Official results:
Place - 90th
Swim - 4:50 (16th)
T1 - 2:30
Bike - 34:00 (131st)
T2 - :58
Run - 20:14 (99th)
I got up about 5:45 so I could eat breakfast. Stomach was little rebellious, but I forced myself to eat anyway. Drew got up with me and went to watch and provide moral support. I wanted to get to the race site between 6:45 and 7:00 so I could get marked, set up my transition area and get in the pool to warm up.
My bib number was 30, which only means - as I explained to a couple of my incredulous friends - that I am a good swimmer. I felt a little intimidated as I set my 30 year-old Fuji 12-speed racing bike into the rack next to all the sleek triathlon bikes. It looked like Herbie the Love Bug in the midst of a pack of Formula One racers. Most of the other racers in the same rack were wearing triathlon racing suits. In contrast, I was wearing my two-piece Speedo swimsuit and would be wasting time in transition by putting on shorts, socks and a T-shirt (my CrossFit Full Circle T-shirt, Jason!). I stuck out as a first-time triathlete - starting with the Big Dawgs only by virtue of my swimming ability.
I actually got frustrated with some of those Big Dawgs once the race started. Because the pool was split into odd and even sides for more efficient swim starting, I was the 15th swimmer to start on my side. It took less than 100 yards for me to run up on the swimmers in front of me. Obviously, some of the Big Dawgs were less than honest about their swim times. Drew estimated that I lost 20 - 30 seconds on the swim while trying to get around the slower swimmers in front of me. Still, I was out of the pool in 3:49 (my official swim time was 4:50, since the split was taken as I entered the transition area, which required me to run about 100 yards or so through the pool area and out of the building).
Of course, it didn't really matter after the swim. All those Big Dawgs passed me on the bike leg like I was going backwards. I was slow in transition, since I had to put on shorts, shoes, T-shirt, helmet and sunglasses. Oh, and my Camelbak. I forgot to leave my shoes untied, so that slowed me down even more. The bike wasn't too bad - after the Big Dawgs whizzed by, I was pretty much on the trail by myself. Evidently I had gotten a big enough lead on the swim that once the faster cyclists went by, there was a gap with the rest of the first wave. My bike time was 34:00, which about what I was hoping for.
Because I had dressed and put on my running shoes in T1, my T2 went smoothly. Rack the bike, take off the helmet and Camelbak, and I was off. Physically, the run was the hardest part of the race for me. One mile uphill and one mile back down. I had been determined to get through the run leg without having to walk, but about half a mile in, I thought I was going to throw up. I stopped to walk for about one minute, and that made all the difference. I finished the run without any other problems (other than heavy legs and general fatigue). My run time was 20:14 - I was hoping to keep it under 20 minutes, but that wasn't bad.
Drew cheered me on through the transitions and the run, and took me to IHOP for a huge post-race breakfast. Will I do this again next year? Probably. I'm not addicted to triathlons (yet), but had enough fun to try another one. Maybe with KAD next year.
