40th Birthday Day Triathlon - Success!!!

40th Birthday Triathlon
Race Report

Race Date: 8/15/2010
Race: 2010 YWCA of Minneapolis Women’s Triathlon
500yd Swim in Lake Nokomis, 15mile bike along Mississippi River, 5K run around Lake Nokomis
Weather: Sunny, low 70’s with no humidity, 15-18 mph winds.

Before the Race

We got up early. Like last year, at the 2nd unofficial Triathlon, Romie was with Lori and Kira spent the night with us, helping me get things packed and ready and listening to me as I discussed my checklists out loud. I had the alarm set for 5AM, but both Jo and I woke at 4:45. I woke up Kira, had some breakfast and a small coffee and loaded the bike. We took two cars, as Jo was going to pick up Karen and family at the airport just after noon. We parked much closer than I expected, right on Cedar Avenue (yeah!). The three of us carried all of our bags and two camp chairs, as I wheeled my bike.

We got to the transition area and low and behold Sue was there, greeting us. Only participants were allowed in the transition area, so she helped me carry my gear in and find my bike rack. I got the basics set up and unloaded, and then Sue accompanied me to find my timing chip and get marked up. That was especially nice because it looked like you had to stand in line for it but she knew there were several other people able to mark up participants closer to the beach. It tickled to get marked on, but it felt like the event was real to be marked up like that. I had some irrational fear as of the previous night that race officials were going to look at me and tell me that due to my body size I would need a doctor’s statement to participate. When the woman with the marker seemed to treat me like everyone else, I figured I was good to go.

As I was doing that, Joanne and Kira were setting up base camp. Because it was primarily participants and not a lot of spectators that early, Joanne took over an entire picnic table right next to the bag drop, across from the playground. It was an ideal location for my fan club.

I was not nearly as anxious as I expected. I was very excited, and happy. I had no butterflies zooming around in my insides. I was moving though - couldn’t sit still. And I felt like I had to pee the whole morning, even though my bladder was empty. I know it was empty because I used the porta potty twice in an hour and neither time peed more than a tablespoon full of urine. After the second time, I just told myself I didn’t really have to use the bathroom again no matter that my body kept telling me that my bladder was about to burst.

In addition to being with Sue off and on from arrival to race start, I also saw some other work friends. We said Hi to each other 1-1 and in small groups and then were all together briefly for a group shot. It was so fun to have other people I knew there!

I remember telling Joanne that Jennifer should be there soon. She was leaving St. Cloud at 6 and stopping for gas and coffee. It was about 7:30. Within 5 minutes her arm was around me. I didn’t see her coming up behind us and never heard Joanne’s phone ring, so it was a happy surprise to see her. I was so happy she was there; smiling , proud, and excited. Sometime around there I had also gotten a text message from my friend Meesh that she had woken up from a dream of seeing me cross the finish line all smiles. She wished me luck in the text, and said she was going back to sleep (she works 2nd/3rd shift).

There were announcers there. It was kind of hard to hear them, so I was in and out of listening. At one point, I was at base camp with my fan club, and I heard the announcers say the lifeguards were in position, both in boats and in the water with noodles. I turned to look at the lake, and the site of everything being ready and real caused a stab of anxiety – the butterflies I had expected all morning came crashing into my body. They dissipated quickly, but some remained from then on.

At 7:25 I excused myself to check on my bike before the transition area closed. Everything looked good. I needlessly moved some things around a little in my spot, and tried to keep my Happy Birthday balloon from migrating in the wind too close to the person set up on my left. She was there, so I apologized, and she said it was A-OK. Earlier some of my other rack mates had been there, and we had exchanged some pleasantries, and it had come up that it was my 40th birthday. They were there again this round, just as a photographer came by to shoot them. They told her it was my birthday, and next thing I knew I was posing with my balloon. After that was trip number two to the bathroom.

I got back to base camp, paced a little, and then it was time for the pre-race meeting. Sue and I walked down together. We came across Kristen and a group of her friends who were racing with her. We all met each other. Also at the beach was Sara, another nurse at FMC. She was there to support us, a triathlete herself. She said she’d hang around for just over an hour, to see us finish. I told her I’d be closer to 3 hours.

There were some announcements from the organizers, and a very slowly paced and quiet rendition of the National Anthem. The wave one racers got into position as I headed back to base camp to get my cap and goggles and drop off my shoes and shorts. Then I headed to the beach to find the blue cappers. I asked someone in a small group of blue cappers if she was in Wave 8. She was, and we chatted calmly. There was an enthusiastic shout to motivate us. Something along the lines of “Way To Go Wave 8, Get it Done!” The smart ass extrovert in me made an appearance and yelled “Yeah, let’s win this thing!” It felt like I was channeling my twin brother, Dennis. There were some chuckles around me, and we continued to wait.

