Tri for a Cure 2019

I did a triathlon on Sunday and it was hard, hot, and wonderful. Tri for a Cure is women only triathlon that raises money for the Maine Cancer Foundation. I actually did it 2 years in a row (6 or 7 years ago?) but haven’t done it since. I have been wanting to do it in memory of my mother in-law, Marnie, since she passed away in 2016. This year I finally got up the courage, signed up for the lottery to get in and got selected.

Transition opened at 6 am and I got there around 6:15. I’d always rather be there early than stress about being late. It did make for a lot of sitting around though, because the opening ceremony was at 8, and my swim wave didn’t start until 8:50. I used the bathroom a million times, rechecked all my stuff in the transition area (triathalon= SO MUCH stuff), ate my PB&J around 7:20, and chatted with all the ladies around me. I cried my way through the opening ceremony, thinking about Marnie, and hearing the stories from the cancer survivors racing that day.

The swim is, by far, the hardest part of this race for me. I did a few triathlons in my 20’s and got to the point where I was comfortable pool swimming, but open water swimming in a pack is a totally different ball game. I did one of the swim clinics that the race puts on in mid June and it was terrible. The water was so rough and cold and it made me feel worse about the swim rather than better. I tried to do some swimming on my own, but I just hated it every time.  Eventually I just decided that race day was going to be hard no matter what, so I was going to stop torturing myself with more training. I went in expecting it to be absolutely horrible, and was pleasantly surprised that it was just pretty bad. We lucked out with calmer waters on race day and the water had warmed up to a balmy 61. SO the main thing that bothered me was just being in a huge pack of people. I never really found clear water, so I just did the crawl when I could, and breaststroked or flipped to my back when I got overwhelmed.

Swim time: 13:35

the swim course at 6 am

I was so happy to finish the swim and get on my bike. I actually got in a lot of bike training despite getting a late start because of the cold, wet spring. I did put on my Garmin for the ride, but didn’t look at my pace at all and went off effort. I felt SO good on the bike and had so much fun. The time flew by. I took one energy chomp at 5,10, and 13 miles (120 cals total) and made myself drink a bottle of water and a bottle on Nuun over the course of the ride because it was HOT and by the time I started the ride I’d been out in the sun for more than 3 hrs with very few fluids. I love the last mile of the course because its mostly downhill or flat and there are so many people along the course. I felt like I was in the Tour de France and wanted to keep going.

Bike time: 49:23 (17.9 MPH)

checking my bike in the day before the race

And then I hit the run and it was the complete opposite. I was probably a bit overconfident about the run, thinking it was “only a 5k,” and I run a lot longer than that normally. But of course it is totally different when the run comes at the end of a triathlon and it is HOT. I felt terrible from the very first step and the run seemed to take forever. I started off with 2 other ladies in my age group and for the first mile I tried to stick with them, but eventually I had to let them go because I felt awful. I took water at every stop, drinking some and dumping some on my head. However right after mile 2 I started feeling chilled, nauseous, and seeing black spots. I walked for about 30 seconds and then resumed running, just trying to keep my feet moving. Even though I know no one else cared about my run time, I cared the most about my run time because I am a “runner.”

Run time: 25:07

Final time: 1:35:10. Division Place: 12/115 Overall Place 67/649

I truly feel like I went as hard as I could in the race and I am so happy with my reults. But at the end of day, so much of this event isn’t about your time or place. This event has such an amazing sense of cooperation, encouragement, and empowerment. I had to remind myself of this as my competitive spirit showed itself, particularly on the bike. I’d get annoyed with slow riders that weren’t keeping to the right. I tried to remind myself that you don’t know anyone’s story and that everyone is doing the best they can. Instead I tried to say something positive to everyone I pass and who passed me. You know what? I got so much more energy from encouraging others than from being annoyed by them. I also wrote Marnie’s name on my arm and every time I was scared or hurting I used her as my inspiration to keep moving. Racing is hard, but not as hard as cancer.

I do this so Cooper will never have to lose someone he loves to cancer

And even though I said a million times this spring during my fundraising and training that I was never signing up for this again...... now I want to sign up again!