Chula Vista Sprint
Today was the Chula Vista Sprint Triathlon. To be honest, I haven't been this nervous about a race in a really long time. Due to the water temperature being so warm, this race would not be wetsuit legal. You could still wear the wetsuit but you wouldn't be eligible for ranking, USTA points, or the race series points. I knew I hid no way of placing in the top three of my division because my running isn't where it usually is but I wanted the points. Problem is, I hadn't swam without a wetsuit in over a year and a half. I really didn't know if I could swim that far without a wetsuit anymore....I was afraid I was going to feel like I was going no where and start to panic....but I also wanted the challenge...weird I know...I wanted the mental and physical challenge....so when I packed my gear last night, I didn't pack my normal lava pants.
On the 30 minute drive to Chula Vista, I debated in my head the whole way if I should throw the lava pants in my gear bag just in case...I didnt.
I set up bike, layed out all my swim, bike run gear, and thought about going back to the van to get my lava pants and that's when I saw Virginia
I had unofficially met her on Saturday at the xterra booth when we were both buying lava shorts. We officially met this morning. This is one of the reasons that I love this sport. The community and friendships that have developed. We chatted for awhile and she asked about my tri kit and so I had an opportunity to share a little about my journey.
Then it was time to get body marked and I was off to see my friends Bruce and Skip who were volunteering as body markers. There energy was infectious and made me laugh and take my mind off of "what if I panic during the swim?"
I go back to where my gear was, dig out my keys, and decide to go get the lava pants, just in case. I leave transition, walk about a block, and think to myself, "suck it up! You can totally do the swim without your beloved lava pants" I turn around and walk back to transition.
Part of the problem is you have to get there so early to set up and depending on what wave you are in you can 2 to 2.5 hours of hurry up and wait time...idle time is not good for me...my mind starts spinning at times.
I'm going to skip over the next thing that happens as I want to go more into detail and I'm waiting on a photo but I'm telling you, it is an awesome story to share.
I head over closer to the swim start and I see Anne-Marie....she is a local woman who has been a part of Living Instead of Existing community for a while now. I was able to briefly meet her in Solana Beach a couple of weeks back. I was able to sit down and visit with her and her friends. I found out she runs my pace and so hopefully we will be able to meet up for runs. The time visiting with them helped calm me down. At that point, it was getting closer to my start time. Nauseous with nerves, I meet up again with my fellow Athena athletes and we wait for our start time.
The rest of the race was a blur lol...I made it through the swim, I didn't panic, and I did better than I thought I would, the bike was ok...I had some weirder mechanical issue going up a small hill and had to get off the bike and walk up, at the top of the hill, I checked the bike and everything seemed ok (no clue why the pedals completely locked up and I couldn't turn the cranks) I lost valuable time there but was back on the road and then run...the run was the run but what made it bearable was thinking about the events of the morning, the new people I had met, and knowing I had friends out there raving with me and others cheering us along.
Another fun race done and in the books. Only 2 more races left in this 6 race series for the year. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.