Excited AND Scared

In 6 days I will be be doing my first Olympic-distance triathlon, the San Diego Classic Triathlon. This 1500 meter swim/40k bike/10k run is more roughly double the size of the sprint triathlons I've been doing (in the case of the swim, it's triple the distance).

I am getting excited. And very, very nervous.

I have been training very hard for this. I know I can cover each leg on it's own, but I'm worried about doing it all back-to-back-to-back:

• I'm worried about the swim. I can easily do 1500 meters in the pool, but doing it in open water, when it's cold and I'm trying to avoid other swimmers from kicking my face, is a different story. I already had one panic attack in the water during a triathlon, and do NOT want to have another. A few weeks ago I did another open water practice, and while it went ok, I was shocked at how tired I felt afterwards (and my practice swim was only half the distance of what I'll be swimming this weekend). For me, it's always tiring swimming in open water in my wetsuit.

• The bike ride is going to be very hilly, and while I've been practicing a lot on hills, including TWICE riding the actual area where the course will be, I'm still apprehensive. I've come a long way on the bike since I started triathlon last year, and am doing much better, but hills are still not my friend. And 24.8 miles of hills after that swim should be brutal. On a good note, I can officially change a bike tire---I timed myself at 7 minutes--so if my nightmare happens and I pop a tire during the race, I can take care of myself. I may not be able to do it as fast as I've done (I'm sure I'd be sweaty, shaky and nervous) but knowing that I have that bike knowledge under my belt makes me feel more empowered.
  

• I can easily do a 6.2 mile run, but again, after the swim and bike, I will be exhausted. Not to mention the fact that I've been injured with plantar fasciiits, which, while it's getting better with treatment, can still be painful.

I am starting to doubt my training, am worried that I haven't done it right. I need to remember the awesome brick I did a few weeks ago, which essentially was the bike and run portion. It was hard, but I did it. On race day I will have to channel all my strength and get adrenaline from the race itself, from the other triathletes, volunteers and spectators.

So, with all that I have to be nervous about, why am I also excited? Because I CAN do this, and I WILL! I signed up for this race for a challenge, to push myself beyond the distances that I had previously done. I wanted to see how far my body could go, how much I could improve. I wanted to see WHAT I'M MADE OF.

We'll see this weekend!