Kathie reports on the Self Transcendence Triathlon

Hi everyone: Sucess, I finished. Yipee.
I rose up out of my warm bed at 4 AM Sunday morning and drove down to the Cowichan Lake cutoff to pick up my friend Tim for the triathlon. We agreed how crazy it was to be travelling at this time of the day (night) to beat ourselves up in a race. We are athletics and we are addicted. We arrived at Elk Lake almost before the volunteers and YES we did get a super parking spot. We checked in and got marked (me with Julie someones number as I had been given the wrong bag) so stroke over her number to my number. No problem. We met Gillian and Mike there and it was nice to have our little group. I was very happy to finally get on my wetsuit and do a little warm up to see if I could breathe. And I could, I was very relieved. I started in the second wave and swam in a pack of 10 or so the whole time. I was happy with my swim split and first transition. Out on the bike I quickly realized that it was going to be a very challenging course. As it was an out and back I thought a few times man was this going to be a toughy coming back. I got passed by a really lot (I mean tons) of people but it didn't bug me, as I knew that I beat them in the swim. The ride was really lovely, though nice country and the volunteers were first class. I had a bad back ache for the first half and think that I will get my bike checked for sizing when we get back, cause it seems my back hurts most times on my bike. Anyhow, I keep saying this but I need a lot more time on the bike. My legs were burning most of the way back. I perked up when I saw the lake again (sooner than I thought) and yes there were runners on the trail. Good transition and out on the run. Felt good for the first few K then started to feel the heat of the day. I couldn't drink enough. Again the volunteers were chatty and kind. The last 3 K were very hot but took a caffine laced gel and the last couple of K showed a new upright posture and I stopped thinking negative thoughts. I was very happy to finish and even tho I had hoped to do a little better time wise (don't we all) I was pleased to have finished my first Olympic triathlon.
Wish everyone happy trails and flying feet.
Kathie
Oh ya. Today was really hard. Having second thoughts about the 1/2 Iron.