Georgia Peach Triathlon

I am happy to report that I (mostly) overcame my fear of my bicycle and did my second triathlon. My first tri was two years ago (through the Tripossible program at CHOA). Last year, I signed up again, rented a road bike, fell off and returned said road bike, then backed out of the triathlon when they had a change in date and location. When CHOA announced that they were doing Tripossile 3.0, a coworker convinced me that I had to give it another try (or tri). So 11 months after my fall, I got back on my darn bike and signed up for the Georgia Peach Triathlon. I was so nervous that hot spring day that I met Dana and got back on the bike. But I did it! Then I did it a few more times. I never felt super strong but I felt comfortable enough to know I could ride 13 miles.
Packet pickup was at the race site.  The good thing about that was that I was able to check out the course. The bad thing was, I was able to check out the course. T1 was the most ridiculous thing ever. It was about a quarter mile long, and most of that was up a hill. I was not excited about it. Then I looked at the start of the bike course and  started freaking out. It started down a hill and around a corner (which means it ended around a corner and up a hill). Then we drove the run course, seemed about average.  The majority of the bike course looked about average too.
The night before the Tri, I was a bundle of nerves. I kept thinking about the start and finish of the bike course. I envisioned 2 things happening; going too fast down the hill at the start, not making the turn and wiping out and/or not going fast enough at the finish, rolling backwards down the hill and wiping out.

The morning of, I was still so nervous! I stopped by the CHOA tent and a team member helped me do some deep breathing exercises before I headed down to the beach. Although I had calmed down quite a bit, the swim course felt way harder than it should have. I just couldn't catch my breath. I should have been focused on swimming but I was thinking about the bike course. I calmed myself  down a little bit by doing breaststroke. Somehow,  I managed to not only keep up with the people around me but to pass some of them too. My goal time was 9 minutes I was just under 11 (official results are over 12 minutes but that includes walking across the bridge before T1 officially started).
The bike course started out with a positive, I didn't fall on the first hill! Once I made it past that first down hill, I felt pretty good. Then I realized that I had forgotten to tell my watch I was on my bike, so I dismounted to fix that. Then I was a few miles in and my alarm clock started going off on my phone so  I dismounted to fix that. There were a couple of hills that I struggled on but I managed to keep pushing in slow motion as people on road and tri bikes gracefully pasted me. Around mile 6 I figured out that my large gear wasn't quit in place. Once I fixed it, I was afraid to mess it up again, so I never changed out of second gear on that side. At some point my coworker Amanda passed me, then I passed her a few miles later, then she passed me again. Around mile 11, there was a long hill. I lost momentum. I could have kept trying but I was thirsty so I dismounted again. When I got off the bike, I heard a familiar voice. It was Kim! She was right behind me. She passed me but once we were going down hill, my heavy bike was able to roll fast and catch back up. Then came my other fear, back up the hill and into the transition area. I saw Nicole T. and Henry, they shouted encouraging words...then I lost momentum and suddenly my fear was becoming my reality. I put my foot down and fell over in slow motion. It didn't hurt, I wasn't embarrassed and I survived. I jumped up as quick as I could and ran my bike up the rest of the hill and into the transition area. My goal time was 1 hour. It took 1 hour and 22 seconds.
It worked out so perfectly! I am so happy that Kim and I were able to start out the run by side! Less than a half mile in, and we were dying. It was so freaking hot and humid! We walked. Then ran, then walked, and walked some more. At mile 1 we saw Henry and he told us that Dana had just finished. I started to feel just a touch better. I ran on and off as best as I could. At 1.5 miles, I caught up to Amanda. She was looking strong! My goodness it was hot and humid. I kept taking walk breaks. Finally it was mile 2.7 and I could hear the finish line! My run goal was 35 minutes, it took 40.
My overall finish goal was 2 hours. I did it in 1:59:24. I was disappointed in my swim and run but happy about my bike time!
I am still so intimidated by cycling. I really want to ride a road bike but it looks so scary! I need to figure it out because I shyly want to announce that I am registered for 2020 Chattanooga  70.3 (Half Ironman distance of 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile ride and 13.1 mile run)!