A few minutes later someone came up to me to wish me luck. It was Bridgette, whom I met in the YMCA locker room a few months earlier, when we had talked about both being signed up for this event. She remembered it was my 40th birthday (nice!). As we were moving up the line to the starting spot, someone came running up to me. It was my OB-GYN that helped create Romie, managed my prenatal care, and delivered Romie. She was in my wave. That was so COOL! She ran off to for a pre-start lake soak, and we were next up. I saw Jennifer in the front row of the spectators. We blew each other kisses. I had seen Joanne a few minutes earlier, looking all proud and lovingly at me. I had wanted to telepathically let her know Dr. M. was there, but I still haven’t learned how to do that. I stayed in the back, to the left of the wave 8 group. There was a count down, a horn blown, and my wave was running in the water.

RACE: SWIM

As others ran in I moved forward as well. I knew it was shallow for a long way. Even so, I got prone quickly and started my stroke. We were spread out fairly well. I had a lot of women ahead of me, and a few close by, but no-one in my space. I did 10 strokes on the right side, where I could see the buoys, the racers, and the lifeguards, to 10 strokes on the left where my view of an empty lake and horizon and was generally not helpful. I went around the first buoy and turned the corner. Somewhere about then I started to get panicky. I don’t know what it was exactly, but I just didn’t feel comfortable. I felt vulnerable and it seemed a long way. Maybe some of it was that I was going against the wind and there were some waves. They weren’t bad though. I did a lot of positive self talk and just kept swimming. I also permitted myself to only breathe off the right side, though now and then I did try to do a set of 10 off the left side to have some balance. As I looked at my cohort they were mostly ahead of me, though there were still 2 or 3 near me. One woman to my right was doing the side stroke at times. I kept thinking I could get fully past her, but each time she seemed to change strokes and would get a little ahead of me. I also noticed that I was quite a ways out from the buoys. I knew I was supposed to keep to the outside to stay out of the crowd, but it seemed like maybe I was too far out. I kind of headed in closer to the buoys, though not whole-heartedly. Toward the end of that section of the swim I felt someone touch my legs. It was startling, but she must have quickly moved out of my way because I didn’t notice it again. And, some yellow cap women were coming up from behind, then along side of me, and then passing me, just a few though. I passed the next buoy and turned the last corner. I could see racers in my wave getting out of the water. I wanted it to be over. I was still nervous. I kept telling myself I was almost there and to swim until my hands touched the lake bottom firmly during my stroke. Finally, I made it. Those ahead of me were running up the sand. I knew that wasn’t going to happen in my case. I was pleased that I could stand fairly easy and walk. There was water inside my ear. I stuck my finger in there to try to create an air pocket to pop it. It wasn’t until after I had it in there that I noticed the photographer with his long nosed camera pointing right at me. The whole walk way up to the transition was lined with spectators. I was on display, for sure. I know I saw Jennifer, but now I can’t remember where she was standing. I said to the photographer “don’t tell me you got a shot of me with my finger in my ear.” His response was, “That’s better than in your nose.” I took that as a yes, he got an up close shot of me with my finger sticking out of my ear. I just hoped it wouldn’t end up on the website later.

The Race: T1

People were cheering as I got up the sandy hill from the beach. I got to the kiddy pools to rinse my feet, and glanced behind me to see if I would be in anyone’s way. There was no-one in sight. I thought that was odd. There were volunteers cheering me on and pointing the way. I knew it though, as I had scoped out the transition area flow before the race. I looked again toward the beach, and saw no racers coming up behind me. Huh. Again, I was walking the whole time, and others had been running. In fact, the entire transition area was quiet, and almost ghostly empty. The bikes in the first several racks were gone, though. As I headed toward the mid-back to my bike I realized that the parking lot surface didn’t bother my feet like I thought it would. I got to my bike thinking, “shorts first, shorts first.” I put my shorts on, grabbed my “rinse” water bottle, mini towel, and my shoes and socks and sat my behind on the curb near the grass (conveniently located right behind my bike rack) and did the whole rinse feet, dry feet, put on socks, put on shoes, tie shoe laces. All the while it was quiet in there, and I was trying to move quickly. I looked up and saw Jo by the fence. I waved at her, and she nodded, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up. I walked the few strides to my bike, pulled it out, got on my helmet and my gloves, and walked my bike quickly to the bike out area. There were more volunteers there, giving support and pointing the way. I got gingerly on my bike and started pedaling.

