5AM. On a weekend. Am I nuts? It’s a good thing I packed most of my stuff last night. Load the bike in the car, make a quick peanut butter sandwich, and head out to Camp Far West. 20 minutes later, I pull into the parking lot, register, and start setting up my transition area. Hang the bike, towel on the ground, gloves and sunglasses inside my bike helmet, bike shoes, running shoes, socks, Power Gel. Put my numbers on – the bike, helmet, and jersey. Get my body markings. 1019. We have a quick athlete’s meeting to go over the rules and course directions.
The wetsuit is on, and I head down to the water. I get in to try to calm down and warm up a little. The water is actually pretty warm, thankfully. I swim out towards the first buoy and nearly get tangled in a bush. Ah, the joys of open water swimming. “30 seconds!” Crud. I flail my way back to the start line and wait with the 20 or so other triathletes. “5… 4… 3… 2… 1…” and the airhorn goes off. I’m sure the campers loved hearing that at 7AM. I make my way out into the water, taking my time because I have no delusions of keeping up with most of the others. I put my face in the water and start swimming. Too fast. Not getting enough air on my breaths. It’s weird swimming in the lake. All you can see is your arms moving through the water, and maybe the rocks or bushes. I try to calm down, but have to pop up to catch my breath. I knew this would happen. It happened the day before, on my first open water swim. The open water and compression of the wetsuit make me panic a little. So I roll over onto my back and start doing the backstroke. At least I can breathe and hyperventilate to my heart’s delight. Brian is in a kayak next to me, telling me to just relax and calm down. I’m not doing any worse than his first open water swim. Just gotta relax. I can do this. I try swimming again, and am able to better, breathing every other stroke instead of every 3rd. This feels a little better, and I’m making more progress. Brian stays with me almost until the turnaround point, where there’s another guy, Tim, in a kayak. Eventually, I finish the swim and make it up to the transition area.
Cap and goggles off. Wetsuit off. Throw the wetsuit over the bar to dry. Bike shoes on. Helmet and sunglasses on. Gloves on. Make my way out of the transition area and off I go. I’m riding along, trying to keep my cadence up as I go up and down the rolling hills. I feel a little sore at first, but it goes away as my muscles warm up. Hmm.. I should probably eat some Power Gel. Wait. Oh CRAP. I left it at the transition. Luckily, this is a “short” ride. Ride, ride, ride. Push, push, push. Not a soul in front of me, or behind me. I keep an eye on my heart rate to make sure I’m not riding too hard, while not going too easy, either. Finally, I make it back to the entrance. The last leg of the bike ride. I look down at my computer and I’m going 23 miles an hour. Up hill! It’s amazing what adrenaline can do.
I hop off my bike and run into the transition area, hang up the bike, take off my helmet, shoes, and gloves. As I put on my running shoes, the timekeeper tells me I’ve made up some time on the bike. Cool. Throw the Power Gels in my pocket. Eat one as I take off on the run, and grab a Gu packet from a woman holding one out for me. Off down the running trail I go. I check my heart rate and notice it’s a little high so I slow down a bit. Down a hill. Up a hill. Down a hill. Ah, a port-a-potty. I make a quick pit stop and I’m once again on my way. I see some other competitors coming back along the out-and-back portion of the run. Maybe I’m not that far behind. I keep plodding along. Not a whole lot to say about the run, other than it was hot and sunny. Thankfully there were two water stations and we passed each one twice.
Oh yeah – note to self for the run – BodyGlide. Armpits.
And after 3 hours 25 minutes, and 55 seconds, I had finished my first Olympic Distance Triathlon. 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run.
