Metroman Asbury Park

In July 2009 I participated in my first triathlon.  I wasn't nervous until the night before.  I woke up in the middle of the night worrying about the swim portion of the race.  Which, when you think about it, is kinda silly.  I've been a swimmer all my life, you would think that would be the easiest part for me.  & it usually is, but it was in the ocean.  Where the fish & other creatures live.  Earlier in the Spring I swam a mile swim in the Navesink, that was a little weird too.  Not to mention that a day or two later I had a nasty ear infection, yuck!  Lap swimming in the pool is pretty straight forward, you swim to one end, do a flip turn & go back.  & in a pool, you can see everything.  In the river or ocean, you can see about 3 inches in front of your face.  & you're getting kicked & slapped the whole time. 

I was up super early, but of course felt like I was rushing around & late.  I had packed all my stuff, including my bike into the SUV, which wasn't very easy as this was before I had the bike rack.  & nothing irritates me more than not having things in the right place.  I may be messy, but it's messy organization!  I think I got down to Asbury Park around 6:45, I was worried that the transition area would close before I got my stuff in there.  When I took the bike out of the car Mike looked at me & said your tires are flat.  FLAT!  OMG!  I had a tiny air pump.  I had never seen valves on a bike like this either.  I was panicked.  I didn't know what to do or how I was going to get air in my tire.  We tried to pump it up & we thought it was good enough.  We wheeled the bike over into the transition area (yes, I know athletes only in the transition area, but come on, I was a newbie) and there was an entire tent devoted to checking bikes.  PHEW!  They took one look at my freshly pumped up tires & said - your tires are flat.  Who knew?  Ha ha.  So a few quick pumps with the fancy floor pump & I was as good as new.

Then back to the transition area.  Then off to find Doug for my Sandy Hookers shirt.  OK, got all my gear & now I'm back into the transition area for what feels like the 5th time.  & now I have my timing chip on & people are screaming at me "DO NOT WALK ACROSS THE MATS WITH YOUR TIMING CHIPS ON!!"  Huh?  Oh, that's me.  Yeah, I almost did it like 4 times.  Poor Mike, he was like, they're talking to you!  What a good coach he was!  Up at that early on a Sunday morning holding my peanut butter & jelly sandwich, but I digress.  So after I get my stuff into what seems like the most crowded spot ever I start to worry....wetsuit or no wetsuit?  Doug's wife says to me, you should swim w/ your wetsuit on, I always do.  OK, if you say so that's good enough for me.  Any advice at this point seems good.  I look around & at some point I see my friend from college Christie.  She's a pro at these triathlons, so I was relieved to see her.  Then I see my friend Chris & I'm starting to feel more at ease.

After the transition area closes we make our way down to the beach & the dreaded ocean swim.  After we start I try to relax & get into a swimming grove until I realize that everyone in my wave/age group has an orange cap on & guess what?  The bouys are orange.  Holy crap!  OK, lets just focus on the pack of people & the big bouy way far away.  After what seems like an eternity in the water, and no fish seen I may add, we exit & make it up off the beach & into the transition area.  Now I know I'm not going to win this thing & my main goal is to finish, so I take my time, eat my PB&J & wait for Chris to come out of the water. 

The bike part went great - I think it was about 12 miles through Deal to Lake Takanassee, it was a breeze & Chris & I passed a lot of people.  Back to the transition area & back to the boardwalk for a run.  The run was pretty good.  I definitely did lose steam at the end, but I made it!!!!  & it was the best 5k time I have ever done, so I was glad to cross the finish line & see my mom, Mike, Cathy, the brat & the beast waiting for me.  I even got a good slobbery kiss from the beast.  Bleck.  Somewhere there is a picture of me finishing.  I'll have to find it!