Tupper Lake Tinman - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

At the sound of the horn, I dove in and immediately began my swim at a reasonable pace. My bilateral breathing was good and my stroke felt comfortable. Within 500 yards or less, my swim took a unfortunate turn. Two days prior to race day, the seal on my swim goggles no longer held the suction so, I bought I new pair. I was advised to purchase a larger pair of googles that could withstand the knocking around one experiences during the swim. SO, I did. Mistake #1 I did not try them out before race day. The suction of the new goggles was also not sticking. I had a problem. Apparently, the new googles did not fit as well as I thought they did while standing in the store trying them on. The goggles were filling up with water during every stroke. I would continuously try to wade in the water and press them to my face in order to stop this from happening. This only happened for seconds before they would fill up again. The water was murky, so regardless of goggles or not, it was difficult to see anything or anybody underwater. I knew I had a long swim ahead of me. I repeated the treading of water to fix my goggles every 10-20 strokes. I realized I was also swimming off course...further and further from the bouys. My eyes were beginning to burn and I was beginning to get more and more fatigued. I tried to pick up on the feet of the other competitors, but if they had swam more than a few feet ahead of me, I could not see them any longer. I tried swimming towards bubbles created by the other competitors' leg kicks. This did not work very well. But I knew I had to keep swimming and not just wade like a dead duck. I kept putting my head down and doing what I could if even for a brief moment, checking constantly with where I was in relation the the buoys and the other swimmers. As I made the turn to come back to shore for the second leg of the swim, this swim got even tougher. Now the blazing, bright sun is in front of you. Now I cannot see anything. My eyes were really burning and was exhausted and disoriented. After I would attempt a few strokes, I would look up oiut of the water to sight where I was and I couldn't pick up in which direction I was swimming. I had to give myself a few seconds to get my bearings and to recognize in what direction the other competitors were swimming. I would then continue swimming. Yes, there was some unintentional kicking, punching, and swimming over the top of people that I experienced at the receiving end. Nonetheless, I swam on. I thought about every who had come out to support me. I did not want to hear, "There's always next year" or "You gave it your best shot" and go home completely disappointed. I wanted my wife and boys, parents, and friends, to be proud of me. I wanted to prove to myself that regardless of this unexpected and challenging turn of events, I could persevere. There was much more racing to be done that day. When I finally reached the shore and stood up, boy was I disoriented. I could have fallen over, but I stood still...didn't move. The cheers for me and for the other competitors went silent. I don't think people knew what I was going to do next. My wife told me I looked "scary". My eyes were bloodshot, I was wobbly, I was just standing there, and I wasn't responding to anyone cheering me on. If I had taken a step or turned to acknowledge my friends and family, I would have dumped it. I was giving myself some time to recollect and allow my body to get verticle after my horizontal horror! lol Only when I felt the disorientation subside alittle did I attempt to move forward toward T1. Slowly, I moved.

I would definitely not try anything new on race day without testing it atleast the day before. This cost me some major time and provided me with an unnecessary and uncomfortable swim experience.

I would also get into the water a day or 2 before race day and get familiar with the swim course.

Lastly, oh yeah, I would atleast do one open water swim in my life before I jump into my first during a HIM race. Yes...this was my first OWS ever!

I took my time during this transition to get my head and legs back. I finally acknowledge the cheers of my family and friends to let them know I was OK. Other than that, transition was fairly smooth.

Nothing.

I had ridden this course before during training. The last time i was on this course, however, was during an absolute down pour that went on for hours. It was nice to experience this bike route when it was dry. The ride felt very comfortable. I could have pushed alittle bit more, but I knew I had the 13.1 run coming up. And after that swim, I wanted to finish strong. I started passing people and I began getting my confidence back.

I could have pushed alittle bit more.

Again, I took my time just to make sure I was ready to go. I kept debating whether or not I was going to take my fuel belt. When I lifted it up to put it on, for some reason it felt heavy to me. I threw the belt down and decided to go without it. I did not need the extra wieght and I knew there were plenty of aid stations on the way. I drank some more Accelerade and trotted on out.

Nothing.

Now I was off on the final leg. I knew at this point I was going to finish. I remember someone telling me to eat and drink whatever I could get my hands on. I had half a Clif Bar that I ate during the ride that I finished on my way out of transition. I kept telling myself to eat and drink. The encouragement and support from the volunteers was amazing. I did not think that at any point I would be walking during the run. I was wrong. Many people were walking. I just tried not to walk often. Every mile that had come and gone I would eat and drink and celebrate my inevitable finish. My heart rate was on target throughout the race...the run was no exception. I wasn't overly exerted, but my legs were getting tired. I would walk through the aid stations and let my legs recuperate and then start running again. I picked up my pace the best I could during the last 2 miles and into the finish.

Nothing.

Walked around for about 10 minutes. Drank a bottle of Endurox recovery drink. Ate chicken, potatoes, and macaroni salad and hung out with family and friends cheering on the other athletes coming through the finish.


Inexperience definitely limited my ability to perform faster. I wanted to finish around 6:30 and ended up finishing at 6:42. I believe if I had a less tumultuous swim, I would have met my goal time. I am far from discouraged! I am looking forward to next year's Tupper Lake HIM. I will be working on my OWS and losing a few more pounds. At 212 pounds, I am happy with my finish (briefly) and I know I can improve upon my personal best time (my only time!). Never, ever, try something new the day of a race! That is the moral of this story!


Until next time!