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 Swim
Comments: The swim director (not sure if that is the official title) told us that we could begin. The water appeared to be a bit calmer than the first race but the waves that did come in seemed to be larger. Off we went. We navigated the first two rounds of waves without any problems. I had learned from the first time around to stay close to the raft to help keep it above the water. That worked pretty well until we were about 30 meters out and a large wave came out of nowhere and completely flipped the raft end over end. No matter how tight he was holding on, nothing was going to keep Ethan in the raft. I quickly scrambled to find him in the waves. Thankfully, the life jacket did its job and kept Ethan from staying underwater more than a second or two. We were not far enough out yet to be close to the life guards so it was up to me to get things back under control. To my surprise there was another athlete in the water warming up for the swim who quickly came over to assist. He got the raft turned back over while I hoisted Ethan over the side. He was soaking wet but no worse for the wear. In fact, just like the wave we took on in the first race, he thought the whole thing was funny and started cracking up laughing. That helped ease my nerves a bit but I certainly did not want to repeat the ordeal. For a split second I debated whether or not to call it quits and head back to shore. I am not sure why, but I immediately thought everything would be fine and turned around to resume to swim out to the first buoy. By that time one of the lifeguards on a rescue board had made her way to us so that provided an extra level of comfort. We made it out to the first buoy without any other problems. We started moving parallel to the shore when I realized I had lost my goggles. I guess in all the excitement of Ethan’s “swim” I tossed them off to find him in the water. Oh, well. I had never used goggles in the ocean prior to this whole triathlon training thing, so I figured I could deal with the situation for a few more minutes. In our normal fashion, Ethan and I talked to each other every couple of minutes. I always do everything possible to remind him that it is as much about him helping us along in the race as it is me. As we approached the last buoy to turn back toward shore, I asked the lifeguard stationed in the area if he would stay with us so he could keep a close eye on Ethan. If we should repeat the opening scene again, it would be helpful to have someone close by to assist. Of course things were going just fine until another large wave came out of nowhere and toppled the raft. The lifeguard had already gotten off his sea kayak before things got rough so he had Ethan in his arms in no time flat. We were in chest-deep water so it wasn’t too terribly difficult getting Ethan back into the raft (again). Whew! This turned out to be a much more eventful swim than we planned but we made it back to the shore in one piece. What would you do differently?: We obviously need to work on how we manage the waves. It would probably also be helpful if we have a lifeguard nearby during the first few meters that we are navigating the breakers.  Transition 1
Comments: While a slightly stronger current made for a bit easier swim than the first race, all of Ethan’s swimming made up for any energy I might have saved. It was a struggle getting over the sand, up the path and back to transition. We eventually made it back to the staging area and began the transition to the bike. One of the volunteers quickly came over to help hold the bike while I got Ethan buckled in. I took off Ethan’s shirt because it was completely soaked. I thought it would be plenty warm enough that he wouldn’t miss it. I rinsed and dried my feet, put on my bike shoes, helmet and sunglasses, grabbed a couple quick swallows of Gatorade and ran out of transition.  Bike
Comments: The first few elites had already started the bike so we were getting passed pretty quickly. The course was on a two-lane, beach community road so there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic to worry about. No more than 1.5 miles into the ride and we hit our first major hurdle. I knew from reviewing the bike route ahead of time that this was a simple out and back on a 5 mile stretch of road. However, as we approached a roundabout, I saw one of the officials directing us to make a right hand turn. I knew this was not right. I quickly yelled out, “This way, to the right?” The official said yes and kept motioning to the right. I have no idea why he did that, but I didn’t argue and made the right turn. Long story short, it was 0.75 miles before we eventually turned around. Adding 1.5 miles to an already frustrating leg (have I mentioned I just do not like the bike) was quite demoralizing. There was nothing we could do but rejoin the race and continue on. We made it through the rest of the bike without any problems. It was slow going and we seemed to be passed by even more riders than in the first race. I guess the 10-minute detour probably had a lot to do with that. Oh well, it was a lesson learned the hard way that should not be repeated again anytime soon. Our friend who I had seen earlier in the morning had already finished the race and had come back out a couple hundred yards from the dismount point to cheer us on. That was a great pick-me-up we really needed at that stage in the race. As we approached the transition I was beat. I had tried my best to make up for the loss in time by really hammering the last two miles. That was probably a mistake but I just wanted off the bike as soon as possible. Seeing our friend out there cheering for us really gave me an extra shot in the legs to finish the bike strong. What would you do differently?: We will probably miss a lot of the pre-race meetings because of our early starts. But it would be a good idea to get a firm understanding of the course ahead of time to avoid another route mistake. Transition 2
Comments: We came into transition hearing the loud cheers of our family. My 5-year old princess can really belt out the “Go Daddy!” and “Go Ethan!” cries so there was no mistaking the amount of support we had behind us. Once again a transition volunteer came over to steady the bike while I unhitched the trailer, stood it on its back, and rearranged the bar to convert it into the axle for the front jogger wheel. I took off my and Ethan’s helmets, wrung out the Halo Headband (man, I love that thing!), changed into my running socks and shoes, and headed out for the run.  Run
