Three Keehner Cousin's Triathlon - Part I

I had knots in my stomach. I didn't feel like eating, I was so nervous....and what's that in my back, a rock? Aggg, I guess it's time to get up. Time check: 0530. Lets do this. I walked from the tent to the latrine with Cosculluela rapping reggae-ton jams in my ears on my iPod. I. Was. Pumped. While brushing my teeth, I felt like I was overseas again--in a bathroom at o'dark thirty with a bunch of women who I didn't know all getting ready to go workout. Did I ever think I would be in Virginia doing a relay Triathlon? No way!

Background check: Two years ago, I was watching the end of my swimming career and undergraduate career end simultaneously. I had never thought past swimming in college. I mean, where else do you go from here? I can always swim and there will always be pools around with lap lanes, but its the competition that drives me. Where am I going to race? Who am I going to race?  I need to beat somebody. But how? Somewhere in the recesses of my mind I had recalled that they have team triathlons where the events are split up between three people. Then I started thinking about how my cousin ran cross country in college and still races 5k's and half marathon's all over the country. That led me to thinking about the cycle leg of the race which brought to mind our other cousin who was an avid cyclist. This could totally happen. So, I contacted the running cousin--since we've been pretty close our whole lives--to see what she thought about it. This could totally happen. Well, 2/3 of us were on board. The only problem was the eminent military deployment approaching. We decided that we would revisit this genius plan when I returned.

November 2011, My running cousin was visiting her parents in Galena, IL which was only 4 hours from where I was living after arriving home from a year overseas in Kuwait/Iraq. I drove up to visit, and we brought up the triathlon discussion once again. She had been doing her research and had the perfect event for us. The only problem was that we needed cooperation from the cycle cousin, can't do a three part relay with only two people! ...well, I guess technically you can--but it wouldn't be nearly as cool or as unique. So, we called him while I was up there and proposed the plan. He was in! This could totally happen. So, we got onto the race website and signed up right then and there. My cousin's reserved their campsites and we all got pretty excited about the whole thing. This was totally happening!

The months dragged on. I got a substitute teaching position at a local high school for 10 weeks. I worked out, went to the pool a couple of times, but mostly focused on running. The job ended. I fell into a meaningless existence. More weeks passed. I started dating the most amazing man I have ever known. I moved to Kansas. Worked on finding a job. I went to the pool a few more times. I ran a little. But I in no way practiced like I should have. And then, before I knew it, the race was in two weeks and it was time for me to buy my plane ticket. This is crazy!!! I'm not ready. I'm not in shape to be doing this. What is it going to be like? Will I need a wet suit? What does the course look like? How will I stay in the race without swimming off into the middle of the lake? Am I going to be the slowest person there? I really didn't want to let my cousin's down. But, I really had no choice--I had to do this.

The week before the race, I started feeling butterflies in my stomach. Oh boy....this was happening! I found a local Master's Swimming program and went to a practice the Saturday before the race. I started out in lane three, the middle group. They ended up kicking me out to go to the faster lane, which made me feel better. I looked around at all of these older swimmers, who also competed in triathlons and other racing events and I felt a thousand times better. Here were 'swimmers' or at least people who swam, who were practicing together. With a coach! There is hope for my swimming career. I just have to find the right group, and right now--this was exactly the group I needed. We ended up swimming 3,800 yards and I felt amazing! I wasn't even sore! My confidence level had skyrocketed! For the first time, I was actually excited about this race and couldn't wait to kick some *behind*

I flew to Virginia and stayed the night with my running cousin, getting things ready for camping, and the next day we were all packed into the van with her two small tots. We drove an hour to the campsite and met up with our cycle cousin and my mom, who had also flown out to support all of us. We had an amazing time together getting our race packets and spending time together. Our other cousin, who used to swim in college, drove up from North Carolina to watch us and we all had a great time catching up together.

The next thing I knew, it was 0530 and I was waking up with those same nerves from a week ago. Well....here we go!