First TRI of 2015

FOMO fear of missing out. I truly have that :-). If one of my TIFL sisters post in our Facebook group about any type of race, tri or any event that is going on. I always feel that i should particiapte. If not for the health benefits alone. If there is BLING involved I am definitely in. I saw a post about Lifetime Indoor TRI and everyone was signing up, of course I signed up as well. Cost was $25 and you get a shirt. Not bad at all. The other 2 triathlons I have done cost around $80-90. This was a huge drop in price. The indoor TRI was January 4, 2015, 1st Sunday of the new year. About a few days before the TRI, emails were sent out confirming your wave number and start. I hadn't gotten any email. I was starting to worry that maybe I didn't register. I went to the registration page and was in the process of registering when I clicked on my account and saw the receipt for my registration, mystery solved. 1 of my TIFL sisters saw my name in her wave so she knew i was registered. I was still dealing with cold that I had been self-medicating with for a few weeks. I knew the TRI was going to be a semi-struggle because I haven't done any real form of exercise or training and my body was recovering from the cold.

Saturday night I started getting my gear together. Since this was an indoor TRI i didn't need my bike or bucket, woo hoo!! I have a new swim bag that I was going to use. I pretty much had all my gear together and headed to bed. I woke up Sunday morning excited and nervous. I headed to Lifetime Fitness-Cary. I was there about 9:50am. As I am heading into the gym, I hear someone call my name. It's one of TIFL/Fit-Tastic/Galloway buddies Claudia. She tells me "i knew i recognized that car with all those bumper stickers"
My car could never be the getaway car because it is not inconspicuous at all lol.

We head into the gym. The lady at the front desk tells us to head down the hall to the TRI check-in desk. I pick up my race bib, swim cap and race shirt. We head to the lockers. We run into other TIFL sisters who are already there. A few of us are members of another TRI group, Black Triathlete Association. We take a few group pics with our new BTA shirts.

It's about time for me to get ready to swim. I head out to the pool. Sharon Johnson tells me "Jo you should go for the lane by the door so when you're done you are right by the steps". Good advice. Tina Alexander and I are in lane 1. At 10:40 we start our 10 minutes in the pool. I don't know what it is about the pool. Everytime I get in, i am in love and i also feel like i have totally forgotten how to swim. Note to self: you need more pool time. I could tell i wa struggling because every time i would breath when i went under the water it felt like i couldn't breath. At one point, I just kept my head above water and just swam. It was kinda of nerve wracking because i kept an eye on the clock so when it got close to 10 minutes i made it to the end of the lane and just waited until the counter was done because i was so done.

Swim is done, i have 10 miuntes to transition from swim to cycle. Let's call this event #2, changing out of a wet sports bra to a dry sports bra. I truly believed the right girl felt like it was dislocated during this process. I head to the cycle studio. This is event #3, locker room is on the 1st floor, cycle studio is on the 3rd floor. I'm about done done when i get into the cycle studio. They have already started. I'm OK with that. One of the Lifetime trainers helps me get set up on the bike and get my feet in the clips. Lawd have mercy, my right foot is not working with me or the Lifetime trainer, takes us several tries to get it in there. I'm on the spin bike for the very first time. I wish it was over before it started. I pedal through the longest 28 minutes of my life. When we count down to 0 i was never so happy in my ENTIRE life. I shall call getting off the spin bike event #4, one leg was off and the other leg was still on. I am my very own comedy show and didn't even know it. I'm off the bike and headed to the cardio area for the final event, 20 minute run on the treadmill. My body is so sore from the bike, climbing down the steps is a real task. I meander my way over to the treadmill. We line up by race number. since I'm 81, i'm in position #1. I tune my iphone to DJ Kool genius playlist and i'm off. At this point i am not concerned about running, i am just trying to get the feeling back into my arse and my feet. Slow and steady on the treadmill grooving to the music. This was my FAV event of the entire TRI. When the 20 minutes is over, I have completed my first TRI of 2015 and my first indoor TRI. I am a TRIATHLETE.