I don't know where to start, I learned SOOOOOO much. I suppose I could start with the night I before, Friday night I wanted to be in the bed by 8pm, however my child and I are on Adam's JSO schedule. I just knew Eli wouldn't go to bed until 11 or 12, or my luck 1, then I would have to wake up at 4. That was a big concern with me, so at 6pm we headed out on a walk, we ended walking 1 mile total. We checked out some tractors that had been clear cutting, then took our dogs Cooper and Clementine swimming in the creek. When we got home we showered and he laid down in the bed, 7:15 by this time. I started cooking, I knew I needed to eat my last big meal around 12 hours before race time. I finished cooking @ 7:40 (we had hamburger helper, takes no time to cook) Eli had fell asleep by this time. I debated waking him up and decided to just crawl in the bed with him. I was asleep by 9pm physically, but I am positive that mentally my mind never went to sleep that night.
4:00 am the alarm clock rang, I jumped up, today was the day!!!! I needed to have consumed my breakfast by 5:00, so I got dressed and ate a bowl of Special K fruit and yogurt. Which I am not a fan of, but my husband insured me that it had what I needed for the race in it. Adam loaded up the car and we headed off, I dropped him and Eli off by my mother in laws, he had a championship softball game that morning.
I then met up with Alix and John and followed them to Waycross. My nerves were fine all this time, as we got to the park entrance I saw all the lights, cars, and people, and my adrenaline started to pump. This was 6:32, I am telling you I didn't miss a beat, this was a big deal to me and I didn't want to forget anything about it. So as I waited in line to pay for my park entrance, I realized that was what I had forgot, my 5 bucks for park entry. Yes, I knew I was going to forget something. I didn't panic, I stayed calm and asked if he would take my debit/credit card, to my surprise he said "No, but you can write me a check". I was SOOOO thankful, here I was 20-30 min. from a ATM and 50 min until race time, I was thankful for the good ole' check book. We parked and I pulled everything out, then realized I had to go to packet pick up before I could do anything, so I threw it all back in the car. At packet pick up I give them my name they give me my packet and chip then they direct to the side to be "drew on". So this lady starts writing my bib number all over me, my biceps, my thighs.Then my age on the back of my calf. I headed back to my car and began to pull everything out and get it ready.
Once everything was ready, I took my bike to staging and met up with my parents who had arrived. At staging I met a lady named Carol, she introduced herself as "Megan's mom", one of the sweetest lady I have ever met! This race was being held to help "Megan's house" a home for medically fragile children. It was really neat to meet her in person.
My bike was checked in and I put all my stuff down, and headed over to the tent to listen to the instructions. OK, so I have to tell you a quick funny, my Mom bought me year pass to Okefenokee to ride my bike there, because she worries about me on the road. When she was paying they tell us, watch our for a BEAR, yes I said BEAR, around here. I was like thanks mom, now I wont get ran over, just mawed by a bear. Anyhow back to race, the man starts explaining instructions, I kinda lost attention, then I swear I heard watch for the MOUNTAIN LION!! I thought to myself WHAT!!!??? I stayed calm and really started focusing, then about 30 seconds later he said you will also see a disMOUNT LINE!!! PHEW, for a quick min I thought he had said that they had been seeing a mountain lion in the state park!!! Gotta love a country accent. I didn't tell anyone until after the race, but it was truly hilarious. Then we lined up to race, in the pictures, Alix and I got in the back, best strategy, right? A few pics to show you the crowd then they blew the horn. LET THE RACE BEGIN!!!
On my first run out, I pulled myself back, everyone told me, just pull back you will pass them when they get tired. Well, looking back, I wish I would have never pulled back, but I was still very happy I came in running my first two in 22 min. I had a goal of 25-30 min. By pulling back I let a lot of people pass me and looking back I feel like I kinda lost some momentum, because I do good when I trying to beat someone. When I slowed down, there were only a few around me and they were running at my comfortable pace.
