RACE DAY!

Sunday, August 26th: Race Day

So as I said before, I was up around four waiting for my alarm to go off. Finally, it went off and I got up. I took a shower, careful to avoid washing off my sweet body marking. Gathering all my junk, I left the room while sucking down my protein shake. I stopped at the hotel breakfast room and took a banana on my way out also.

I got to the race site and parked way farther away then I needed to. The volunteers weren't down far enough to direct incoming athletes and my spectators got better parking then me.

Entering transition, I was glad that I preplanned my gear/area. Some women had so much stuff I couldn't imagine hauling all that junk back to my car.


My Transition Area

I set up my transition. While juggling my gear I stepped on my banana (still in the peel) and did all sorts of other clumsy things. One of the girls next to me put a balloon on the rack, to help her find her stuff. It's a smart idea and it helped (me) a lot.

I also met a really sweet girl named Kim whose bike was right by mine, and she suggested that I actually improved my banana by stepping on it (it would be easier to digest pre mashed) and since it was her first time racing as well, we kind of stuck together. All too soon it was time to exit transition and wait for the race to start. I was really nervous and apologized in advance to anyone starting near me, just in case I threw up on them.



Flexing for my cheering squad prerace
 

The asphalt of the parking lot was pretty tough on my feet. Walking barefoot seemed to aggravate my heels but I could barely feel anything but my heart pounding at this point. As we were corralled into the start bay, I spotted my own personal cheering crew and I'm not too proud to admit I started to cry. Not an all out snot nosed crazy cry, but a few nervously excited tears certainly escaped.



HIGH FIVE!

                                                                 

Sally Edwards was there as we waded into the water, encouraging us right up to the countdown of our wave. 5...4...3...2...1... and we were off. The swim distance seems much longer laid out in an out and back swim. At the gym, 10 laps in a 25 meter pool isn't that scary. I avoided being pulled under by a fellow racer and managed not to bump into too many people. The wave before us was wearing pink caps and I am happy to report I noticed that I passed a few of them. Before I even had time to think, I was past the turnaround and hitting the beach again. A wonderful angel of a volunteer took my hand as I dragged myself up the beach and she steadied me as I regained my footing. I gingerly trudged toward my bike, getting a high five from my dad.

Leaving for the Bike

I took my time in transition, not that I had much choice. It was hard to keep my balance while standing. I was sprayed the sand off my feet and then put my socks and shoes on. I threw on my race belt (If you ever decide to race, these are awesome. Instead of safety pinning your number to your clothes you attach the number to the belt, clip it on and go), my sunglasses, and my ever important helmet and got my ass in gear. I left the transition area to start the bike and besides the faster cyclists passing me, I found it to be really peaceful. It was a really nice morning and I enjoyed the ride.

Running to the Finish Line

Of course, there was a terrible hill right before the turnaround and I felt like I could have jogged my bike up faster, but I made it in pretty decent time. I got back to the transition, re racked my bike, took off my helmet, and grabbed some water on my way out to the run course. I spent a lot of time walking sorta fast, but I made my tired legs jog a few times using trees as distance gauges. Like, "Okay I'm gonna run from this tree to the next big tree". Once I got to the turn around on the run, I was feeling pretty good. You can see the end of the course from the turn around and it made the distance easier to handle. Kait and Danny were waiting right before the finish and as soon as I saw them I sprinted to the finish line. I yelled at Kait while I passed because she started to cry and I was trying not to. Before you pass over the final mat, you hit a small one that brings your name up on a computer and as you finish, the announcer says your name. As I passed the finish line the announcer said, "Carrie Rader, Evergreen Park's Finest". I was handed a medal and an ice cold bottle of water. I felt amazing, exhausted, and proud all at the same time. I WAS A TRIATHLETE! I FINISHED! All my hard work paid off and I was done.

HELL YEAH!

After the race, there were hugs all around and I just kinda wandered around waiting for my heart to stop racing. Luckily, my wonderful support crew lead me to the "goodie bag" area, the fruit/bagel tent, and then to the Danskin Apparel tent where they bought me a really nice tri t-shirt. We made our way back to the transition area and I gathered up my gear and waited for the volunteers to let us take our bikes out.

Then I realized just how far away I parked and I'm sure between walking back to the transition then my car I added another mile to my day. Back at the hotel, I was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my family and I was able to shower before we checked out. The shower was almost as good as the flowers and our post race brunch was really nice too.

All this happened between 4:40am and 11:30am on Sunday morning. Who knew so much awesomeness could happen in such a short time.



My Victory Flowers

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