It's All About the Bling

Kate, me, Claudia, & Meghan - Team 4F

Maybe it's a little silly, but give me a chance to score some unique swag and I'm all over that race. If that swag happens to be a tiara, well, where do I sign! When Claudia B. put out the word that she was doing the Tiara Tri in El Dorado how could I resist.

We made our plans, booked the hotel room, and even had shirts made representing our fitness club, Team 4F. Claudia, Kate H., Meghan M. and I were registered and on our way.

The only flaw in the plan was my training. Non-existent would be the way to describe my workouts over the past 4 weeks. I had managed a few long bike rides and a few short swims, but running was missing from my calendar. My son's wedding and reception, a family reunion, starting back to work, and just plain lack of motivation took it's tool. I have been working toward a 100 mile bike ride in mid September and was not even thinking about a running event let alone a triathlon.

Tiara Tri - How cool is that!

Claudia has been working all summer long and competed in the National Triathlon Championships a few weeks ago. Kate has been doing a triathlon almost every weekend to finish her goal of 5 for the year. Meghan, like me, has been struggling to find the time to workout but is still very active with softball and other activities for her work as a fitness director. But she's young and full of energy. I on the other hand am not a spring chicken and my body is reminding me of that fact.

But I was game to give it a try. This would give me the opportunity to accomplish my goal for the year of doing an open water swim. You see, I had never in my life swam in a lake. I live in an area where water is scarce. Being a farm kid and then a farm wife did not lead to a lot of spare time in the summer for camping and boating, especially when it involved a long drive to the nearest body of water. So an open water swim was really a big hurdle for me.

We arrived at the lake, which is actually a man-made pond near the big lake, in plenty of time to pick up our packets and rack our bikes. This is a new event and we had no idea of how many women would be there but the bike area seemed pretty full and we had to fit our bikes in where we could. But all I could think about was that lake. I didn't know what to expect or how I would react and was more than a little leery of what lie below the surface.

My first open-water swim - EVER!

Turns out I didn't need to worry about what was below because the water was so cloudy you couldn't see more then a foot or two. I walked down to the shore with the girls and dipped my feet in. And immediately cringed at the squishy sand between my toes. I didn't bring a bucket to wash my feet during transition so I was worried about sand in my shoes. I didn't need to add things to the worry list but it was getting longer by the minute. I felt things in the sand and Claudia just laughed as I jumped at every turn. Someone remarked about a fish flapping in the pond and I added that to my worry list. I joked about making friends with the lifeguards and water rescue people because they were going to have to save me, only I wasn't really joking.

But it turns out that I was not the only one there who had never done any lake swimming. While waiting for the start there were quite a few other ladies with the same look in their eyes: terror, mixed with resignation. Terror of the unknown, of not seeing the bottom, of feeling something touching you out of the deep. And resignation that we were going to do this. We were going to run head long into something we had not prepared for and didn't understand.

There were 4 waves and I was in the last. I thought that was a good thing because everyone else would be ahead of me and I wouldn't have that many bodies close to me. Claudia gave me some last minute advice and before I knew it we were set to go. I started strong and fell into a good stroke rhythm but was totally disorientated at not being able to see anything. I kept touching a swimmer to my right but when I turned my head as I was underwater I couldn't even see her. At the first turn I started to feel more comfortable but was still very tense. A few seconds of back stroking at the half way mark and I was ready to make the turn for the shore.

That's when I took in a mouthful of lake water. I instantly flipped to my back and started coughing. Claudia was near and asked if I was OK and hung back with me a little bit. I soon was in control again and back on my stomach for the last 100 meters. When the bottom rose up to meet me I took to my feet and started high stepping it to shore. Claudia and I exchanged a high five and she was off. I had made it through the swim!

The rest of the race was pretty uneventful for me. I passed several younger riders on my bike and was feeling pretty good. I took it easy on the run and walked when I wanted. Little did I know that if I had stayed with that old lady in the green top just ahead of me I might have passed her and placed in my age division. But that was not what this race was about for me.

Queens for a day.

It was about concurring the unknown. Doing what you fear. Becoming a more complete triathlete. As I crossed the finish line and they hung a finisher medal around my neck and put a tiara on my head little did they know they were crowning me as a true triathlete. As I looked around and saw the smiles on the other ladies faces I realized that we were all glowing with pride. By putting that little cheesy crown on our heads we were bestowed with the title of triathlete and everyone of us was proud of our accomplishment.

I missed placing 3rd by just over 2 minutes. If I had trained hard and pushed a little more... Well, I did what I came to do. Claudia ended up placing 1st in our age group and Meghan placed 3rd in spite of a shoe lace verses bike chain incident. Kate, like me, finished just out of the medals but was very happy with her run.

My friend Yolanda R. once posted on Facebook: "You know you're a runner when..." My response was "you don't mind having your picture taken when you are sweaty as long as you're smiling!" I'm modifying that response by adding "WEARING A TIARA!! "