When I came in for my bike, I was feeling GOOD, I knew I had given myself a extra 7 min on run time. A big thing in duathlons and triathlons is your transition time, and I knew this. However, in the moment of racing it didn't occur to me at all. Between both transitions I spent 2 minutes not good, but lesson learned. So I grabbed my camelbak, helmet and bike and headed for the mount line. As soon as I turned on the road I realized I forgot my gloves. I didn't turn around or get mad at myself, I just grasped my lower handles gently and said I got this!! The biking was a little tougher than I expected, around here the roads are pretty flat. The course description was flat and scenic, maybe it was just me, but it was defiantly not as flat as I imagined. My plan of attack turned into use every hill for all that its worth. I managed to maintain a pretty strong 14-18 mph throughout the race, my max speed was 20.4. I was hoping to do close to 20+ mph the whole ride, but it just wasn't happening. I did manage to pass around 20+ people on my bike, which had my feeling really good. When I seen mile marker 12, I sprinted my bike all the way to staging. I was taking the last curve at around 16 mph when the guy on the megaphone yelled " slow down before dismount" because I was so concerned with getting a time penalty or disqualified, I jumped off my bike before I even knew what he said. then I ended up running my bike another 100 ft to the dismount line. Of course costing me more time, as I pass him, he was apologetic telling me I only had to slow down.I didn't achieve my goal of 45 min but I was still pleased with my time of 53 minutes. I racked my bike and headed out on my final run and 2 miles!!!
As I headed out on my second and final run, I was thinking I have almost did it!!! My legs felt like jello, my stomach under my ribs was cramping, my right knee felt funky and my right foot felt like I had let someone run over it with a truck. I started walking about the time I hit the road. When I looked at my watch I was making exceptional time to achieve my goal of 1hr and 45 minutes. So I walked almost the whole first mile, I was discouraged because my foot was in some kinda of pain and I seen people catching up to me that I passed miles ago on my bike. When I turned around at the 1 mile mark there were workers there cheering me "one more mile, you got this". I really needed that I picked it up to a jog, grabbed a cup of water and took off. I made it almost to the 1/2 mile left mark and began to walk. A young couple passed me and he said come on run it in with us, so I picked it up right behind them. At this point most of my cramping had went away it was more of a mental thing. I wanted it, but I could walk it out with a 500ft sprint at the end and achieve my goal. After all I counted 10 people who came from behind me and passed me. Then there was John he finished before me and came out to the fence to cheer me in. I am SOOOO thankful to him for pushing me! He saw how tired I was and started to yell "push it Megan, your almost there" "run Megan" in a very serious, stern voice. Every time I would slow down, I would hear him, I thought to myself its now or never leave it on the track!!!! I picked my pace up to a sprint and completed the race in 1:43:17. BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD!!!! I had completed my last .5 of a mile in 3min and 14 seconds thanks to John!!!
When entering this race I debated between entering my age group or Athena (150+), I chose age group, to my surprise there was know one else entered in my age group, therefore I was able to take home the 1st place medal!!! YAY!!! Being the competitive person I am, I then scoped out the Athena's time and saw that I also would have came in first in the category, my conclusion> It was meant for me to get first, even if I was the only one in my age group!!
This truly was one of the best choices I have ever made. I have always wanted to do mutli sports, but with a 2 1/2 yr old and having not excercised other than softball, I didn't think it was possible. I started training for this event around the middle of the 3rd week in July. At that point I had only been working out "hard" for exactly 1 mth. To complete this race and start a new chapter in my life to fulfill a goal I have always dreamed of, but never saw it a reality, was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. I give all glory to God, because its only through him that nothing is impossible Luke 1:37. My goals have now been raised, my immediate goals are to eat healthier and continue doing small multi sports event. My one year goal is to bust my butt and be the Overall Female at next years Heels and Wheels. My 5 year goal is to complete a full Iron man. This race was so inspiring and fun, as I was competing I would look around and see all the different diverse people. Each one was there for a different purpose, with a different plan and different challenge. This long entry was just a quick look into mine, I hope that you enjoyed reading, thanks for your support.
BTW- I have my first 5k this Saturday!!
Thanks again to my family and friends for all the support!!! A very special thank you to my parents for coming and supporting me, and for pictures!!!
