I think we instilled the fear of God into their eyes!

I did the beginner's triathlon panel discussion tonight. We had an Ironman, a few of us have done Half's and Olympics, and Shelly, who organized the event, talked about sprint distances.

The first questions from the audience were all about the swim. Oooooooohhhh, the memories of leading up to my first sprint triathlon almost exactly 2 years ago. I too, had the fear of God instilled into my eyes and throat thinking about that swim. I think I had that nervous lump in my throat for 3 weeks! I had NIGHTMARES about that swim for weeks leading up to that first race.

So questions consisted of, "Are there boats out there?" to "What if I can't make it!" Then the Ironman guy jumped in and explained the mass start of an Ironman. "Waaaaaaaiiiiit, a second", I interjected. Most of your first swims will be like 40 people per wave, if that many. You should have seen the looks on these folks faces! They were wild eyed as if they were about to jump into the water in the middle of that restaurant!!!

I think we calmed their fears (a bit) by explaining that you NEED to do an open water swim IN your wetsuit BEFORE the race to get, as Shelly put it, those "Water Demons" to rest.

I still remember the feeling of my arms when I turned the swim bouy during that first swim at the halfway mark (1/4 mile) and my arms were just TOAST. I saw how far left I had to swim and didn't think I was going to make it. I wasn't panicking, I was just TIRED. And then when I emerged from the water at a whopping 20 mins I knew the hard part of the day was over. I had a great ride and good run. A painful run, but a rewarding one because I KNEW that I had this first triathlon in the bag.

I am NOT kidding about the following. We did the panel discussion at a Chinese restaurant, and so they gave us fortune cookies for dessert. No joke, my fortune said this:

"Do not give up, it is just the beginning."

I thought it was VERY fitting for the theme of the evening :)