Race: The Bike

Within a block of the bike ride the anxiety from the swim was gone. I felt confident and comfortable. I was off. A half mile into the ride I looked at my bike computer. I was going faster than I expected. I wondered if I should slow down to be able to pace myself, and decided not to. I reminded myself my pacing strategy was to take each leg as stand alone, and pace myself as if that were the only section of the race. I knew that I could still regret going ahead of my usual fastest speed, but decided to risk it. I knew where the first hill was. I expected it, and did fine. It was a little tricky staying to the far right as I was going up a hill and turning left. As I biked that first section I talked to the spectators and volunteers that lined the route. I told them it was my birthday, thanked them, commented on the beautiful day, etc. I also did that as I went through intersections. It was awesome to be able to go through intersections without stopping or slowing down. I tell you, that really helps keep the momentum.

I was really having fun on the bike ride. I was enjoying it. And, my concerns about passing and drafting rules were not much of any issue. A lot of people passed me, but they were going fast. There was no need for me to slow down to drop behind. I came up the hill over Highway 55 and down shifted the big gear. A mile or two later I realized I had forgotten to put the main gear back up. And, I was going fast anyway. I wondered how fast I would have been going had I had the bike in that higher gear.

Two or three times I passed someone else. The first one I think passed me again just a short time later. Each time I recognized I was going faster and I tried to calculate 3 bike lengths. As I did that, I tried to decide if it made sense to slow down and stay behind, or speed up and pass within the 15 seconds. The push to pass was actually good. Each time I was able to do it quickly, and each time it increased my momentum and helped me maintain a slightly higher speed. It was also cool how most people who passed me did it with a “good job” or “you’re looking great” or “enjoy the race.” It was so fun to have spectators and volunteers cheering along the way. I kind of wished I had people here and there on the sidelines of my regular rides to cheer me on. I remembered it was my birthday, and decided that it made sense the cheering was today and not on my other rides.

As for that nasty hill - I was ready for it. I tried to maintain a decent speed up it, and get back up to speed quickly afterwards. On my way up, I also greeted a woman and her little one who were walking on the path next to the road. The little one was watching me and smiling already, so it seemed appropriate.

It was awesome to see the Ford Bridge and know I was coming close to the 10 mile mark. As I got past the Ford Plant and to the turn around point I was, again, careful with the turns. I wanted to get in there but allow for anyone coming up behind me to still pass me with plenty of room. And, although I knew I was to visualize my friend Abby at multiple places (she was Astroprojecting herself there from Vermont), it was this parking lot that her presence was the strongest. I was coming out the parking lot, someone behind me but not super close to me, and there were three men, two volunteers and a police officer, saying turn left and pointing back toward the Ford Bridge. I’d done the route 3 times, and knew I had to turn. I was going fairly slow though, to make a wide turn and stay to the far right side. I came close to them and thought I’d be funny (because they looked kind of funny with such stretched arms pointing left). I yelled at them “which way?” and they responded loudly and in unison “turn left.” I smiled as I sped past and I said “I know, I was just kidding.” They laughed sincerely. I was so having fun!

I sped toward the Ford Bridge and then got thrown for a loop. Instead of taking the ramp to go west, the volunteers were pointing us toward the ramp to go east. Part of me wondered if there was a mistake or if I had gotten the route wrong earlier. Whatever, the bikers ahead of me were going that way, and I did too. I got up there and realized what was going on. The south side of the bridge was closed for us, so we were biking on the left side of the bridge. Though I wanted to stay close to the right, to let people continue to pass, I didn’t want to be too close to the vehicle traffic. So, I stayed to the right, but didn’t hug the cones. The vehicle traffic there was loud. The wind was horrible. I was biking against it, and there was nothing up on the bridge to block the wind. And, going up that bridge was, well, up. I cursed the “against the wind and up a hill” syndrome that always zaps my spirit and causes me to curse. I cursed out loud. I think it helped, because it seemed to be better after that. I did know that the next few miles would be tough. The ride here was more against the wind and generally going up hill. I did it though. The left back to the parkway seemed to be the tightest turn of the ride. There were quite a few spectators there, but for some reason I picked on particular guy with two little kids for my next sarcastic comment. As I biked by him I asked “Am I still in first place?” Happily for me, he played along “no, you just dropped to second” he yelled.

