DNF

If you don't know what DNF means, that's a good thing. I remember once going to a swim meet with my SIL and a little girl came up to us crying. My SIL asked her why she was crying and the little girl said, "I DNF'd." My SIL rubbed her cold arms and said in such a nice and sincere way, "Oh, that's great!!!" The girl screamed and ran away. Little did she know that DNF means Did Not Finish.

I have had one DNF in my tri career. It was the Pacific Coast Tri and the day before the water looked great so I wasn't too worried about the swim portion. Of course, as always, I was throwing up out the window on the way to the race because of my pre-race nerves but at least it took my mind off the hilly bike course.

We set up our transition areas, squeezed into our wetsuits (which is the most exhausting part of the race!) and off we went down the hill to the shore. To my dismay the waves were enormous. I've never learned to duck dive and these waves were so big you had to duck dive to get past them. My husband proceeded to teach me how to do it but every time I tried I got nailed to the floor of the ocean and dragged along. After three attempts they were starting the race and my husband left me saying, "If you don't think you can do it, don't. If you panic out there you could get hurt or killed." I stood there watching everyone dive under the waves while tears rolled down my face. As much as I wanted to, I just didn't have the nerve or skill to do so. I had to do the walk of shame and walked back to the transition area, stripped off my wetsuit and put on my normal clothes so I could go out and be a cheerleader instead.

Next time, I'll remember to pack my pom poms...