Inaugural All Female Indian Springs Triathlon

Please welcome guest blogger, Dee Dee "The Bug" McK, Athena Masters Champion!

So you all know what its like to get absolutely zero sleep the night before a race right?

Well consider this, attending your oldest son's State High School Soccer Championship game the night before on top of it! That's right! Emotions are already high, and now you have such an adrenalin rush. Your son just won the State Championship, and you have to leave him to travel an hour and a half away. Thats right! You have your first race of the tri season to do.

This is how it went down. We arrived at the luxurious Best Western Plantation Inn at 11:00 pm. No wait! I forgot. We made a quick stop for some late night snacks and breakfast food at a stupid Walgreens drug store. Yea, we got hot fries, coke, g2, and powdered sugar dough nuts and a muffin. Needless to say, the hotel was, lets just say, a “nonsmoking” room that smelt like chimney. Gross! I could not sleep but finally managed to close my eyes around 1 AM. You know the movie, My Cousin Vinny? Let's just say, you might know what I'm about to say. I woke to the sound of a loud roaring engine around 5:15 AM!! Thats right! Our hotel was right by a railroad track. Toot Toot!!! Screech!! Okay, so much for sleeping till 5:30. I got up, showered and then ate our crap we bought from the drugstore. Lets just say that I did not eat a lot.

We packed up the car and headed to the race . It was only four miles from the hotel. We arrived to see it was going to be small, but I was looking forward to a small race for my first race of the season. I checked in, picked up my timing chip and got body marked. We headed over to the transition area and set up my stuff. I decided to head down and look at the swim start. I found out the water temp was 77 degrees and decided to wear the wet suit. We ran into Lauren, said our hello's and introduced our respective spouses.

It was time to put the wet suit on and warm up. I was very nervous to see how far the swim really was. It was 600 meters. I had never done more than 400 meters. I said damn! At least if I wear my wet suit, I won't drown. Just a few minutes later, we started. I was off with the second wave. I went off too fast and about 3 minutes in I got kicked in the freakin throat. I gasped , choked, and swallowed something from the lake into my mouth. At this point, I was trying not to throw up and drown while trying to make forward progress at the same time. Needless to say, 25 minutes later I was on the beach.


I did not prepare my self properly for this length of a swim, not enough swimming and not doing enough laps to get ready for it, but I did not quit! I was pleased to see that I was in and out of my wet suit and out of transition in 2:30.


I jumped on my bike and was off and out of the park. I knew I could make up time for my sucky swim on my bike. It was up and down hill on the way out, more up hill and then whack! Holy crap! My ankle is on fire. I just got stung by a freakin bee! You gotta be joking! I am only 4 miles out and I have 8 left to go. I am allergic!!! What to do? I just calmly tried to settle down, and I figured I had enough adrenaline in my system that as long as I didn't get to short of breath I could finish. I was at the 6 mile turn around, and I knew that it would be a lot of down hill on my way back. I hit 34 mph on the long down hills. I was flying. I arrived back to the park was in and out of transition and saw Wes. I told him I got stung by a bee and t2 was only 48 seconds!!!


I took off on my woggle in and out of the woods to the road and off the road. The run was up and down hill! “Okay, you guys are cruel”, I thought. I started up my first long hill and over came a Tri Chica. She introduced herself as Carole. I said, “Holy crap!”, said my name to her, and she asked if she could run with me up the hill. I told her sure, but I am going to woggle if you don't mind. She smiled and said if I made it to the finish line, she would buy us a margarita. I told her deal! I would see her at the finish! I ran slower than I thought I would but was encouraged that others around me were trying to catch my fat ass!!! Some girls just laughed, and others decided to catch up. I continued and made the final down hill turn to the wooded path leading to the finish.

This young girl was struggling with her breathing. I said, “Hey! We are almost done! I'll run in with you if you want?” She said, “Really?” I said, “Sure!”. I told her how to slow her breathing down and she thanked me. This was her first triathlon. I told her how awesome that was and that when she crossed that line she would be a triathlete!

SHE JUST SMILED.

Dee Dee running with Carole Sharpless

We turned the corner and there was my new BFF, Carole waiting for every girl. She ran me half way in. I thought, “Man is she ever an inspiration!” Carole Sharpless finished last. That was her goal!


Later, I found out I placed first in my division. I said, “No way!”, but I did. The best part of this was the fact that the girl I ran in with me came over later and thanked me for running in with her.

Our Champion!!