I did it!!

The first one is under my belt now.

I got up at 4am. I needed to catch the 5:10 ferry out of here. I hate setting the alarm because, for some reason, I feel the need to be checking the clock all night. As a result I got two to three hours of sleep. The more I checked, the more I got frustrated with myself and the longer it took to get back to sleep. Of course, as expected, I woke about five minutes before the alarm went off as well.

I headed for the ferry, deciding to forego any "big" breakfast. That particular ferry is the first out. No problem with late boats that early, right? Wrong! It was so frustrating to see the ferry coming from Bainbridge, Bremerton, or Seattle...somewhere south, at about 5:10. Then the crew changes, and NO ONE moves fast. It is a very slow meandering up the ramp, into cars and leaving. All the while we sit. (And the ferry system feels the need to cut runs because it will help the "on time" status. Yeah, right.

We finally get under way and I head for my son's house for a quick once over of the bike and a carpool to the lake. I can hardly contain my excitement. Seriously. We set up our transition area and I decide what to do about getting out of the water. I decide to park the leg down at the water line rather than crutches as the transition point is far enough away that I would be even more wiped out by the time I got to the bike. I invited my son to play McGyver on the left wetsuit leg, which is now short enough that I can get my leg on and off with the suit on. Yes!!

The water leg (uh, maybe "part" is better, eh?) was pretty uneventful. I am slow. Never under distress, just friggin' slow. Arghh. Coming toward the exit I began to cramp in the long side leg. When I got to the bike and tried to get the wetsuit off both my foot and my calf cramped up hard. Ow! Son helped remove the suit while I massaged the leg and got ready for the ride. Just under ten miles. I had the world's best coach following me telling me to "gear down two gears" or "gear up." A couple of times I needed to get off and walk up a hill. Towards the middle of the second lap it sunk in. Cadence. I needed to keep a rhythm going and shift gears accordingly. About that point I also realized that I had a run coming up. Would I have anything left to give the run? My legs were feeling a bit like Easter jello. The volunteers were amazing and kept me going. My kids and grandkids and family made me cry. I used that to keep going. I did the run, and finished the race. Not quickly, by any stretch, but not last either. I never heard my name announced as I was hugging my son and crying. I can't believe I ate the whole thing...

I haven't got the pictures as of yet and will share at a later time. The best part? While I am sleepy, I am not that tired. Time will tell what tomorrow will bring. It was a bit odd to be heading out at 10:30 knowing that "normal" people were just getting their Saturday going. I, on the other hand, had just done a triathlon.

G2