About two and a half weeks ago my cousin asked me to take her place in a team triathlon in Burley, Idaho....... so me thinking for only about a half second, like I usually do agreed......... I agreed to do the swim portion of the triathlon, which is almost a mile......... .97 of a mile to be exact. The swim was scheduled for Saturday the 6th and I found out about this adventure the Saturday before. A week to train to swim a mile.....ahhhh no biggie I can do it....... right? Well that is what I thought until thursday night (June 4) about 10 p.m. when I decided that I better make sure I could do it ....... well not even a half mile later my head was spinning and I felt as though my dinner was about to make a reappearance! I was scared *%$*less and had no idea why I had gotten myself into what I had. I couldn't even finish half of what I was had said that I would. The triathlon was going to to be in the Snake River so I knew that the current would help me a little, but how much? Well to make a long story not quite as long, saturday morning rolled around and after having about 4 hours of sleep and an uneasy stomach for the last 24 hours I jumped into my wetsuit and headed to the swim start. To my wonderful surprise (ok I kind of was expecting it) it turned out to be 48 degrees and raining! At this point I felt like I was going to pass out. I was the first leg of the race and I was going to disappoint the other girls horribly by not even finishing the swim. They would have woken up at 5 a.m. and driven to Burley for no reason. I think that I scared my cousin to death by telling her that I was worried I was going to die because I would get hypothermia and my muscles would cramp up and then I would drowned and no one would see me go under (thank you Joanna for all your support!) Anyhow she hesitantly dropped me off and drove away wondering if I would be seeing her again (not really but she was a little worried.) They played the national anthem and said a prayer and then I was off into the 60 degree water in the 48 degree air at 7:30 a.m. with the rain pelting my face. At first I couldn't even catch my breath because it was so cold, but once I got swimming I warmed up and the temperature wasn't even an issue. I could see the end point almost the whole swim and I had to just keep telling my self out-loud "you can do it, you can do it" and I did! I finished in 22 minutes. There were parts where I could touch and at the end I was crawling on my hands and knees on the river bottom panting, again, telling myself that I could do it and finally I got to the dock! It was such an adrenaline rush and I absolutely loved it!! I want to do it again!!! I don't know about doing the whole thing; biking for 25 miles and running for 6 right after that hellish swim doesn't seem too great to me, but the swim I did and I could do it again!! Anyone want to be on my team for next year?!?!?! I need a runner and a biker!! Well that is my latest accomplishment and I am darn proud of it!! It was so fun and once I finished I was so glad that I had done it even though I probably enhanced my production of gray hairs and wrinkles because of how stressed I was prior to the competition! AUGHHHHGHGHGH it was wonderful!!!!! I forgot how great it feels to push yourself until you feel like you are going to snap!
Pre swim picture. I felt like I was going to pass out and my heart was beating a million times a second. Why did I agree to this? (I know I am looking fine too, who doesn't feel beautiful in a swim cap?)
What, I still have to run?! Augh I can't breath though, can someone carry me?
It has just sunk in! I finished, I finished, holy hanna I finished!!!
This is my post swim, sore and tired as all heck picture at the end of the day!
