beer, kept me
going. We passed the transition area and
had about a half (though some people said it was a full) mile to the finish
line.
On this stretch I passed other athletes, with their medal
and finishers shirt, going in the opposite direction. They had finished the race and were walking
back to pick up their bikes. They
cheered me on as well. Many of them told
me to “finish strong” not knowing that I was not walking out of sheer
exhaustion, but that I had been walking the entire way. I passed my coach, went up to the World’s Fair Park, across the street and into
the runway. (Is that what they call that final stretch of a race?) past the TNT
booth, there’s Rich cheering me on, and to the finish line. I heard my name and home town announced
over the loud speakers just as crossed. I stopped, posed for the camera and went to receive
my medal!
The guy handing out the medals heard that I was from Northport , NY Long Island ? Do I know where Kew Gardens Valley
Stream ? I just wanted to grab the medal and knock him down, but I got it eventually.
I am finished. Strange I don’t feel any different.
Just minutes later I was congratulated by a couple of my
TEAMmates. They wanted to know how I
felt. I wanted to know where the beer
was. THERE WAS NO BEER! I want my money back.
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