I got the call at about 10 a.m. Saturday morning that my old Schwinn would be ready for pick-up by noon. Great news. Kind of. That would leave me PLENTY of time to test ride it. Except it didn't happen. A pizza party for my sons baseball team and a promise to take the boys to White Water made this impossible. But I DID get the bike and it appeared to work okay....how would I know anyway? I DON'T ride. Also purchased a helmet while I was there. Probably should have asked for help adjusting the straps and all that- but, in typical style, I didn't even bother to take it out of the box in the store.
We closed the Water Park down and made it home around midnight. Perfect for a few hours of sleep after rounding up some of my gear for Sunday. (last minute is ALWAYS best) I got up at 5 a.m. Ready to roll.....almost. After loading up the bike and the rest of my junk, it was off to McDonalds for a little breakfast and coffee- the perfect pre-race meal.
I arrived plenty early for packet pick-up..... I thought. It was about a one mile walk from the parking area, had I known THIS I would have done things differently. Got the packet, bib, t-shirt and numbers marked on my arms/legs and hiked to the parking area for my gear. Made it back with 5 minutes to spare- missing most of the pre-race instructions but my friend Charley filled me in. Charley actually “trained” for this- at least 4 or 5 swims and a few bike rides. He doesn't think these things through real well either.
The swim. 600 meters. Pretty sure that I was the ONLY person without goggles. Goggles? In the lake? I wasn't planning to scuba dive. It did have me second guessing things and really feeling like a stupid rookie (which I was) making me wonder JUST what I had got myself into. A deafening boom from the cannon signaled the start. I went after it like a pro, gliding through the water, so smooth that there was hardly a trace of ripples to tell where I had been......uh, not really. I flopped out there and splashed like the non-swimmer that I am. I was leery of starting to fast for fear that I would fade out and be “that dude”. You know, the one everybody talks about for the next five years- almost drowned and had to be saved by the lifeguard types. Half way down the front side, I realized that it would be MUCH easier if I actually used my legs and kicked once in a while. Coming down the backside, my competitive side kicked in and I pushed pretty hard, knowing that I had plenty left to make it back. Coming out of the water, I was a little wobbly but not too bad. Time to transition to the bike.
I probably spent too much time here but I was figuring things out on the fly. I scrambled to get my shoes, socks and shirt on. Then I remembered my Garmin- but did not have it set up for biking- so it took a little bit to straighten that out. Helmet? Oh yeah, gotta have that. After securing the helmet and hydration pack I was off. Just in time to see Charley coming in to the transition area. Wasting no more time I pedaled away and began the bike portion.
The bike ride was 14 miles and immediately I realized that it was not going to be as easy as I had imagined. A HUMONGOUS hill started the ride. (maybe not humongous but it was a hill and seemed like a mountain to a novice) Pushing the old bike through the first couple of miles was the toughest but I soon settled into a groove and got the hang of shifting, something I should have probably figured out beforehand. About 4 miles in, this dude on some super duper speedy road bike came up on me. He asked if I had done this course before. All I could do was laugh and say “NOPE”. He advised me to watch the corners. Dumb me- “for what?” Apparently loose gravel is an obstacle to watch for when on a bike- I felt like an idiot but thanked him for the advice. Finally hit the turnaround and knew that I would be able to complete the bike portion. Pedaling hard, I ran into Charley. He was only behind by about a mile and looking strong. We hollered the usual words of encouragement and kept going our separate ways. Around mile 10 a woman looked at my bike and told me that I was at a huge disadvantage riding a bike like that. SURPRISE!!! She also told me that I was doing an AMAZING job, so she gets a pass for the first comment. I managed to maintain a 16.4 mph average on the bike which I think is pretty decent for my FIRST ride and considering the monster mudder tires rolling on the pavement.
I hit the transition area and fumbled with my Garmin again to set it for the run. This was supposed to be the “walk in the park” portion. I am a RUNNER, right? A freakin' marathoner, better yet an ULTRA-marathoner. Whatever. Jumping off a bike and going straight into a run is a little different. I learned this real quick. The 5k started with hills that were small but felt like mountains. Just when things started to feel better- that same HUMONGOUS hill from the bike course showed up. I ran pretty slow for 2/3 of the run but finally decided to step it up and bring it in at a decent pace. 21:15 for an overall pace of 6:51, pretty slow for me. I think that IF I would have got my head together earlier it would have made a difference of a few places overall but IF's don't really count. I crossed the finish line with a total time of 1 hour 29 minutes and 14 seconds placing 27th out of 65 finishers. I was very pleased with this time because I had figured that it would take at least 1 hour 45 minutes. Charley, who ran an 18 minute 5k, came in at 1 hour 32 minutes for 32nd place. Not bad for a couple of rookies.
This was a lot of fun and I would recommend that everybody try it at least once. Me? I HAVE to give it another shot....... after a little training.
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