Mullet Man Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Man, the waves were in full force for this one. The first time I felt the cold of the water was as I jumped in. I ran about 5-6 steps and was able to start duck diving fairly well. I had a really good line to the buoy and noticed my other blue cap'd friends to my left. The problem was that it seemed they were moving and I wasn't. I'm thinking to myself if I am in a rip current or something. Just as I think about this, I notice a wave about to drop right on top of me. I managed to dive under it just in time.

Now I saw a sand bar about half way out, so I was anticipating having to stand up and continue on. So when I saw a guy to my right stand up, I figured...sand bar. At the same time, here came a wave. So, Dan being the smart one, decides he's going to use the sand bar as a spring board and jump the wave. One slight problem...when I went to feel the sandbar with my feet...NOTHING! Now I'm vertical with a wave on top of me. Lucky for me, I managed to barely duck under the wave and it probably took me back about 10 feet.

Finally, I got to the turn buoy and then it was great. I was tracking very smoothly and only had to adjust course once. I really worked on gliding but didn't feel like I was really pushing the pace. Most people seemed to be out to my left, so I never ran into anyone until I was heading to shore.

As I rounded the last buoy, I spotted my friend James from the wave before holding up his can of Bud. Yes...he's swimming with one arm carrying a can of Budweiser! This is Mulletman afterall. So I yell at him and continue on. I tried to body surf the waves in, but ended up caught in more backward troughs than anything else.

First OWS of the year and it went well.

Nothing really. Other than not trust the sand bar to be there.

I had stashed my sandles before the rocks of transition, but just ran through the rocks. What's a little pain for some seconds off your time right. I got to my area and felt like I was there forever. Nancy asked me if I had one or two ham sandiches while I was there. I did put my shoes on there vice on the bike. This was because of the sand and rocks I figured it would be better.

Also, size L Balega socks are bigger than M. Go figure! Next time, I'll get the right size.

First race, so just need more Transition practice.

As I settled into the bike, I could feel the weeks workouts. My legs were fatigued. I focused on my cadence and never looked at speed. I remembered Ken (Manatee Express) telling me to stay out of the bike lanes, so I stayed in the road. It was best because I was passing people left and right. Well, on the left to be exact.

I was not expecting the bridge at mile 2. I dropped to my small front ring and churned up it. The wind made it's presence known from time to time. The weird thing was that although the wind was constant, the course changed so you kept feeling the wind from different angles.

As I approached a cop in the road, I had to ask them if this was the turn around. Some kids on the right shook their heads yes. I would have have liked to at least see a cone. But it was no matter. I turned and started heading back the other way. I cheered the guys and girls on the other side especially as they were climbing up the bridge. I don't think they expected that because they all looked at me weird. Maybe I should have just yelled, "Wheee"

I felt relaxed during the bike and just focused on riding the new bike. I think it did well on it's inaugural race for me. The most dissapointing thing about riding a disc wheel in Florida....

No Whoomp Whoomp sound!! How sad. I only heard it once and that was when I was climbing the bridge the second time. VERY sad I was.

Nothing. I had a good ride and had fun.

I got my bike on the rack quickly. But then I kind of froze. Do I put my mullet on and then shoes? Or shoes and then Mullet? After what seemed like an eternity, I decided shoes and then Mullet.

Nothing.

This is where the fun began. As I ran out of Transition, I was putting my Mullet wig on. I heard a couple of people say, "What the Hell is that?". I screamed, "Who's Sexy?" and then people just started screaming. I was total business in the front and party in the back for this run.

I left transition right on the heels of a guy that was moving. I knew this was my chance to work on my run and mental game. It is severely lacking. I think the fact that I had on a Mullet made him run harder than he would have normally btw. So I pass him about a 1/2 mile into the run. He settled in right behind me and I am blocking the wind for him. I think to myself, "Dumn A$$, you should have sat behind him and done that". But alas, can't now. I am determined to not let him pass me. He surges on me and I surge back. This is really starting to hurt and my Mullet is getting really HOT.

Just as we get under the bridge, he surges again and I can't counter. I tried to stay close and not let the elastic break. But in about a 1/2 mile, he has openned up at least a 30 sec gap on me. I try not to get discouraged because I know I started 3 min behind him, but more so that I don't get lazy and slow down. Next thing I hear a soft sound of feet. Then louder and louder. This guy was cruising up on me. When I knew he was right behind me, I put my hand out and said, "Nice run man". He smacked my hand and kept trucking. I think he put about a minute on me in the last 1.5 miles. I closed the gap on #800 to about 10 seconds. I crossed the line 4th.

I really worked on staying consistant for the run. My goal time was 26 min and I was shocked to see I went under 25 min.

The last 1/4 mile was great. The spectators were lined up and they all loved the Mullet. Honestly, who wouldn't?? The best part of this race was that I finally got to cross the finish line with Nancy. She was about 100 meters from the line and I told her to come on. She has never done this because she doesn't want to get me DQ'd. But since it was a small race and honestly, it didn't matter, she ran with me. Finally, I got to cross the finish line with my IronSherpa.

She managed to keep up with me in bare feet. Very impressive.

Nothing. Maybe put some vents in the Mullet.

Chatted up the guy that I 'battled' with and actually he was parked right next to me. He said he couldn't let someone with a wig on out run him. I agreed.

I went back out on course and cheered on the other runners and bikers. I also wanted to see how my fellow Mullet Mafia members were doing.

After a while, the Mafia members went for a 2 mile cool down run.


Wearing a Mullet Wig. But it's now my Lucky Mullet Wig!!


There were a total of 4 us of wearing Mullets for this race. JC won the female overall and James was by far the BEST Mullet Man ever! Why? Here's why:

He flew in from Ca the day before so I let him ride the C'dale Slice. Not having bike shoes, we put flat pedals on the bike (it's a sin...I know). Well, he didn't want to have the pedals cut into his running flats, so he decided he was going to ride in sandals. That's right...Sandles! It get's better. Apparently, as he was riding (with his budweiser can in the Bento box) he passed a guy on a P3C with a disc wheel and aero helmet. The guy looks over and said, "Oh FU$% NO. I don't think so". The guy takes off and James ends up passing him a couple of miles down the road. Did I mention that he also had on the mullet under the helmet?

So he swam one armed holding the beer out of the water. Then he biked with the beer in sandals and a mullet on. Finally, he ran with the beer and stopped to pose for Nancy at the finish line. You can't beat that. He finished 125th overall.

The post race activities were great. Food was awesome, beer was good and the people were so friendly. I would recommend this triathlon to anyone wanted to have fun on a beautiful course.

Finally, the Mullet Mafia rolled out after the awards and many requests for pictures.