El Reno Triathlon!!!

Well, I don't even know where to start this. First of all I did finish the race and I enjoyed every part of it so much that I am excited about doing it again in 2 weeks and most importantly doing it with FRIENDS :)
First I want to say Thanks to Tim and my kids. Their support meant so much to me. I honestly couldn't have done it without them. Also thanks to my friend Marlene for her support and her advice to get me ready for the race.
The race was great. We got there around 6:30am to set up my stuff and I wanted to get in the lake to warm up but it was so windy and cool that no one was swimming so I decided to hang out with Tim and the kids. At 7:15am we had the meeting where they go over some basic rules. At this time I realized I haven't gotten my timing chip yet and everyone else was wearing one so I was panicking trying to find the person that had them. By the time we found the person with the chips the referee had already asked the men (the first wave of swimmers) to get in the water. Of course I was not handling this very well and I couldn't even put it on my ankle ( well, I didn't know how since I have never done it before). Once I got that done I kissed the kids and Tim and off I went to the water. Surprisingly enough, I was calm. I know how to swim so I knew I would do just fine. The gun went off and here I was starting my first triathlon. Swimming in the lake is CRAZY!!!!! You bump into so many people and it's a MESS!! Plus you are constantly checking for the buoys to make sure you are going the right way and with the wind that we had it was hard to swim against the waves but the worst thing was passing the slower men who were pretty much resting there on their backs. On the other hand it felt good to pass people since I knew I wasn't going to be passing many people later in the bike and run so I enjoyed it as much as I could:)
The transition from swimming to biking didn't go as smoothly as I was hoping for. I put my biking shoes on (which by the way I decided to use for the race on Friday and for more details about my decision contact Ben and about my first fall from the bike contact Jared), my helmet, and my sunglasses and left the area when I realized that my chain had come off. I was so mad. I tried to fix it but I couldn't so someone came to help me. The bike ride was very tough. It was very windy and it just killed my time. I checked my time at 7 miles and I realized that I wasn't going to meet my goal. My legs felt fine but my heart rate was very high. I was working very hard trying to go somewhere and the wind kept pushing me the other way. I hated that. I wasn't very happy with my biking time and experience but I learned a few things that I need to improve on so I'll work on them. The transition from biking to running wasn't bad because I just had to change my shoes and take my helmet off. Running was HORRIBLE!!!! I won't ever forget that as I was leaving the area I was telling myself that I was just going to walk and right at that moment Tim yelled " Go, Baby, go... You can do it" So I turned around I looked at them and saw my beautiful family and I just couldn't walk. I run till the end...and they were at the finish line. Thanks!!! It was so worth it. It was a pretty neat experience and the beginning of something great. Thanks to all for your love and support!!!