You know, I haven’t blogged lately. Oops, my bad. Anyway, so I decided to enter a second triathlon. This one was on Thanksgiving day. I’m sure most of you know by now, but around a month ago I broke a few ribs playing football, I was actually all but ready to pull out of the triathlon, but due to not being able to get a refund (which is normal) I decided to stay in.
Also this year, I was not running alone in the race, I had a friend running in it. I’ll just call it a little “competition” and maybe a motivator. Anyway, we carpooled together from East Valley to West Valley and got there around 5:30am. HOLEY MOLEY was it cold!! Now, I am 103 pounds lighter than I was, but I’m still a big dude who wears shorts most of the time. I was fricking COLD. I had a sweatshirt on that I thought I was gonna wear for the entire race. I was dreading getting out of the pool at the end of the race with how cold it was. Anyway, they ended up starting late, which is mostly due to the organizer going on and on and late entrants. We got to watch the kids do a mini triathlon. Which is just like a sprint except half as long. 1 mile run, 4 mile bike ride, and 200 meter swim. It was awesome to watch them, but I will say I was a bit disappointed to see some of the parents urging their kids on a little too harshly. They’re kids, if they fumble around with their helmets or forget to take their shoes off, or run the wrong way, so what? Chances are buddy, you’re gonna do and probably did do the same damn thing when you ran for the first time.
Nonetheless, this was a reverse the course triathlon, 2 mile run, 12 mile bike ride, and 400 meter swim to end. We didn’t end up starting until 835am. Guys went first, and women left 10 minutes later. Like I said, I needed extra motivation because I was out of shape for a month, and was certain I wasn’t going to pull this off and would quit half way through. I knew my friend would overtake me eventually, my goal was to put it off as long as possible. I was certain she would pass me while I was still running. I was also certain there was no way I was going to beat my previous time and was certain I would not make it through the run.
Boy was I wrong, I guess the human body retains much of what it did before and you remember how to will yourself past the point of when you’re tired and just keep going. I ended up being able to run the first 3/4th of a mile, two days ago in the gym, I couldn’t even run for three minute without stopping, on a treadmill! This was colder, harder to breathe, and a different terrain. But alas I did it, I walked maybe a 1/4th of a mile to the half way point, ran another half mile, walked another 1/4th mile, and ran the last 1/4th.
Entering transition was a lot smoother this time, I didn’t have to try to pull a shirt on which made my time take forever last time, I was on my bike, and on my way within a minute of arriving in the transition. The bike was a breeze. It was a flat course, the last triathlon was half uphill. There was also a lot more action on the bike course this time. Lots more bikes, lots more people to pass, and be passed by. I actually was maybe 2 miles from end of the bike course, when my friend finally overtook me. I wasn’t mad, I put it off as long as I could and was impressed I put it off that long. I was happy for her. We both actually ended up in the transition from bike to swim together, she arrived about a minute or two ahead of me.
I was off to the swim portion, and whoo..let me tell you, 25 meters is a hell of a difference from 50 meter swimming pool! I hadn’t swam much in the last month, besides my ribs bothering me, and my shoulder, there wasn’t a place to swim much. I was exhausted by the end of the first lap. hanging on the rope half the time and walking some of the time. I feel like I cheated some what, but you know what, how many people today got out and ran a triathlon before stuffing themselves full of turkeys? I completed the race, about 5 minutes after my friend (which would mean she was about 15 minutes faster than me, adding the 10 minutes later starting time). I was certain I had beaten my time, and felt good about it.
I haven’t gotten the official results yet, but I’m going to guess I finished the run in less than 30 minutes, the bike in less than 30 minutes, and the swim in 10-15 minutes. Total time: 1 hour, 15 minutes-1 hour, 30 minutes. We’ll see how that goes…