Comments: Because the race location had been moved to a different park than the first time around, the route for the run was much different as well. Whereas the first race used a wide sidewalk that was completely shaded, the run on this day continued down a beach neighborhood road with nothing but sun shining down on us. I had a bottle of Gatorade in the back of the jogger that helped keep me hydrated. Since we were so much farther behind at this point in the race and a loop was part of the course, we didn’t see nearly as many athletes this time around. At one point in the run we encountered a turtle crossing the road in front of us. Ethan got a good laugh at seeing the animal hanging out there in the middle of nowhere while I got a good chuckle at the thought that even a turtle was ahead of us in the race! We finally walked/jogged/ran our way back toward the finish. With about 2 tenths of a mile left, we once again saw our friend, Danny, standing on the side of the road cheering us on. While I didn’t feel we had anything left to give, I knew that we couldn’t finish this last bit of the race walking. So we started back into a jog and, just as we got close to him, Danny started running alongside us! He was clapping, cheering and encouraging us every step of the way. Talk about God answering prayer – I knew that we would have finished with less energy and less excitement if it weren’t for this wonderful act of support. We sprinted through the finishing chute hearing cheers from all different directions as our names were called out from the PA system. This was the furthest cry from an IM event or Kona, but we felt on top of the world! Post race
Warm down: We quickly found our family and friends and shared hugs and kisses all around. We had spent even longer on the course than I thought we would so I felt bad that everyone had to wait that much longer in the blazing sun. My oldest princess had apparently been looking forward to our return so she could get some snacks from the recovery tent. Not only that, but she had seen some of the other athletes walking around with watermelon so that was fresh on her mind. We got our share of fruit, cookies and water and waited around for the awards ceremony. Only two races in and I am learning that there are some benefits to racing as slow as we do. While some people speed their way through the course only to have to wait another hour for the awards to be given out, the back-of-the-pack athletes like us only have to wait a few minutes. Of course we’re still spending that extra hour beating our bodies up, so it’s probably all a wash. Just as in Chapter 1 of our triathlon story, Ethan won his race category! And, once again, he received his medal to the loudest cheers of the day. All the extra time in the ocean, on the bike and on the run, was summed up in the huge, beaming smile on Ethan’s face. Another perfect finish to another perfect race day! Profile Album Last updated: 2009-08-02 12:00 AM
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United States
DRC Sports
85F / 29C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 336/336
Age Group = PC
Age Group Rank = 1/1
It was race day #2 and I felt even more nervous than when we faced our first triathlon 3 weeks earlier. I thought that since we had already gotten one race under our belts that the knowledge of what to expect would make things easier. Maybe it was that knowledge that made me a bit more anxious. Nevertheless, the excitement of spending a couple of hours with Ethan back on the course overshadowed all of the anxiety that had been building.
We continued with the original plan of me waking up long before anyone else in the house so that I could drive up ahead and get all of the gear ready. I had a cup of coffee and a couple pieces of toast with peanut butter and honey. I had packed most everything the night before and only had to rack the bike and load up the drinks and food. I kissed my bride, Jennifer, good-bye and left the house at about 4:50 AM.
I was one of the first athletes to arrive at the race site shortly before 6:00. Luckily I was able to get a parking spot right up close to the transition area and paths down to the beach. I finished inflating the raft, assembled the jogger/trailer and walked my bike and first load of gear to the body marking stations. I got our lucky number 101 added to my arms and legs and then took my bike into the staging area.
It looked like it was going to be a full race because every rack was already starting to fill. Unfortunately there was not a separate rack for us due to space limitations. I found Chris, the race director, at the far end of the transition area and quickly went over to shake hands and say hello. To my relief he asked which end of the transition area we wanted to set up in, meaning we would not have to rack with 11 other athletes. After a couple more minutes of moving the bike and gear, the lead volunteer for the transition area asked if I wanted to move to the rack for the relay teams to give us more room. He said there would only be two more bikes there so we should have plenty of space to spread out. While it was right in the middle of transition, it turned out to be a great spot because we ended up having the entire rack to ourselves.
I finally got everything set up in the transition area and then walked back out to wait for the family. I found a familiar face in the line of athletes waiting to get body marked. I said hello to my friend, shook hands, wished him luck, and told him I would see him after the race.
Jennifer had just arrived with the kids and my parents. I gave everyone hugs and kisses and got extra excited when I saw Ethan. He was pumped and smiling his trademark ear-to-ear smile. What a great reminder of what this morning was all about. In the rush of getting everything set up and starting to feel the pressure of another race, seeing Ethan, Jennifer and the girls reminded me of how truly blessed I am. Nearly nine years after wondering whether we would even get to hold our first born child, here we were, all waiting in excitement for another morning of triathlon.
After the standard last-minute potty breaks, we all headed down to the beach. Chris, one of the lead volunteers and I had discussed earlier that we would start the swim 10 minutes before the first wave. That took a little pressure off knowing that most of the athletes would be back up at the transition area for the pre-race meeting while we started the swim. It was just about to time to start so I zipped up Ethan’s life jacket, donned my swim cap and goggles and then knelt beside the raft to pray with Ethan.