On Saturday, Jim and I woke up at 4 a.m. Why? Well, Jim finally convinced me to do a triathlon.

Bass Lake is just over and hour away from our house, but we still had to drop the kids off at my sister's (who I can't thank enough for taking them so early in the morning), before we could make our way up there.

We arrived at the lake at about 6:30, and took our bikes and transition gear to the transition area. After we got it all set up, we chatted with a few of the other racers that we knew. At a little after 7, Jim helped me into my wetsuit, then we headed down to the lake. I immediately got in the water to try to acclimate myself before the race started. It was like shoveling snow into my wetsuit...so cold! Not to mention that it was already threatening to rain that morning.

At 7:30, the men sprinters started with a frenzy of water splashing everywhere. Two minutes later, it was the women sprinters turn to start, which was the group I was in.

I waited till most of the women had taken off. I didn't much like the idea of getting kicked, and I wasn't really "racing" so much as just participating.

The swim was painful. Every time I tried to put my face in the water and swim a little faster, I thought my lungs were going to collapse. It was comforting to see others out there who were taking their time like me, and I even had a few conversations with them. It helped to take my mind off how cold I was, and how tired I was getting. Even though the 400 meters I swam seemed like FOREVER, I finally made it out of the water in 21 minutes, 29 seconds, and made my way to the transition area to start the bike portion of the race.

To begin the 12 mile bike course, we had to travel up a very steep hill. I ended up walking my bike up it (pathetic, I know). Once at the top, the volunteers informed me that it was mostly down hill from there, which to me meant that it was mostly up hill on the way back. By then it had started raining, and the faster I went on the bike, the more the little raindrops hurt. It felt like I was getting pelted with tiny little balls of ice. It also didn't help that I was still wet from the swim, so the breeze I was creating for myself, only helped to further my discomfort. I was more cold on the bike than I was in the water. At one point, I was so frozen, I wondered if it was possible for me to get hypothermia on the bike.

Lots of people passed me. The only person I passed was an old guy, who on my way back up the hills, was surrounded by people, covered in a thermal blanket, and sitting in the back of a truck waiting for the ambulance that passed me 5 minutes later. I also saw Jim on the bike course as I was heading back, and he was heading out (he was doing the Olympic distance triathlon). After 1 hour, 27 minutes, 43 seconds, I ditched my bike and helmet in transition, and began the 3.1 mile run course.

The beginning of this course had us going up a flight of steep stairs (Really! What is it with this course? I hardly have any feeling in my body and they want me to run up a fleet of stairs?). I ran this course with two other ladies, who actually were right behind me coming out of transition. They were funny, and kept me going, even if they were also a little fowl in the mouth at times. Toward the end, they stopped to walk a little, and I kept going, just wanting to get it over with. The last 25 meters, they both sprinted past me, and I let them, thinking I didn't have much left in my legs even if I wanted to sprint to the end. My run lasted for 40 minutes, 39 seconds, and Jim wasn't even back from his bike portion when I finished.

My overall time was 2 hours, 37 minutes, 37 seconds, and I was very proud of my self for doing it. However, when the results were posted, I kind of got disappointed in myself. The age/weight division I was registered for had only 4 participants, and two of them were the ladies I ran with and who passed me at the end. The other one was a good friend of ours who finished almost an hour before I did. I found out that the top 3 in each division get an award, so what upset me was the fact that I missed getting an award for my first triathlon by less than 1 second (if I just would have pushed myself and sprinted at the end, I could have easily beat those two ladies across the finish line, but I didn't, and it is too late for start second guessing myself now).

So, as much as it stinks, there is always next time, and now there will be. I will be doing the Pacific Grove Sprint in September. Wish me luck!