Wow, I just realized that I never followed up with a race report after my last triathlon in 2013! It is now the beginning of 2016, I am 27 years old and so many changes have happened in my life. I suppose the throws of reality took over as soon as the race had passed and I neglected this page. I surely do miss writing as much as I used to. I am going to give a recap of the race to the best of my memory. Like I said it has been 2 years so I know I will miss small details but I’ll do my best!
So to start I will say that my second shot at the NYC Triathlon (2103) did not go as planned. In my last blog post, the last thing I said was I was going to the triathlon expo the next day. I got over enthusiastic at the expo and indulged in all the free samples of race snacks… If you know anything about what you’re NOT supposed to do before a race, eating everything at the tri expo tops the list. When I got home from the expo, I prepared my pre race dinner. If I remember correctly it was a yam, egg white and steamed greens. I felt fine and ready, perhaps over confident in retrospect. I went to bed early because I had to be out the house something like 3:30am… Crazy early, I know! At about 1am I woke up in a cold sweat and extreme nausea. I suddenly was in pain, feverish, and wanting to purge. I found myself violently hurling into the toilet for the next couple of hours. When I got myself together enough I just cried and wondered what went wrong. I literally lost my pre-race meal to the toilet. Not only did I lose my energy for the race, but I lost vital electrolytes from all the purging. My fever was up to 101 and time was ticking close to the time that I had to leave. I had to make a choice. Was I going to do the race? So many thoughts were going through my mind. Why me? The same feelings I had when I broke my toe the year before were had aroused in me yet again. I figured it had to be something I sampled at the expo. So many hands touch the samples, maybe I caught a virus… Maybe something I had just didn’t sit well with my body. I drank water and coconut water to try and replenish what I had lost, nothing really stayed down though. I asked my roommates at the time if I should do the race and they said no. I told myself I was not going to accept no for an answer and figured that if I went ahead with it, I was going to have a really rough day ahead of me. I had to surrender to that thought. I did. I had to remember that I was doing it for a wonderful cause. To support Abundant Waters, the after school program that I once was a part of. I decided to conjure up whatever warrior strength I had at that moment of physical, mental, and emotional weakness and push through. Somehow, I managed to finish the race. I was so slow and the entire time my body was angry at me. But I finished what I spent months training for.
My roommate drove me to the race start. On my way there I was internally fighting major doubt, and tears. I was wondering if I would even make it past the start horn.
My swim was so slow. Slower than the last year. I had the same intense fear of that dark river. I had the same panic attack in the water. I had the same lifeguard Mike help me out with kind motivating words. He remembered me and we shared a laugh in the water when we realized I was that same girl in the same predicament as last year. That kept me going. I swallowed water and promptly threw it back up. I felt so weak, I thought I was going to give out and sink. When that happened I knew it was time to turn belly up and back stroke/ float the rest of the way. My eyes were facing the sky and i just repeated my mantra for that day: “the clouds are not the sky.” I saw planes, I looked to my right and I could see and hear my family shouting words of encouragement to keep going. 38 minutes minutes later I made it out that water. I’m pretty sure the last 5 minutes I was cursing the damn water and my decision to go subject myself to this torture.
I ran to T1 to change out my wetsuit and get my bike. The ride is my strength. At least it was supposed to be. I remember it being ROUGH. I cried through most of it. My stomach was churning and it felt so painful to pedal through it. I remember that my water bottle was filled with an electrolyte enhanced powder that I mixed with water. When I went to replenish, to my dismay I realized the ratio of water to powder mix was way off. There was way to much powder in the water and drinking it made me vomit while in motion. That really really sucked. I literally cried the entire ride to the bronx and back. At some point I remember picking up a random water bottle on the road. Many athletes lose their water bottle that are on their bikes due to head wind. I needed water or else I would have for sure quit or passed out, whichever came first so, I didn’t care about a random person’s water bottle germs. I figured that I was already as germ as I could get so I’ll take my chances. That water got me through to the end of the bike portion of the race.
The run was not so much a run but a walk for me. I remember every stride I took my stomach was a washing machine. I went as easy as I could go. alternating between run-walking and hurling on the curb. One hour and 17 minutes later I finished the run. I finished the race. I was beat up. All I wanted to do was go home and nurture myself. I knew that now that the race was over, I had nothing left. I was not proud of my race time. It was worse than the previous year, when I raced with a broken toe. But I was proud of the fact that I pushed myself far beyond whatever limit I thought I had. I felt like I grew a new self within. That alone is a beautiful feeling and well worth that torture.
Since than I have quit real estate, and pursued my dream of becoming a full time artist. I work in nightlife now and I truly love it because I love to dance. I love creating. Choosing to take that risk has afforded me opportunities across the country and soon across the globe. I got my first international gig in Macau, China this February! I am so excited! Abundant Waters hired me as a teacher to a wonderful bunch of first graders but due to my travel schedule I had to resign. That experience was one I will always cherish. It happened because I reconnected with Abundant Waters for that triathlon! How cool is that!
Since than I have only participated in one race. This past year I did a mud race called muderella with a bunch of my friends! We ran through 6 miles of mud and obstacle courses all to support survivors of domestic violence. It was really fun and part of the course was so beautiful! I just signed up to do the TD Bank 5 bro bike tour with my cycling team. I am really looking forward to it! Im getting my feet wet again for races!
brokentoetrigirl 