I had good intentions of posting an entry Friday night about how I was feeling. Then I got to the hotel later than expected. After an all too short visit with my parents, dinner, and getting ready for the morning, it was soon time for bed and my writing was skipped. It’s probably for the better, because I know what I was going to write.
I slept better than usual, especially considering this was the first race of the year. I woke up early, and then I laid around waiting for the alarm. I couldn’t move up the starting gun, so I ended up getting up early, then leaving early for the race, and then waiting around there.
| I spent the time talking with my good friend, professional triathlete Natasha Van Der Merwe, the rookie parked next to me, and a couple of other nuts that were going without a wetsuit in 62 degree water! Once my wife and parents showed up they distracted me until race time. |  |  |
Once I got into the water and felt how cold it was, I certainly was glad I had a long sleeve wetsuit! We got going, and the first thing I noticed, besides the normal jostling and pushing that goes on was the cold water going down my back. That only lasted a few seconds, and I didn’t think about the water temperature again. Perhaps that is because the water going out was super choppy. It seemed like every time I came up for a breath the water would wash over my head leaving me drinking water and gasping for air. Fortunately that made the water coming back to shore smooth and quick. There were a couple of times that I noticed my heart was really pounding (especially on the first trip outbound). Wanting to save for my push on the bike and run I forced myself to slow down.
I staggered out of the water, was quickly passed by Natasha, and struggled to get unzipped while trying to get to my bike as quickly as possible. Finally some volunteer grabbed the string and unzipped me. Running to the transition area I dropped two GU from my shirt pocket. I don’t know what I was thinking when I turned around and went back to get them. Note to self, next time leave them there!
I never slowed down through transition which was the plan. Five minutes into the bike leg, with my foot firmly on the gas, my heart was still pounding. It didn’t matter, I felt I could sustain this pace for the hour+ I needed. While it was windy, my meltdown a few weeks ago in the wind prepared me mentally for it. I noticed it in that my speed dropped some, and of course the only hills were into the wind. To me it wasn’t a big deal, though I did hear people complaining about it afterwards. The best part of the bike was that I was only passed by a couple of people, and I passed more than passed me. Every time I felt myself easing up I reminded myself of the other guy. He would be pushing hard right now so I had to push harder. There weren’t many people out there so I wasn’t sure where I was in the pack, something that concerned me for the rest of the race. Was I out front and holding them off, or had I fallen off the back and wasn’t keeping up.
I was out of T2 very quickly, donning my hat and race belt as I started the run. Almost immediately I was passed by a young lady who was getting a lot of cheers from the crowd. I decided to use her for motivation, and kept the same gap for most of the first lap. The back leg of the run was with the wind, a nice break, but with no wind it got VERY hot, forcing me to grab some water for my head. I got a side stitch and really wanted to walk. I knew the other guy wouldn’t walk so there was no way I was going to either. I was getting pretty tired. Realizing it could be nutrition based I took a GU. I didn’t notice the fatigue until near the end of the second leg, at which point I thought it was too late for a GU to help. While my pace wasn’t as fast as I’d hoped, I knew it was the best I could manage at the time. With 1/4 mile to go (into the wind of course) I gave it all I had. I didn’t know who might be behind me, but I wasn’t going to let the other guy pass me at the finish.
The finish was a blur. I got some cold water, a cold towel, and got out of the way to wait for the results. They finally came: I’d won my bracket! My time was 3 minutes slower than I’d hoped, but good enough to qualify me for Nationals! With that accomplished, I can now focus on getting faster and figuring out how hard I can push myself instead of worrying about getting qualified.
Accepting my first place prize was one of the proudest moments of my life, the other being in 1977 when I won outstanding musician at band camp. I don’t know what else this season has in store, but this is one hell of a start!
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