We did it!!!
I can't tell you how INSANE this weekend was. A BIG thank you to mom and Craig for helping us because without them, we wouldn't have been able to pull it off. Craig and I arrived at the parent's house at 2:35am Saturday morning. We were at the last show of the Coldplay tour late Friday night with the prior understanding that we were leaving at 10:15pm. The concert was fantastic, and definitely not over by that time, but seeing as how it took other people 2.5 hours to just EXIT the pavilion, we were thankful. I got us 80 miles out of DC and Craig took over. I passed out for almost 3 hours in the car, woke up, crawled into Melissa's bed, passed out for another 3 hours, woke up to a 5:45am alarm and packed the car in a frenzy.
Melissa didn't want to get out of bed and almost shit a brick when she saw her tri suit for the first time. "You want me to put WHAT in there??"
We're in the car driving out to Long Island. On the Belt, we see a car POINTING at us in the middle lane. Apparently, some kind of weird accident happened not too long ago, and it was just starting to back up. We passed it and pushed on to Jones Beach. We got to the Ampitheatre at 7:30. I thought it was too late, but a lot of people were arriving and getting set up at that time. The weather was cool and crisp, but the sun was starting to heat everything up. The thin layer of fog was lifting.
Craig and mom set up our stuff at the transition area. You need a whole boat load of crap in order to do a triathlon. Wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, towel, socks, bike shoes, helmet, gloves (optional), jacket (optional), running shoes, and gatorade to name a few. Melissa and I got marked and chipped. I had a big fat "69" written on the top of my right arm in permanent black marker. Aiee.
The race coordinator had the worst Brooklyn accent ever. He was briefing us as to what we needed to do when and how. I didn't hear anything. We made a beeline to the bathroom before even THINKING about putting on the wetsuits. By then, everyone was headed down the beach to the start.
We were able to get the wetsuits on easily this time. There were about 10 minutes to the start, so with goggles and light blue swimcaps in hand, we headed out. Walking barefoot through the parking lot and across the rough beach on the cold sand really hurt. By the time we got to the start, we were hurting pretty badly and could barely feel our feet. Some of the triathletes were going into the water so Melissa and I followed, and were pleasantly surprised by the water temperature. The first few yards were cold, but once we got in knee deep, the water actually got warmer as we headed in. We congregated with all the other <35 light blue swim caps and waited for our 8:06am start. They keep these things running on time. We were nervous. I could barely do anything let alone put coherent sentences together. Melissa kept her cool and grabbed my hand before we started. The next thing you know, we hear a horn and blue is charging forth into the water. We are close to the back of the pack and following through walking through the water until it's right below our ribs before we start swimming. The wetsuit does a great job of insulating you from the water except for when you immerse your butt and all of the inbetween spaces in the suit are filling up with water. It feels like you peed on yourself, especially when those pockets of water start heating up. We swam keeping our faces out of the water to see where we were going. Melissa was to my left. I couldn't sustain that posture since it was killing my neck so I copped out and swam freestyle which resulted in me swimming a sailboat zig zag (and probably an extra 800 meters) to shore. When I looked right to breathe, I saw the kayak which is BAD. The lifeguards in kayaks are basically herding us close to the line, so if you're next to one, you're waaay out.
I didn't even think about correcting my swim path because I was stressed about possibly never making it back to shore, and drowing, and just getting frustrated in general. We were overtaken by the pink and green groups which was scary. I floated dead in the water and waited for them to go. When you're trying to swim next to someone who is thrashing, you don't feel like you're going anywhere, and I was having enough trouble going nowhere by myself!
More swimming. God, does this ever end? Then, I breathe right and see giants. I can get up now! Yes!!! Yes yes yes. But oh, no no no, my calves are cramping. Ouch. A baby wave hits my backside and I almost fall over. I was shaking and fatigued. I can't even walk straight back onto the shore. Most of the athletes are RUNNING. Running. Can you believe that? Holy god. I'm waddling, muscles failing, and now I have to get onto a goddamned bike? What was I thinking??
I see mom and Craig standing on the shore and I should be happy and I am happy to see them, but I can't really express that seeing as how my FACE IS MELTING OFF. Even my face is too tired to stay on. I walk by and ask, "Is Melissa out yet?" "No, not yet." Need to get back to the transition area which is 0.3 miles away. I'm so dead that I don't even feel the sand on my feet, or the shell shards cutting into me.
Another surprise enroute to the transition area. "Go number 69!! WOOOO!!!!" It's V and Germs. Cool! But um, I can't move any faster to the bike. I'm wiggling out of the wetsuit and it comes off easily. I put on my socks, and Melissa shows up. She says the swim was fine. Doggie paddled the whole way. "I was following you," she says, "But then you started going all here and there and I was like, what the heck are you doing??" Melissa gets stuck in her wetsuit because the feet holes are not made for size 11 feet. I'm trying to get her out. There's a guy on the other side laughing at us as he's changing. Says, "I feel like I'm watching a comedy routine!" Germs and V are cracking up.
We finally get it together, grab the bikes and head to the bike course.
I'll continue this later...need to get upstairs!
posted by v @ 9:15 AM
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