I am now officially an Olympic distance triathlete! I finished the Disco Triathlon yesterday morning with a total time of 2:43:23. It felt awesome in spite of an incredibly horrible night’s sleep beforehand. My splits and transition times were really good. I finished 27th in the Male 35-39 age group. I completed the 1,500 yard swim in 28:42 with an age group rank of 24. T1 time was 2:32. My 23 mile bike split was 1:13:18 at a 18.8 mph pace (age group rank: 29). T2 time was 0:55. Finally, I ran 10K in 57:57 (age group rank: 25), which is not far off my sub 57:00 10K PR.
This was my first Olympic triathlon and the first beach swim start. The swim felt really slow. I figured I was in last place or very near it. But I kept my cool and worked hard to use the Total Immersion technique created by Terry Laughlin. In the end, the swim was cake and I burst out of the water, crossed the timing pad with a hearty “WHOOP!”, and sprinted to the transition area.
Once out on the bike course, I got my heart rate in check and stayed in my zone just about the whole way (144-159) with the exception of a couple of hills that I just had to attack. A big thanks to Coach Kristen of Texas Triple Threat for helping me get my zones and telling me to slow down on the bike. My capacity has REALLY improved such that I have to push myself to keep my heart rate in the lower end of the zone. Most of the course was pretty smooth and fast until we turned on to this one road with that rough chip-seal pavement. I really felt slow during that part. Then we turned down a smaller road that had smoother pavement but a lot more bumps. I ended up being able to stay with a group of folks from about that point until the bike finish.
I ran out of the transition area and doused myself with water. The run was my favorite part. As I made my way out, I gave encouraging shouts to the runners on the sprint course making their way back in to finish. I continued that through just about all of the run encouraging those who passed me and the few whom I passed. I saw my buddy Ironman Phil and gave him a shout out but he didn’t acknowledge. I found out later he was trying hard not to throw up. The final mile or so got even better. I started talking to my fellow runners trying to break the tension for myself and hopefully for them. I started speeding up, too, forgetting about staying in my steady state zone and trying to leave it all out there on the course. I told one runner to leave it because we wouldn’t need it after we finished. Someone could carry us if necessary.
Getting closer to the finish, I came up behind this big dude and starting singing the chorus of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. He cheered me on as I passed him and ended up coming in not far after me. I found out later that he’d won a medal in the Clydesdale category. I overheard him telling his girl about my singing.
Coming down the finish chute, I heard them announcing my number, name, and city and gave two thumbs way out and another “WHOOP!”. I “Superman” landed on the first timing pad, crossed the second, and then got down on one knee to say a quick thank you prayer to Jesus for bringing me through. A lady rushed up to me and asked if I was okay. I think I almost knocked her over when I stood up quickly and pointed up to the sky. They gave me a sweet Finisher’s medal and t-shirt and congratulated me.
By far, the ultimate moment was kissing my girlfriend, Kathryn, and having her put the medal around my neck. She was my strength before and after the race: getting up sooo early and arriving at my place in time for us to leave; getting us to the race site on time and driving so I could get a few extra moments of rest; just being there through the whole event. I was very focused during the race, but I could see her out of the corner of my eye and hear her yelling for me as I came out of the water and went through T2 and charged down the finish chute. I can’t imagine experiencing my first Olympic triathlon without her there with me.
With that under my belt, I now have the confidence to take on my first half-Iron distance triathlon: the Longhorn Ironman 70.3!
jb
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