Cheraw Sprint Results

What a difference ten weeks of training can make. When I finished my first triathlon, MAP, I was gasping for air like a large mouthed bass. I was so scared when I started that swim, I thought I was going to drown in a swimming pool! I was calm during this swim start and I was talking to people during the run at Cheraw!

I was having a difficult time deciding wet suit or not at the swim start. Some other ladies told me to wear it, that it helps you go faster. When I was walking to my van to get it, I saw my husband and Snaggle! They drove to SC early that morning and surprised me! They couldn't come because they both had to work but it turns out they had the day off. It really lifted my spirits knowing I'd have my own fan club!

I got my wetsuit on and headed to the swim start. This was a small race, so there were only three waves. Men, women and novices. I went last, with the other handful of novices. Surprisingly, I wasn't scared about my first open water race. I had little moths in my stomach when they said 15 seconds till my swim start but once I jumped in the water, I thought of nothing. That was until I made my turn around buoy #1. The water got shallow and I was swimming through aquatic plant life called hydrilla. Every time my arm went down to pull, it would get caught in the hydrilla. I had hydrilla stuck on my goggles. I think people started freaking out when they were swimming through this because I had to dodge swimmers that were floating on their backs. I don't think they even wanted to look at it. It just made me swim faster because I wanted to get out of the crap and the life that lived in it. My goggles fogged up twice so I had to stop and get them wet. I think I did pretty well sighting for my first open water swim, I didn't go off course. Someone was there to unzip my wetsuit when I got out of the water. 750 meter swim time- 14:22

T1 went fine even with my wetsuit on. I used my feet to pull it off my legs. I had to run my bike up a grassy hill. I was worried I would get mud stuck in my cleats and not be about to clip in. All was well and off Clifford and I went. T1 1:37

We drove the bike course Friday night. Let me tell you, this bike course makes the last 15 miles at White Lake look like heaven. The bike course was the worst I have ever seen. Riding out of the park, it was a packed gravel road, it was pothole city the entire course. My fear was crashing my bike and hurting myself before White Lake. I was also worried about hurting Clifford. If I popped a tire, I knew I'd be out of the race. (I'm going to tire changing school this week, Nancy!) I took it easy on the bike. The course was hilly, so I was only in my aero bars 35% of the race. I drank my fluids on the bike this time(unlike MAP) and stayed alert, watching for holes and bikers that took up the entire lane. Jessica and Meg started ahead of me on the swim and I caught up with them on the bike. I decided to joke with them when I passed them and screamed, "Novice on your left! Move over you bitch!" I think I scared the shit out of Jessica because she jumped off the bike seat and laughed. I usually like the bike leg the best but I just wanted off the bike in one piece this race. 15 mile bike- 53:01

T2- When I got off the bike my husband(who thinks he's my coach) was at the dismount line yelling at me to "Hurry up, get off that bike and run!" He knew I was disappointed with my T2 time at MAP, I was dicking around and watching other people. Jessica gave me a pair of Yanks, the elastic shoes laces. I didn't have to tie my shoes which helped my time. I grabbed my number and ran off into the woods. Snaggle ran along with me down the chute screaming, "You fucking rock, run, Mojo, run!" I felt like Forrest Gump for a moment. She said someone got mad at her for her colorful language. She just got caught up in the excitement and forgot to watch her mouth. It made me laugh! It's good to be smiling on the run. T2- 1:08

I was glad I'd been doing some trail running when I saw this run course. It was through the woods, over a wood boardwalk and through sand. I didn't really feel like I got into the run until mile 2. Ya'll would have been proud of me because I had a quick response to a lady on the run. When I passed her on the run, she looked at my calf and said "You are a novice and your flying past me like a little bird?" I replied, "Yes, this is my second tri and first open water swim. Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!" I was amazed I was talking during the run, I guess all the training for the Half has paid off. When I crossed the finish line, I wasn't breathing hard at all. I was more interested in getting back to the finish chute to watch Jessica and Meg finish, they were close to each other when I saw them on the run. 3.1 mile run- 22:58

My final time was 1:33:04. I won first novice and got a plaque, it was a small race. Overall results 15/40 Overall swim 10/40 Overall bike 17/40 Overall run 18/40

My favorite part of the race was watching Jessica and Meg at the end. I realized I like to watch people compete. I have never seen Jessica run so fast in my entire life. It was a sprint to the finish and it was exciting. I kinda had wished I had someone to compete against because I didn't push myself this race. I probably pushed 70% effort. I saw Jessica push 100% at the end and she said she wanted to throw up. She got 1st Athena too but I'll let her tell ya about that. It was a thrilling finish, I want to dry heave too. :) Guess I'll have to wait until White Lake.