I did it!! I finished my triathlon!! My official time is 1:42:10!

Now for the details of how the weekend went down. This will be a long post so consider yourself warned!!

Friday, Wendy and I drove down (separately because she was staying Fri night and I was not) to get our hair dyed. We were really pumped. We got there about 5:45, and the place had already shut down!! They were supposed to stay open until 7:00 so we were really bummed and I wasted a trip, but oh well. I picked up my registration packed just so that the drive wouldn’t be completely useless. There were so many stickers to put on things!! 1 went on the bike stem or brake cable, 1 on each side of the swim cap, 2 stuck together to go on the race belt, or you could place 1 on the front of your top and the other on the back (I used a race belt), 1 went on your transition bag, 1 on the bike helmet, and there was one that you could give to somebody to wear. Kevin got mine. Plus that allow the other person into the transition area before and after the race to help set up, carry, ect. Anyways, I drove back to B-ham and Kevin and I chilled with some friends.

Sat woke up about 9, got all packed up, and ready to go. I discovered at this point that my sunburn was looking much better and I felt that I’d be able to wear a wetsuit without any problems. Left about 11:30 so we didn't get to Tuscaloosa until 12:30 so the elite women competing in the Olympic trials were already in the bike portion. I was just blown away by these women. They were so fast. It really was amazing. They did double the course that we did - 1.5k (.93 mi) swim, 40k (25 mi) bike, 10k (6.2 mi) run - and the women finished in about 2 hours and the men were under 2 hours. I was so amazed. These men and women really were on a different level. It was just so cool to watch!!

So we watched the elite women then the elite men. One of the women collapsed at the finish line. The transitions were so smooth that it really didn't look like they even stopped. I learned quite a lot just from watching these amazing athletes.

Then we went to Mug Shots for dinner. It was Kevin and me, Wendy, and her parents. I ate a burger! Mmmm. Hehe. Then Kevin and I went to see Smart People. It was okay. Then we went to one of Wendy's friend's condo and slept. I was in bed by... 10:15 I think.

Woke up at 5:20 Sun morning, got everything ready to go. I ate my breakfast of whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, a banana, and 1 L of water. Got up to campus by 6:20. We set up our transition area. This is me mid-sentence.



1 hour before race start I chugged a G2 (lite Gatorade basically). I used the bathroom several times that morning, including once in the lake (TMI?? Hahah ) but it was never a problem on the rest of the course.

Then we signed in. I was bib number 221. So I had 221 written down both arms, the front of my right thigh, the outside of my left thigh, and my age written on the back of my left calf. We also picked up our ankle strap and official timing chip. There were 276 people participating. This is us with a look on our face that says “Really? Are we really about to do this??” Haha



I stretched then smeared down in body glide with sunscreen and put on my wetsuit.



Then we went down to the pier. This is us going good gosh it’s cold. I can’t believe I’m actually about to get in this!!



It was an in water start since there were so many of us. The boys started at 8:00.



And the girls started at 8:04. And we’re off!!



The swim was harder than I expected. Maybe I didn’t have enough practice with my suit on. Maybe it was just because I was swimming so much faster than I did in practice. I guess I just saw all these people swimming so fast around me and I felt like I should be even with them. I probably did about 1/2 of the distance backstroke. My swim time was 19:35.

Then getting out of the water was soo soo hard. I felt like lead. It was hard to keep my legs moving forward toward the transition area. But I did.



I transitioned pretty well. We had to get out, go up a small hill, and climb some stairs to get to transition. My T1 time was 2:34. I hopped on my bike and was off!



There were a lot of police and volunteers keeping the roadways safe for us.



So I caught my breath and got to feeling pretty good on the bike. I really pushed myself and felt good about my 46:33 time. I drank 1/2 Liter of Gatorade and about 1/4 Liter of water while on the bike.

Again, I thought the transition from bike to run went pretty well. My time there was 2:20. No hills or stairs in T2 thank goodness!!



Then I was off for the run!



During the run I started feeling pretty sick. I was kinda afraid I was going to puke a few times, but I managed to keep it together. I had a goo pouch in my top but I never felt good enough to eat it. At the second water station I was feeling so gross that I couldn’t even take any liquid. Then first lap was so hard (the run was two 1.5-mile laps). My legs were so heavy and I was definitely having trouble keeping my legs moving forward, but I did! My the third water station I took some water and that probably helped. The second lap felt a lot better. There were some boys in Speedos (and nothing else!) on the side of the run track cheering us on. It was hilarious and helped take my mind of the pain of the run for several seconds. My run time was 32:10.



I actually found within me somewhere the strength to sprint the last little bit of the run, and across the finish line!!!!



