4/27/02 by Becky Blice
I have been planning this trip to Hilton Head with my cousin since February. I wouldn't have to worry about the kids. Nathan, my hero, offered to take time off of work to watch them. So, if I had no one but myself to be concerned with, what would I like to do? Ride my bike, of course!
Well, finding a bike race in Hilton Head proved to be difficult. My trip happened to coincide with the Athens (GA) Twilight Criterium which was six hours away from where we were staying. Too far for me to travel to, and this also meant that there weren't any races locally. I settled upon a triathalon that would be held just a mile away. It was a "sprint", which meant a 1/2 mile swim (no problem, I swam in high school), a 13 mile bike (I can do that in my sleep), and a 3.3 mile run (*gulp). Ok, if I can make it through the swim and the bike, I'll just do the best I can on the run. Surely it couldn't be that hard.
Transporting the bike became another issue. Peter Henriksen came to my rescue with a Performance Cargo Case (VERY nice, casters & the whole deal). I actually managed to take my bike apart, and get it packed. Airtran charged me extra to bring it, though. I guess I should have flown United and used my USCF vouchers. Live and learn. Kudos to Peter, though. I really appreciated the case and it worked great!
Saturday the 27th came with low 70's and wind, waves crashing onto the beach and muddy looking COLD water. I can't believe I paid $50 to do this. No kidding, this makes our bike race fees look like peanuts. I'll never complain about them again.
We all wore a chip, placed in a velcro-closed pouch, around our ankles. They said it was to keep track of our times, but I fear that it was to find our dead bodies on the bottom of the ocean, or inside of a shark. The mass start was incredible. 200 people running into the water at the same time. There were three buoys set up and we had to swim around them all. I swallowed lots of salt water and felt many a "fish" or something brush up against me. I would look up and there wouldn't be anyone close. Big incentive to swim fast and get the heck out!
The transition was good. The bike part was, of course, excellent. I caught a lot of people who had come out ahead of me on the swim. I'll tell you, though, trying to eat GU after swallowing lots of salt water does wonders for your stomach. Don't try it at home. I was really pleased by my bike leg. But then came the dreaded run.
I got off ok, but after about 20 feet started to just die. I walked a little, tried to run. Nice people in their cars were encouraging me, as were the people that were now passing me. I finally managed to find my stride and got through the rest without stopping. I think it was this girl who passed me that did it. All I could think was, "I'm not going to get beat by her." Call me competitive.
The race was run really well. Alfred, the guy that put it on and that owns the local triathalon shop, was super nice and e-mailed me details about the race beforehand and recognized me when I came in to register. That helped a lot since I was in unfamiliar territory.
Anyway, as it turned out, I was 12th overall in the women and 2nd in my age group. I got a shiny silver medal to hang on my garage wall. It was a really good experience. I'll probably do another. There is one at Portage Lakes in June or July.