Last out of the lake, starting the cycling portion as others are finishing, run/walking the 5K, and crossing the finish line about an hour after the 2nd to last triathlete never felt so good

…….as long as I didn’t compare myself to anyone else.

In August 2017 I completed my first century ride after 5 years of working towards it.

In January 2018 I completed my first 5K doing run/walk intervals.

What’s next?  A triathlon of course.  After all, I had completed 2 of the 3 events and I swam a mile in high school to pass the lifeguard test, so the 750 meters should be easy, right?

I learned very quickly that the individual events stitched together in a triathlon was a very different challenge…..and at 50 years old my high school body for swimming that mile was not the body I had now.

I went to work.

I found the Salt Lake Tri Club and signed up for coaching with Adam Lee.  Good move.

Over 14 weeks I swam over 14,000 yards, ran and cycled and began a new lifestyle that started with a 4:30 or 5:00am alarm six days a week.

My daily routine was straight-forward — I worked out in the morning, went to work, came home via the gym and worked out again, went home, had dinner, paid a bill (or some other responsible adult task), and went to bed.  Repeat.

I had an additional challenge — I have lived with Type-1 diabetes for 39 years and had to learn how to balance my insulin requirements with my activity levels — a lot of trial and error.

After months of this schedule I felt ready.  I felt strong.  I almost felt like a real athlete.

First surprise — My insulin pump cracked 3 days before the triathlon and as a result was no longer waterproof.  My insulin pump has some artificial intelligence in it so it had been “learning me” for the last 14 weeks and I didn’t want to start a new insulin pump for the triathlon.  (Medical technology is amazing.)  I had to plan to disconnect my insulin pump for the swim and reconnect during transition.

On June 2, 2018 my alarm went off to begin my day.  Triathlon morning.  I told myself I had already won the day by getting up and going to the triathlon.  I felt my nerves and went through my morning routine exactly as I had practiced in my head.  Negative thoughts immediately started — “What am I doing?  What makes me think I can do this?  Would anyone notice if I didn’t show up?”  I let the thoughts play as I continued my preparations.  I grabbed my duffle bag and cycled to the lake.  At the transition area I set up my transition mat — a blue bag held all that I needed for the swim, red for the cycling transition, and yellow for the 5K transition.  I also set up my medical supply needs in a brown bag — my pump, insulin needles in case my pump failed, a bottle of insulin, honey packets for low blood sugars, my blood sugar testing equipment, etc.  I was ready.  Time to put on the wet suit.

After listening to the morning announcements, rules of the road and the triathlon, stood for the National Anthem, and walked to the dock for the Sprint Triathlon.

As I stood at the dock I felt my nerves again.  I chatted with my coach (Thanks coach Adam Lee) about everything except the triathlon ahead of me.  I had to focus on something else or my nerves would get the best of me.

When it was my turn I walked to the end of the dock and stopped.  The race folks told me to step off the pier.  I started to squat as if to sit on the end of the pier and push myself into the water.  They stopped me and insisted that I needed to merely step off the pier.

Second surprise — As mentally ready as I was, my body began to shake and my eyes started crying.  I didn’t want water inside by goggles from tears so I took a deep breath and stepped into the water.  It was “GO” time.  There was no turning back.

My body floated to the top of the water easily.  I knew my wet suit would support me in my efforts…..not necessarily help me, but support me.

I started to swim.  Water got into my mouth.  I didn’t want to experience that again, so I determined that I would not try to swim freestyle again during this triathlon.

I also said to myself, “Let’s do this so that I never have to do it again.  This will be my first and only triathlon, so let’s get it done.”

I traded off breast-stroke and side stroke.  I rolled over on my back to back stroke under the bridge.  Each stroke seemed to only advance me a centimeter or two.  It felt like I was hardly moving.  I kept looking back at the pier to make sure I was moving further away.  I was.

I kept saying to myself, “Just keep moving forward.  That’s all I have to do all day…..even if it is slow I will move forward.”

A woman on a paddle-board came up next to me and chatted with me.  It kept my mind occupied on conversation and fun rather than how difficult the swim was.  I had been practicing in the pool at the gym and had been swimming 875 yards 4 times a week to get ready for the 822 yards (750m) I needed to do at the triathlon.  It seemed longer and slower than I had practiced.  As much as I hated those early morning workouts, I was grateful for them as I inched my way through the swim.

Soon a boat came up behind me with men ready to support any swimmer having difficulty.  Apparently that was me.  They offered to let me hold on to the edge of the boat if I needed to rest.  I let them know the offer was tempting but I knew if I stopped I might not start again, so I let them know that even though I was slow I intended to swim the whole thing.  The woman on the paddle board also offered to let me rest on the side of the paddle board if I needed to and pointed out parts of the lake that were shallow if I needed to stop.  Again, I thanked her and kept swimming.

Without my glasses on I could not see the buoy I needed to swim around, so my new paddle boarding friend went several yards in front of me so that I could follow her rather than miss the buoy.  I was very grateful.

I spoke to the men in the boat and joked by asking them why they had turned the current off in the lake.  They assured me that as soon as I rounded the buoy they would turn it back on to high speed.

We joked back and forth for awhile.  My swim became a party, and I was having a good time.  I was the only swimmer left in the lake by a long shot and at one point it looked like someone was going to take the buoy down because they thought everyone was done with the swim.

The men in the boat called ahead and let the race team know that there was still a swimmer in the lake.  Thank you race team for keeping the course open and letting me continue.

A mother duck with ducklings approached me.  Apparently I wasn’t fast enough to intimidate them so they swam along side me for awhile.

