Sunday, July 27, 2008

I Am A Triathlete

Despite waking up at 4am to the sounds of thunder and lightning, having my bike number fly off my bike on the highway while traveling to the race, and getting to the site late and panicking when I couldn't locate my bike after an absurdly long line for the bathroom, today turned out to be awesome.

I finished the Danskin Triathlon in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 36 seconds. And it didn't rain once during the race.

I swam in coldish water and felt OK, doing a combination of breaststroke and crawl. I biked up some tough hills and coasted down the other side. About 400 people passed me on my bike, while I passed perhaps four people. I walked for much of the walk/run part, but was able to jog at the end where my family was watching and taking photos and I sprinted to the finish line. 

My sugars were pretty crazy throughout, which hasn't been typical during my eight weeks of training. I started out this morning around 168, bolused for an oatmeal, berry and almond breakfast, then bounced around into the 200s before the race. In between the swim and bike, I was over 300, and I bolused and checked again after the bike. Still high. I bolused again and was 105 after the race. Adrenalin and stress--what can I tell you? Just correct and move on. 

I'm now considering doing another sprint tri in September. And this is from someone whose natural inclination has been to lie in bed, read, eat, and drink diet Coke. But training for this race and finishing was just fantastic. I highly recommend it!

14 comments:

Minnesota Nice said...

Wow, Lyrehca - congratulation!
Could you please give us some updates on Baby L? Like, what's he getting into these days?

Anne Findlay said...

Congratulations!! I'm glad you enjoyed it and are considering signing up for another!

I have often experienced the pre-race BG spike and I think it is quite common. This does not happen during training and I'm pretty sure it's anxiety-related. The mind just knows you are about to race! It is curious to me that you also had a spike after the swim because this has been one of my most consistent patterns.

Great job doing the training and congrat's on your fabulous race.
-Anne

If not a mother... said...

congrats!!

Antropóloga said...

Yay!

Shannon said...

What a feeling, right? Congratulations!!!!

Your natural inclincation is mine too and I've been indulging quite a bit lately. Got to get my butt moving again!!!

Chuck said...

I'm training to do my first sprint on Sept 7 in New Jersey!

Penny Ratzlaff said...

Good job!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

Nicole P said...

AWESOME!!!! :D

Scott K. Johnson said...

Way to go!

Anonymous said...

Inspirational!

Anonymous said...

Check out the web site, www.runsweet.com and the presentation at the Diabetes Exercise & Sports Assoc. Conf last July. Great information for Tri Athletes.

Sarah said...

L,
I remember that same feeling with the two half-marathons I completed. Training was amazing, having that goal in mind. Finishing the race, even with many ahead of me, was awesome. I gained so much self confidence and inner strength knowing that I could set a goal (like running 13.1 miles) and then meet that goal. Awesome stuff.

namaste said...

You are amazing. Congratulations!