Collin: Cheering Section

I competed in my first full triathlon this morning since being diagnosed with breast cancer. Before a test swim last week, I had not been in the pool since December 2012. I had no expectations about the race other than getting out there, racing with friends and having a good time. It was a super sprint (200 meter swim, 8 mi bike and 2 mi run) so I knew I would be finished in less than an hour. I had planned to ride with my race buddy, Bonnie, thinking the boys would want to sleep in. Daddy surprised me when he said that he and Collin planned to watch me race. I was really excited to hear this and was happy knowing they would be there to cheer me through the race. Since it was a pool swim, I also knew they would be able to watch me swim the entire time and yell out to me if I needed it.

Watching me race did mean that we had to get up at 4:30am to leave by 5am. Collin was all for going to the race until the morning when we woke him up. NOT a happy little boy. He did sleep on the way there. I got a big kiss from him before I lined up at the pool.

Because it was 58 degrees outside, the pool was FREEZING when I jumped in. It took my breath away and made me swallow some water. Not off to a great start. I knew that the swim would be over in less than 6 minutes so I just needed to get through it. I did hear Daddy yell out to me a few times which did really help. He and Collin were sitting at the end were the swimmers were getting out. I could not wait to see my smiling family when I got out of the water. Collin was there to tell me "Good job Mommy" as I got out and ran to get my bike. The ride was cold because of the cold air and being wet from the pool. Less that 28 minutes later, I was running. The run was different than other triathlons because they periodically threw color powder on you which temporarily colored your skin and clothes.

At the finish line, I could see Daddy and Collin waiting as the runners crossed. I was handed a medal and immediately put it around Collin's head. He really liked that and then noticed all of the color on me. He gave me several hugs. I thought he was happy to see me but found out that he was trying to get the color all over him which he succeeded in doing. He got some all over his fast too. He thought this was fun and wanted to take some pictures.

So happy about the green on his face

He knows what to do when he gets a medal

While we were waiting for the awards to be announced, he wanted to play with the dogs in the dog park. He told me several times that he missed Burke and wished we had brought him to play. I told him that would have been a great idea and that it was his job to remind us to do this next time.

I looked at the posted times for the race and did not noticed my name at all in my age group. I saw Bonnie's and she placed second in the same age group. I know I came in several minutes before her and wondered what happened to my name. Fearing that they did not get my time at all, I let the race director know. He said that he had me down as a male, umm....not close to a male at all....hahaha....and made the change. He reprinted the times and I still did not see my name. He showed me I was looking in the wrong place. I did not place first in my age group. I actually placed first out of all of the 40 and older women racers. This meant that I was the Female Masters winner. Oh my gosh!!! I had never done this before and never thought to look at the top of the list for my name. Wow!!! I was not expecting to place during the race and was estatic to have this memory as for the first race back after cancer. Love it!