On Monday, August 14, 2017, I participated in the triathlon at the World Police and Fire Games. It was simultaneously the most challenging and most enjoyable Olympic distance race I have ever done. Details below…

My travel companions (mom and husband) and I arrived at LAX at about midnight on Saturday morning. We got onto the shuttle to get to our rental car location and spent about 30 minutes intermittently accelerating and slamming on the brakes in the crazy LAX traffic. We finally got to the rental location and after a long wait got our sweet ride (a Dodge Caravan) and drove the 35 miles or so to Santa Clarita where we were staying. By the time we got checked in and got everything settled it was about 2:30 am and we were all ready for bed! We had plans to go to Disneyland on Saturday, however due to the late bed time those plans got changed.

We slept in a bit on Saturday as I wanted to make sure I was getting adequate rest before the race. Instead of heading to Disney, I went and checked in for the Games at the LA Police Academy. Check in went smoothly and we spent the rest of the day exploring Santa Monica. We relaxed on the beach and spent some time exploring the pier. We went to a place called The Blaq Square for dinner which had some really awesome vegan options.

On Sunday we went to Castaic Lake State Park where the race was going to be held to get the lay of the land. We drove the bike course and I subsequently started to panic. I knew from looking at the elevation chart that the course would be hilly with some pretty steep climbs, but looking at a two-dimensional chart and actually seeing the mountains I would be riding were two very different things! After calming myself somewhat, I decided to ride at least the first climb on the course. This climb was about 2 miles long and had sections that were 11-12% grade. Chase followed behind me in the mini van to ensure I didn’t get run over by the traffic on the road. Thankfully, I found that the climb was very difficult, but not impossible. I put my bike in my granny gear and just spun the legs. When I reached the top, I turned around and was looking forward to the descent. Turns out the way down was much worse than the way up! It was very windy and there was a lot of traffic. By the time I reached the bottom my hands were cramping from squeezing my brakes so hard. Some of the road wasn’t in the best condition and there were a few sections where I thought I was going to catch a rut in the road and crash doing about 40 mph. Thankfully I was able to keep the rubber side down and made it back to the car for a quick transition run. I felt great running and it was really cool to see all the folks having picnics and what were really small parties in the park and on the beach. I was glad that I felt so good despite the fact that it was about 100 degrees. We came back from the park and I spent some time in recovery boots (thanks, Mom!).  We got an early dinner in. I had pad thai which is one of my pre-race go-tos. I had a delicious beer (which is also a pre-race necessity) and got all my things together for race day. I don’t think I have ever been this organized before a race. I was actually ready for bed and headed there around 9:30.

4:30 am wake up call on Sunday for race day. This event wasn’t terribly well organized, or at least not to the extent that most “triathlon only” events or events that I am used to doing usually are. However, true to first responder form, we were all able to “adapt and overcome” and managed to get where we needed to be. This includes the guy who drove over some spikes in the road designed to prevent you from entering the venue without paying… not sure how he got home but at least he got there! I figured out where transition was located and checked in. I received my bib, chip and bike number. Transition was pretty small, and I got a decent spot on the end of a rack. I set up all my gear in transition and headed out for a quick warm up. I returned to information that due to the warm water temperature (about 78 degrees), no wetsuits would be allowed. I suited up in my swimskin, did a final check of all my gear, and headed down to the beach. We had a very brief “race meeting” where the official very succinctly described the course and made sure to include how difficult the bike course was. Thanks, Dude! not like I wasn’t already worried about it… After the race meeting we were separated into two waves and we were ready to start!

First wave went off at about 7:10. I was in the second wave and we started at 7:15. I felt like I had a really good swim. I was a little apprehensive about the lack of sighting buoys in between the turn buoys, but thankfully the turn buoys were easy to see. I felt like I swam very straight lines and felt strong and smooth in the water. Made it to the swim exit and headed into transition.

Transition was very close to the water and very short which made for some fast times. I usually clip my shoes to my bike in advance, but due to the climb right at the start of the bike I decided to run in them instead. Swimskin and cap and goggles off, bike shoes and helmet on, and out of transition and onto the bike course I went.

The bike course was the most challenging bike course I have ever completed. It was a bit long (25.5 miles) and included approximately 3,300 feet of elevation gain. I took the climbs as easy as possible. I feel like I did a pretty good job on the hills considering I am a flat-lander. Once I was sure I wasn’t going to get blown away on the downhills by the mountain crosswinds, I took advantage of the free speed and spun my legs out. I had so much fun on this course and tried to take some time to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings. This course took me about 35 minutes longer than my usual olympic distance bike times, but I have never felt so accomplished finishing a bike. The last two miles were downhill with great views of the park, so I enjoyed every minute of that.

