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And, just when I was coming to terms that the first part of the swim was straight out toward Europe, fellow AIR member and veteran triathlete Bruce Dunham tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I had practiced swimming with other people around. Nope, all my training had been on my own, I answered. Bruce said to expect to get kicked, shoved and elbowed. In order to avoid 300-plus people jumping into the ocean simultaneously, the organizers had issued color-coded bathing caps for the swim portion to designate your grouping, but you were still running toward the breakers with 60-70 others. I survived the shoving, kicking, and deep sea, finishing in the middle-back portion of my grouping (10:59) and heading to the transition area for the bike portion of the triathlon.
While some of the triathletes jump on $9,000 biking machines, mine is your standard $170 pedal & giggle Schwinn mountain bicycle that I purchased at Target about 13 years ago with a matching female version for my wife, ah girlfriend at the time, Emilie. A week prior to the event, I had replaced the original back tire for $18, which I figured is about 2% of the value of the back tires of some of the top finishers. Let's just say that my Schwinn 10-mile bike ride down Fletcher Avenue was like cutting the U.S. Open rough with a push mower. Out of 313 riders, I was 283rd in time with a 40:28. It was tough to watch bike after bike passing me like I was a 1972 Ford Pinto in a NASCAR race. |
By the time I got to the run transition, the temperature was near 90 degrees, my legs were aching, and I wanted a cool Gatorade more than a punishing 3.1-mile run. It was especially tough psychologically because, being with the middle-back portion of the racers, many in my group were walking the 5K, and, boy, did I want to join them. I kept running though, and thinking about the last time I felt this exhausted, which was a half-marathon in Jacksonville four years ago with the temperature in the mid-80's... near heat exhaustion that day. On the final mile of the 5K, I was thinking about this story and the fact I would never refer to a sprint triathlon as "only" a sprint triathlon again. I would have raised my hand and given an oath, but I didn't have that much energy.
Actually, I was surprised to discover that I was sixth in the Fat Tire division, finishing with a time of 1:20:38, only one place out of the medals. But it was difficult. There was nothing "only" about this thing. It gave me a greater respect for our fellow triathletes. And, I can't wait to do another one (are you listening, Mom?). |
When I first started training, I had come to terms that I would have many competitors passing me on the bike. 
I ambled through the run in 25:32, about four minutes more than my normal 5K time. But, I give myself a break because I don't usually warm up for local races with 55 minutes of swimming and biking.