It was such a wonderful feeling!! It’s hard to explain how great it feels to finish something that you have worked so so hard for. I felt completely zapped and like I was going to throw up, but I finished it, and it was fantastic!!!

This is the first time my body was not in motion in 1:42:10.

(Continued because my post is so ridiculously long!!)

A guy wanted my ankle time chip back, and I was like okay and kinda moved my ankle towards him. Haha. Kevin said everybody did that though.



There were donut holes, bagels, bananas, muffins, and water at the finish line. I could only drink water for a while. I kept hacking these deep chest coughs and it was quite disturbing. People were definitely staying out of my way in case an eruption followed the horrible sounding coughing. I waited in that area for Wendy to finish.



She finished 1:51:13. We can now call ourselves triathletes!!!



We were exhausted. Kev and I grabbed some lunch at Jimmy John’s (excellent sandwich shop) then headed home. I took an amazing shower and slept for 2 hours. Then I called parents, siblings, and grandparents to let them know how I did.

Here’s a link to the race results. I finished 31 of 34 - that’s 34 individual (not collegiate) women who finished the race. About 50 people total did not finish/did not show up.

I am very proud of myself and Wendy! And I have already started planning ways to improve for the next race!!

Thanks for all the support from everyone here!! I’m not sure if I would have stuck to my training and routines without all of your help!!

Great Job Rachael!

WOW! I am so inspired! It looks like such a good time!

YOU ARE THE BOMB!

Thanks so much for posting all about it--and the pics, icing on the cake!

I'm so damn proud of you I'm actually tearing up as I type this. I think you're awesome Rachael and I know that this is only the start of a whole new and ground breaking life for you.

It'll be such a treat to read about your next tri and the next, and the next and to see the improvements and changes in your spirit and in your body.

I just can't tell ya how happy I am for you, and again how proud I am, knowing how hard it was for you to push yourself harder than you likely ever have.

THANKS FOR SHARING THE MAGIC WITH US HERE, MA BELLE, THANKS!!!



Yer fan,

M.

I can't wait to get home, so I can see all your pictures!!! CONGRATS Rachael on a super-duper job!!!!!

How cool is that!!!

Awesome stuff!! We're all so proud of you!!

PS: You look so cute in that second pic!

Congrats, Rachael!! That is so awesome! So inspiring!! So proud of you...LOVE all the pics, too!

Thanks so much everybody!!! I am so very proud of myself!! When I decided to do this thing, the title of the post I wrote about it was "So I can barely run 5k but I'm gonna tri" (or something to that effect) and now I can run 5k after finishing some grueling swimming and biking. If someone had told me that I could do something like this last fall, I would have said "Who in their right mind would put themselves through something like that??" But now I can't imagine not doing another one!!

I'm so glad that everybody loves the pics! I just keep looking at them at work today! I love it!!

omg thats so crazy!!!

I am so proud of you!

1:42:10
you beat me by more then 10min!

Just awesome job.

Awsome Job Rachel!

love the pictures.

I want to be like Rachel!

Sven, maybe a little competition will speed you up! Haha.



Noonie, you have no idea how good that makes me feel!!! You are so sweet!!!

Oh, I just glanced back at my post, and somehow I typed in my T2 time incorrectly. It was 1:20.

So next year a sprint again? or olympic? ^^

Interesting question!! And it's one I've given some thought too. And I really don't see any reason why I couldn't work up to an Olympic length over the next year.

rachael-thanks so much for sharing! amazing job!! i am so happy for you. i loved the pics and all of the details. it felt like i was there right with you going through the whole thing. i am very excited for you. keep up the amazing work!!!

Thanks Jenn! I'm glad I could share the experience with all of you guys!

Why the crying face Another Dave?

Rachael, thanks for sharing this. I am going to do one of these some day!! Im sure you must have learnt so much from this experience !! So exciting!!!

Tears of joy (or envy)

Congrats!! Amazing accomplishment!

Grats you! Keep up the good training!

Isn't it amazing how you feel after finishing up your goals?

Impressive!

Congratulations!!!!!!

Wow girl! That was awesome!!! So proud of you - you set a goal and stuck to it and succeeded big time!!!

I am also envious - I would love to have the opportunity to try a sprint tri! The only one close to me is a world class olympic one. Guess if I want to I'll have to google one and plan a holiday around it!

Once again - You are awesome and love the details and pictures!!!

aaaaaaaaaaaah!!! you rock so much. congrats.

One word:

AWESOME.

You rock my socks off Mrs. McCarty!

WOW!! That is inspiring. Congrats on completing the triathlon. I would love to do one in the future!

RACHEL, YOU ARE AWESOME!

Thank you so much for sharing your story and your gorgeous little pictorial 'timeline' - how cool!

God Bles you Rachel awesome job.