Feet out of my shoes and dismounted my bike before heading back into transition. Bike shoes and helmet off, running shoes and helmet hair on, and out of transition onto the run course.

Coming out of transition I was right with another female. I thought I could stick with her but she was a super fast runner and she was gone within the fist half mile. I tried to remember to run my own race. I stuck to a comfortably uncomfortable pace and was pleased to see my first mile was 8:20. Compared to the bike, the run was flat as a pancake. It was a simple out and back so I was able to see where the other athletes were on the course. A few times I felt as though my hamstrings were going to cramp, but I took water at each aid station and made sure to take my gel at mile 2. Overall I was really happy with how my legs felt running given the difficulty of the bike course. At the turn around at mile 3, I saw that some female athletes were not too far behind me. I tried to keep up my pace as much as possible. I slowed a little bit on the back the three, and I was ready for my inhaler by the time I finished, but I came back into the park on strong legs and ran as fast as I could across the finish line. My efforts were rewarded with a second place finish in the 18+ age group, and I was the third female finisher overall. It was a good thing I didn’t slow down too much, as I finished less than a minute ahead of the next female athlete.

Reflecting on the race, I am very happy with my performance. My time was “slow” for me (thanks, mountains), but I am pleased with how everything went on such a challenging course. The difficulty and beauty of this course are something I won’t soon forget. What struck me most, though, was the comradery and sportsmanship on the course. Triathletes are, in general, type A personalities and fiercely competitive. While this was true, every person I encountered on the bike and run whether they were overtaking me or being overtaken offered words of encouragement. I think this really speaks to the brother and sisterhood of first responders and it was so inspiring to see so many fit and determined police officers and fire personnel and to compete with athletes from all over the world.

After the race, I celebrated appropriately by enjoying more food than anyone needs to eat and a few adult beverages. On Tuesday, we went for a tour of Los Angeles and the surrounding area before returning home.

Words can’t express how grateful I was for this experience as my last tri of the season, and I hope to compete in future games. For now, on to half marathon training!

I’ve been reflecting lately on what being an athlete means to me. Merriam-Webster defines “athlete” as: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina. Coming up on my 30th birthday, I have been swimming competitively for almost 20 years. I played soccer, volleyball, and basketball growing up. I am coming up on my 10th season in triathlon. It’s safe to say I am competitive. However I never really identified, inwardly anyway, as an athlete until recently. The definition above lists physical strength, agility OR stamina, but an athlete to me is someone who has all three.

So, I can’t be an athlete because I’m a quitter. Or I was. When things got tough, painful, frustrating, I QUIT. Either my mind would give up, or my body would (mostly my lungs, which is probably partly due to swimming in poorly ventilated pools for 20 years but whatever..), or a mind/body combination would take over and I was completely out of the game. I wanted to be good at what I did, but I didn’t want to have to push myself out of my comfort zone to achieve “goodness”, whatever that meant at the time. Thankfully for me, I was generally pretty “good” at what I did despite my unwillingness to actually push myself anywhere. To me, though, good was only a word that had value respective to others. I was only good if I was better than someone else.

I feel I became an athlete when I stopped worrying about being good, and started trying to be better. I don’t need to be better than anyone else, but I need to be a better, the best, version of myself. The reason why I push myself every day training for triathlon is not so I can be faster than anyone else. I don’t lift weights or do my cardio workouts to be fitter, or lighter, or more anything than anyone else. I do these things because I used to refuse. I quit. When something was too much for me I just said, “nah.” If I was afraid to fail at something I just didn’t even try in the first place. But, I wanted to be an athlete. I needed STAMINA. I needed to prove to myself that I was CAPABLE.

I learned how to get tough. I still have my moments, but I am learning how to push through. Zone 5 run got my lungs on fire? Scale it back a bit, get the breathing under control, and carry on. Weights in my hand or on my shoulders causing my muscles to fail? That means I pushed myself to my limit. Things tough at work or at home? Head down, figure it out, and carry on. Fitness is about so much more, especially for women, than trying to be as small or as light as possible. Get as STRONG as possible. Get as TOUGH as possible. Whatever those words mean to you individually, become that.

I feel like maybe this post has gone slightly off the rails, but I hope it resonates with you.

Just, whatever you do, don’t quit.