Seattle Danskin, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bottom of Lake Washington

I'm not sure quite what happened. I started my race as usual -- donning wetsuit, cap, and goggles, poised towards the front, and feeling good. Sally Edwards started us off with a pep talk, we all cheered and high-fived one another until the sound of the air horn started us off. Then the normal chaos at the start of a triathlon ensued as everyone plunges herself face first in the water, furiously stroking, kicking, occasionally on top of one another, occasionally elbowing your neighbor. I'm used to this by now, so I was stroking and elbowing along with everyone else.

I remember the rest in flashes. A kick to the head. My goggles pushed to the side, water rushing in. A gasp for breath, getting only water. Seaweed wrapping itself around my ankle. Panicking suddenly. Realizing that accidents happen to good swimmers all the time, but it couldn't be happening to me. Sinking slowly. Fading to black.

Kidding! Totally kidding. I finished the swim in 14:16 and was 8th out of the water in my age group. Unfortunately, my parents didn't see me after I finished the swim, and I didn't see them either, so they never saw me for the rest of the race. I found my Mom about half an hour after finishing and she ran up to me and said, "I'm so glad to see you! I thought you were at the bottom of Lake Washington!" I guess she wasn't at all comforted when commenting that they hadn't been able to find me to a fellow spectator who responded, "Oh don't worry. They have divers that can go out and find people."

But as for the rest of the race, it went well! A personal best of 1:26:28, though it feels like I was cheating or something because the whole training at elevation and racing a sea-level definitely worked to my advantage.

I did the race "caveman style" - I didn't have a computer on my bike and I wasn't wearing a watch, so I had no idea how I was doing. I didn't feel easy, like "Wow, I'm Superwoman!" It felt difficult, but I could tell I was pushing pretty hard. Usually, I try to focus on my own race and not pay too much attention to what others are doing, but on the bike portion I was intent on passing as many people as I could. The bike course was AWESOME by the way! A quick jaunt over Lake Washington to Mercer Island in beautiful, sunny-but-not-too-hot weather. I averaged 19.5 mph. (After all the drama, the bike store was able to rent clipless pedals to me.)

The run was the first time in a while I had run without a watch. It seemed like I was taking forever, even though I could tell I was running pretty fast. I must breathe really heavy when I run, because often during races people in front of me will turn around and say, "Wow. You go girl!" Friends have told me that I look like I run fast, which I suppose is a good first step to actually running fast. But, I did run pretty fast that day, averaging 8:58 per mile. In the last half mile of the course there was a pretty steep uphill - no fun! But, at least there was a good downhill right after that, leading right into the finish line. When I finished, the announcer called my name and said, "She's all the way from Denver! The Mile High City!"

I thought maybe my family would have heard that and would see me cross the finish, but no such luck. I had given my brother (who came to the race with my uncle and cousin) a list of the times I would reach each critical juncture, but of course he forgot it, so they never found me either. But, since my doing this race was in large part an excuse to have a vacation and a nice mini-family reunion, it's not that big a deal that no one saw me during the actual race. It was a really nice visit all around and a great race! I finished 34th out of 222 in my age group, and 214th of 3714 overall.

I've been exhausted since I got back, so I haven't been training this week, and who knows what I'll be able to manage next week with the DNC (!!!) in town. I only have one more tri left this year . . . 24 Hours of Triathlon! (A) I'm NOT crazy and (B) yes I will write a more detailed post about what the race entails soon.