At Home With Matt and Liz: Updated: Thunderous Triathlon

So - I thought I would share my triathlon story with all of you - ie: my story of being scared that I was going to be struck by lightning while cowering in the rain next to a concrete barrier on a bridge over the Schuylkill River. I'll try to give you the short version.

This morning, storms were in the area and the race directros decided (much to my disappointment) to turn the triathlon into a duathlon because the storms, current, and debris made the river unsafe. That means that I had to do a 1.5m run, then 15.8m bike, and followed by a 3m run. They delayed the race by about 30 minutes while they were trying to make that decision - and in the long run, I really wish I had those 30 min because it would have saved me from cowering on the bridge. The 1.5m run went well and was dry. I grabbed my bike and headed off. Right away it started to sprinkle and then it really rained. The rain went on and off all during the bike portion, which was a 2 loop course. I finished the first loop, and I was tired but it was going ok. I settled in and was feeling a lot better on the second loop. Then the lightning and thunder really started to pick up. Everyone was chatting out on the course, and we were all ready to be off our bikes because it was getting scary. I was really hoping at that point that they had cancelled the second run portion. Then the bridge happened, and I knew that the run had been cancelled. I was in the middle of the bridge and I saw the wall of water coming. I stopped and jumped off my bike. I was looking all around and could see the clouds level with us and the lightning all around. We all ran up against the concrete walls of the bridge and ducked down to get some protection from the driving rain and lightning. Finally the lightning let up some and we ran our bikes across the bridge because the rain was coming down too strong for us to ride. Then we finished out the last mile or two on the bike. There was flash flooding and at some points I was biking in up to a foot of rushing water. I could barely see and the rain hurt because it was coming down so hard. When I finally got back to the transition area - it was mostly deserted. They had told the spectators to leave immediately, and later Matt told me that it was like a mass exodus. I had a hard time finding anywhere to return my timing chip, and I didn't get my participants medal :( Everything was flooded and totally chaotic.

Needless to say, there is no way that my next triathlon could be as bad as my first triathlon. Seriously insane - but somehow it was still fun and I want to do it again. Does that make me insane? If any of you have a desire to do a triathlon, I would highly suggest the Danskin Women's triathlon series. It is an all-women's triathlon and is geared at first-timers. Even if you have done one, I would still suggest it. It was so supportive and a lot of fun - really a great environment.

Here are the pictures as promised: