I also got to know my amazing teammates even better last weekend, spending nearly every moment together. The most noteworthy being the Inspiration Dinner the night before the race. We were lucky enough to hear stories from cancer survivors that were incredible and heartbreaking at the same time. They reminded us why we worked hard to raise money and that we were lucky enough to have a choice to be out their racing (something I repeated to myself during the race, 'I'm lucky to be able to participate, and I chose to be here today.')
Race day was unreal, full of energy, incredible athletes, great friends and a whole lot of nerves. My mom was there too, and I was so glad to have her on the course cheering me on (even though I didn't see her once during my bike, and I'm convinced she went back to the hotel for a quick nap during that leg) ;)
It all started with the mile swim - which quite possibly could be one of the worst things I've ever done in my life. I was obviously not prepared for open water swim with hundreds of athletes. I'm not going to lie, before I jumped off the dock, I definitely shed a few nervous tears (not all that out of character for me). Once in the water, I made my way to back of the yellow swimcapped pack of girls. I didn't want to be by anyone - so I thought I'd hang back and swim my own race (good idea in theory). The gun went off and we started swimming to the 1st buoy that marked the rectangle course. I thought I was either going to throw up or have a heart attack right there in Town Lake. The water smelt like gasoline, it was so murky that you couldn't see anything in front of you until there was a foot right in your face. I tried to get into a groove, but all of a sudden the next heat (red swim caps) was passing me, and not too long after that a heat of guys (blue caps) was swimming on top of me. (One guy literally swam over me). I felt like I was in the water for at least 2 hours, and told myself I had to just make it out of the water so my mom doesn't think I drowned. I finally started to settle down and swim like a normal person (not too sure what my form looked like the first 1/2, but I'm sure it wasn't pretty). When I made it to the swim exit - there were guys that pulled you out of the water and up the ramp. When I got on the ramp I was so disoriented, and the only way I can describe how I felt is sloppy drunk. My head was spinning, and I couldn't really see anything..it got worse when the guys who pulled me out started yanking on the zipper of my wetsuit (I almost fell backwards) and I was too 'drunk' to tell them I can handle it myself, thank you very much. I took a quick look at my watch (a shocking 42 minutes, not the anticipated 2 hrs), and ran to the transition area.
When I got to my bike, I took off my wet suit, threw on my bedazzled TNT jersey, helmet, bike shoes and was off. The bike course was great - it was a loop course, so I did the same 6.25 mile loop 4 times. We went over a bridge, up around the capital building, and out on the highway. I felt really good and was booking it. I saw my Coach Paul at the same spot 4x, and on the 3rd time he was calmly clapping his hands, telling me I looked real good, really smooth and then all of a sudden he caught a glimpse of my nearly-full water bottles, and his octave changed, he started yelling, 'DRINK WATER - AMY, DRINK YOUR WATER!' I picked up a water bottle, gave him a cheers, and drank some..but not too much. Secretly, I was more worried about having to go to the bathroom while I was on my bike, rather than being dehydrated. When we asked our coaches, what if you have to go to the bathroom? Their answer was, 'just go on your bike', as if everyone does this and it's totally acceptable. My response was no sport is worth incontinence. I reminded them I was just a 'casual triathlete', and if I needed to go to the bathroom, I would find a Starbucks. I made it through the bike, without a pit stop, at a time of 1:30 for the 25 miles.
I then changed into my running shoes and was again on my way. The run course was also a loop course, but this time I wasn't excited about the loop, because on mile 3, when I started my 2nd and final loop, other participants were turning into the finish line, and I, sadly, still had another one to go. It was disgustingly hot and humid, and at every aid station I would take about 4 glasses of water and just dump them all on of my head. Even though I felt miserable, I was so happy to see the Team Johnson fan club - my friends from Houston - Jess, Kate, Zeke and Joe showed up to cheer me on, and I needed it at that point. My mom reappeared to cheer some more too (apparently she was on the same corner she was on the bike route, the corner where I was concentrating on not wiping out, so never saw her in the crowd). Around mile 4 when I saw my mom, I kindly directed / slightly yelled at her to go to the finish line. I knew I could get through the last couple of miles, but I needed to see her at the finish.
When I crossed the finish line it was kind of a bittersweet feeling, I had a sigh of relief, so glad it was over, but I also had a feeling of, this is it? I could do more. (which told me that maybe I should have ran a little harder) But I’m so happy to have a full Olympic Tri under my belt, and I know the areas I need to improve on before my next tri in June (basically all 3 - ha). I'm so grateful that I joined TNT, and so thankful I could run this race in memory of the strongest woman I know, my Aunt Jeri, who lost her long battle against cancer last year.
Thanks for all your support, for those still interested in donating to help find a cure - you can swing by my site: http://pages.teamintrainin
Many thanks,
Amy J
MY wife exercise at least 6 times a week. She personally wear nothing but front sports bra most of the time simply for the sheer comfort they provide.
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