I knew I was home free. I had two more miles, all flat except for over the Cedar bridge. Going over the bridge seemed easy. I was so incredibly excited that I didn’t have a flat tire that I wanted to scream in joy! I turned right onto the parkway, just a few blocks to the transition. The crowd got increasingly dense. They cheered me on. I saw the dismount area and wondered how I was going to get off this bike with all this attention, and from a bit of a speed, without falling. (I’m really not that steady on my bike). I stopped, it wobbled, and somehow I managed to lean it left. I still kind of stumbled with it, then I got my left foot on the ground, tilted the bike way toward me, and lifted my right leg over that. It wasn’t graceful, but I didn’t fall. I sure hope that no-one had a video camera playing any where in my vicinity right then. And, I kid you not, people were staring at me and as soon as it was clear I had dismounted without falling over, they broke into applause. I quickly walked into the transition area. I saw Jennifer, and later Joanne. They weren’t together but I saw them within seconds of each other. In fact, it seemed every time I was anywhere near the transition area I saw Jennifer steadily and got at least a glimpse of Joanne.

The Race: T2

T2 was quick, as it should be. There were a few more people in the transition area, but not many. I saw the volunteer who had talked to me about the flow prior to the race, and who had watched me sit down on the curb to get my shoes on at the first transition. I greeted him, and he me. My transition area looked like it had been stepped on. It probably had, been as the bikes next to me were both gone - no big deal though, everything was there and in tact. I drank the rest of the water from my bike water bottle, grabbed half of a cliff bar and a fresh water bottle, and headed out the exit. I did accept the water offered to me there, thinking I could keep mine longer. After all, at both of my unofficial triathlons I had thought I was dying of thirst within a mile of the walk portion. I saw Joanne again. I asked her the time. She said 10:00. I hadn’t bought a sports watch like I had planned, but I did remember to pull my bike computer off of my bike at the transition. It kept time OK, but the time was off by several minutes. Joanne asked me how long the walk would take. I shouted back at her that it would take an hour. I realized that we had told people to be there by 11:00 because I thought I’d get in around 11:30. At that moment, I thought everything was OK regarding the spectators arriving in time to see me cross the finish line. Even if I finished earlier than I expected, they would be there by 11:00 and see me cross the finish line. For some reason, that thought was clear. However, I also had this thought that I was right on track. I had no concept that I was ahead of schedule. I checked my bike computer clock. I said 10:12. I thought I would use that to know how I was pacing myself, as the 1 and 2 mile points were clearly marked on the route.

The Race – The Run

That first mile was a time of friendly visitors. I heard someone behind me say something about my 40th birthday. It was Kristen. We talked to each other as she came up to me and passed me. A little while later her partner Kris passed me, running. I said “that’s great, you weren’t going to run.” She said, “well, I’m not really running” as she ran past me. A bit later someone else said happy birthday to me, if I remember right, it was Bridget again. Then I got another hello. This time it was from Kristen’s friend whom I met at the beach. She stopped and walked with me for a few minutes, and we had a nice conversation. And, just before that, as I crossed the bridge, a biker smiled and said hello as we passed each other going opposite directions. We had talked at the Bike Course Preview a few weeks earlier. She looked like she was doing great, and I knew she’d be passing me soon. As I got close to the one mile mark a woman much older than me passed me. She turned to face me, still jogging, told me I was doing great, and asked if I wanted to run with her for a little while. She was trying to help motivate me to jog. How sweet…. I thanked her, and told her that when I do jog my time decreases (true this year – but it won’t be true next year), and she sped off. As I was getting close to the 1 mile mark I started to notice pain. My thighs really hurt. I mentally put my attention there, and decided it was OK. They were tired, and not too happy that muscles had to switch from biking to walking. After that, I didn’t notice that pain as much. It did seem a long ways though. And, I didn’t really want my water though I kept sipping at it.

The thing about the walk is that HUNDREDS of people passed me. It’s OK. I expected it. And they were all either running, or jogging, or walking some and jogging some. I didn’t see anyone that was just walking like me. There likely were a few of us, but the rest were behind me (most likely) or ahead of me yet.

Between the mile and two mile point I heard my name. I looked toward it, and way out in the distance, biking the other way along the parkway, was none other than Sue. I yelled hello and gave her the thumbs up. She gave one back. She looked great! She was smiling, and seemed relaxed and confident. I wondered if she’d catch up to me. It seemed possible, if a little unlikely. Though she walks at a faster pace I was at least a mile ahead of her and she still had a mile or so left of the bike ride.