Lessons learned — Swimming in open water takes a lot longer and feels a lot slower than swimming in a pool.  Swim longer and harder than you think you need to when training.

Don’t get discouraged when everyone passes you.  Don’t get discouraged if you are the only one still swimming.  Turn the event into a party.  By the time I came out of the water there was a boat behind me and 3 paddle boarders around me.  It was a full escort parade to the beach.  We were talking an laughing, which helped me not focus on how hard I was working.

When I got out of the water, my bike was the only one still in the transition area.

Great!  No issues trying to find my bike.

I tested my blood sugar and found that I was at 214 — normal is 80 – 120.  214 is not bad when you are planning to continue through more endurance events.

Lesson learned — Even though I thought I had prepared for every potential challenge, I realized that I had not planned ahead to leave blood testing equipment or a snack with the men in the boat so that if I had a problem during the swim I could have held on to the side of the boat to test my blood sugar and/or have a snack if my blood sugar was low.  Now that I knew there was a boat I could plan accordingly for next time.  What?? Next time???  NO, I told myself.  I am doing this triathlon so that I never have to do one again.

As I started the bike portion of the triathlon, people who were going twice the distance I was were already coming back into the transition area.  I reminded myself to not be discouraged.  As I started pedaling other triathletes who were coming back from their course shouted words of encouragement.  That felt good and helped me feel like I could keep going.  As I approached an intersection the policeman there looked surprised when he saw me and asked, “Are you part of this race???”  I assured him that although it may not look like I was racing, I was part of this event and was racing myself and my own limitations.  He gave me more encouragement and I kept going.  The long slog up to the copper mine was slow.  As I watched my odometer read 1.9 mph I wondered at what speed my bike would fall over.  I kept pedaling.  At one point during the ascent I got of the bike as my calf started to cramp up.  I had to keep moving forward so I walked a few feet as I downed a Hot Shot to help relieve the cramping.  Got back on the bike (yes, even while the road was still in an ascent) and moved forward with more energy.  No more policemen at the intersections.  I assumed that the course was closing around me.  As my brain started to throw a small pity party, I promised myself that it didn’t matter if the finish line was there or not — I was going to finish this race.

As I came back into the transition area, I heard the awards ceremony happening and thought “I was too slow.  I missed the triathlon and may not get to do the 5K.”

I remembered my promise to myself to finish and went through the transition for the 5K.  My husband stood outside of the gated area and called to me.  I realized that I had forgotten to take my cell phone with me during the bike portion for my husband to check my progress during the triathlon.  When he checked his phone he assumed I had crossed the finish line and was waiting for him there.   When I saw him I let him know that I had not yet crossed the finish line and I still had the 5K to do.  He said, “That’s okay.  I will go around the lake with you.”  I panicked.  I told my husband that the rules were that I could not have anyone join me for any part of the triathlon as that was called pacing and would be disqualified.  My husband laughed and asked, “Disqualified?  You are last.  What can they do to you?  Disqualify you from the Ironman?  Too late.  Let’s make this last stretch fun.”

I tested my blood sugar to make sure everything was okay for me to continue.  The meter read that I was over 400 — probably because of the time I was swimming without my insulin pump.  I gave myself a shot of insulin just in case my pump wasn’t working and I started putting on my running shoes.  My husband got distracted while I transitioned and I started the 5K.  I ran a bit and found my legs felt like lead.  My blood also felt like sludge in my veins due to the high blood sugar, so I walked and ran.  One of the Paramedics on a bike came up to me to make sure I was okay.  I started walking and apologized that I was slow and keeping him from enjoying Saturday with his family.  He encouraged me and let me know that there was no where he needed to be except to end the triathlon with me.  I was grateful.

My husband caught up to me and let me know he was proud of me for training for this triathlon and for all the work I had put into it.  It made me feel good even though I was fighting my brain that kept trying to make me feel discouraged.

Another triathlete, Lauren Salko who is a professional skier, seasoned triathlete, and also lives with Type-1 diabetes, came up to me on her bike (she had taken 3rd place in the triathlon) and shouted, “Here’s where the party is!  I want to join you.”  She then walked and ran with us and we truly did make the 5K a party with laughter and jokes and fun.  Thank you Lauren for going around the lake again (2 during her Olympic triathlon and 1 additional time to join me).  You really made the time go by in a fun way.

My blood sugar came back to a normal range and as we approached the last part of the 5K I shouted that I wanted to do a photo finish, so I started running and headed for the finish line.

Coach Adam Lee, as well as a few other dedicated folks were there to cheer me on. They kept the finish line open for me!  The realization hit me that I was about to complete a triathlon!!  I was grateful that I was allowed to cross the finish line in spite of the fact that I was slow and probably was an hour behind the last person to cross the finish line before me.

I shouted to the announcer that it was my understanding that the person who stayed on the course the longest was the winner.  Right??

The announcer told me I was the winner in his book, and gave me several prizes….some of which may have been leftovers from the break-areas, but I didn’t care.  I had finished!

I started the triathlon telling myself that I was going to do this so that I never would have to do it again.

I ended the triathlon feeling the adrenaline rush that comes with doing something really hard and crossing the finish line.

Lessons learned — Participate in your race at your pace.  Keep moving forward no matter what set-back comes your way.  Make the entire event an adventure full of laughter.  Realize that being at the back of the pack is where the inspiration is.  Use the opportunity at the back of the pack to meet new people, to thank the volunteers, and to shout encouraging words at everyone around you.

How do you finish your first triathlon?  You just start.