I pulled off my swim cap and goggles as I geared up for T1.  I threw them in my bag and started my routine.  I stepped onto my beach towel and dried off the bottom of feet while I cracked open my water bottle and took a few swigs.  I quickly jammed my feet into my cycling shoes and strapped them in.  My sunglasses were sitting in my bike helmet on top of my aero bars and I slipped those on and then placed my helmet over my wet, matted hair.  I wouldn’t have to worry about what my hair looked like until after this ride was over.  I lifted my black Quintana Roo from the rack and clip-clopped in my clipless shoes as quickly as I could to the other side of the transition area.  It was a pretty smooth, quick transition and I was excited for the ride.

Tennille had driven me through the bike course so I was able to get a feel for the scenery and where to make the turns.  That was really helpful throughout the ride.  I tried to push hard for the entire duration of the bike but would get discouraged when so many guys would seemingly effortlessly pass me up.  But about one out of every ten guys would mention some words of encouragement to me as they rode by.  It meant a lot coming from another competitor.  Not only that, almost throughout the entire 10 miles, there were fans, volunteers, or policemen cheering at every corner shouting things like, “You’re amazing!”, “Keep it up!”, or “Almost there!”.  Every time I would hear that, I couldn’t help but say “Thank you!” because it did so much to help keep my spirits up.  The Hawk-I really made my respect for the people of Lansing and their triathlon community skyrocket.     

The course seemed harder than I had anticipated.  I got so thirsty by mile 7 but I didn’t carry any water along.  I haven’t yet learned the fine art of pulling a water bottle of out the cage, drinking from it, and returning it back, all while maintaining proper balance and speed on the bike.  I was so wishing that I hadn’t misplaced my Gatorade because it was part of the plan that I’d drink most of it during T1.  I should have drank more water.  But finally the end was in sight.  In the final turn, volunteers were yelling at us to slow down.  Apparently, one of the bikers had wiped out there and he ended up in an ambulance and taken to the hospital.  I got off my bike and once again clip-clopped all the way back to the other side of the transition area to my spot.  If I was smart, I would have just taken my shoes off and ran barefoot.  It would have been much faster, especially since my legs were so jello-y too.  Hindsight is always 20/20.

Time for T2.  I ran right past my transition area.  I had to turn back around.  Good one.  That wasted 10 seconds.  I saw Israel about 50 feet away waving his hands in the air and cheering loudly for me.  That came as such a surprise since he isn’t one to do that publicly, amidst hundreds of other strangers.  And that motivational music wasn’t helping either.  I totally got weepy.  It felt like I was in movie or something.  I was able to contain myself before it got seriously out of control and reminded myself that I still had to run a 5k before this thing was over.  How embarrassing would it be if I was crying now because I was actually doing it, but never really finished it?  Now was NOT the appropriate time to be emotional.  I had to get moving! 

Time for T2 – take 2.  I parked my bike then took off my shoes, helmet, and sunglasses.  I slipped on my running shoes, threw on my Tread on Trafficking t-shirt, and put on Israel’s red, Ironman 70.3 headsweat.  Before the race, I had been concerned that my hair would be a hot mess by the run portion.  And as much as I was aware that this wasn’t a beauty contest, I knew I’d be unhappy if I had nasty helmet hair in the pictures.  Especially the ones of me finishing the race!  The headsweat was the perfect solution to hide my wet, nappy hair and it was much more time efficient than my original plan to pull out a little mirror and some hair pins.   

Finally, I transferred my GPS from my bike to my wrist and took off running.  No water during T2.  I would wait to drink the cold water from the aid stations.  I was hoping there was one towards the beginning of the run because I was thirsty.