I was very happy to see the two mile point. I knew, then, that I would for sure finish the race. It’s not that I had my doubts previously, it was just all but a sealed deal at that point. My confidence was high, and I just focused on walking a steady pace and staying strong. As I got to the turn off, I got confused. It’s not that I thought that I should be done, I knew that I had a ¾ mile detour off the main path, but I couldn’t see it. The volunteer directed me forward where I thought I should turn, and I could see racers just ahead of me going into the finish area. I thought maybe she made a mistake and had directed me in the wrong lane. That would have been OK with me. I’d have known I didn’t do the whole thing, but it wouldn’t have been my fault and I could have been done with the walk. Then I saw it, flags lining a path through the grass to the detour. OK, let’s finish this. Oh wait, there’s Joanne right there. I forgot to lift my right foot at the next step and almost fell flat on my face. I didn’t. “Hi Jo – I love you!” Her response, “I’m so proud of you, honey, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Romie wasn’t with her, but I wasn’t going to worry about that. The last ¾ wasn’t so bad. Except that my feet felt like they were burning in places. I had a blister starting and there was nothing I could do about it but walk through the pain and know the skin injury was getting steadily worse.

I was tired and ready to be done, but I knew I was close. Up the hill, another slight detour, along Cedar for blink, down the hill, and ah, there’s the final stretch to the finish line. I walked steady. There was a crowd up ahead. Someone was calling my name while cheering. Dr. M had finished already (not surprisingly) and was cheering me on. I asked her how the race went for her. “Great” she said and I was past her, across the street, and almost to the finish line. There was a large digital timer displayed. It said 2:50:42. I couldn’t believe I was going to complete this thing in under three hours. That was awesome. I had thought it would be at least 3:05. I was very pleased!!!! There were spectators everywhere. But, there was no Joanne… or Jennifer… or Kira… or anyone. I thought how disappointed we’d be if they all missed my finish. And then, like that camera shot in Harry Potter, Jo’s head peaked forward from the line of spectators. Right behind her Jennifer’s smiling face, and then, much lower, was Romie. I heard Jo tell Romie that she had to wait. A second later Jo gave Romie the go ahead. Romie was on the path running toward me yelling “Mama, Mama.” I reached down to hug her but she didn’t let go and as we were both in motion she ended up in my arms in a flash. Without thinking, I continued forward, carrying her to the finish line as I heard the announcers, through my thoughts and the noise of the crowd, announce my name, Minneapolis, and that it was my birthday today. I raised my arm in triumph and I was through the arch and into the crowd, Joanne and Jennifer at my side. And there, at the end, I saw Susie, and Jeannette, and Tania with her boys. A second later, there too were Lori and Dan. A volunteer tried to get us to not crowd the area. Lori was panicking and then Ok and a few minutes later… Kira was there too.

Post Race

I did it. I didn’t die at the end or collapse or cry or scream. In fact, not only could I lift my tall 4 y/o at the end, I could carry her for several strides. Jennifer handed me water at the end, then more, then more. Then, she went to get me more. There were no more veggie sandwiches, but I guess I expected that too. It was OK. I had food; chips and breads and fruits and my favorite – chocolate chip cookies. I had my family. I had completed the race on my 40th birthday in less than 3 hours. And, I was not the last to cross the finish line. Soon after the race Kristen found me, I found Sue and I saw Michelle (also from FMC). The next two hours were mostly me and one of my best friends, Jennifer, hanging out at an event in the park while Joanne talked to her sisters at base camp and Romie played with her cousin on the playground. It was a great birthday!

Post-Race – The Next Day

I got my results on-line. Something was wrong. The final time didn’t add up. I thought maybe they didn’t include the transition time. Then I thought they made a mistake. It was off! I know I saw 2:50 on the timer as I neared the finish and I was sure that was 1-3 minutes before I actually crossed the line. I was thinking I’d have to email them to have them double check my results and suddenly it dawned on me… the timer I saw at the finish line was from the start of the race itself. I was in wave 8, starting about 20 minutes after wave 1. OMG, I had completed the whole thing in 2 hours and 30 minutes. I beat my best case scenario estimate by 30 minutes. Wow! Crazy! For a full day I was happily in shock, thinking over and over again, “two and half hours”.

Today, two days later. I’m 40 years old, and I’m a triathlete!




YWCA Womens Triathlon - 2010
Individual Results
August 15, 2010 in Minneapolis, MN Summary
Number of Finishers: 871
Number of Females: 868
Number of Males: -
Average Time: 1:51:34

Diane Jorgensen
bib number: 589
age: 40
location: Minneapolis, MN
overall place: 850 out of 871
division place: 149 out of 149
time: 2:30:27
pace: 0:
swim: 15:54
trn1: 5:55
bike: 1:09:17
trn2: 3:00
run: 56:23