I *AM* a triathlete.

Completed my first triathlon (a sprint) today and boy does it feel good!!

I was really nervous last night and this morning.   I just knew that I would forget something, or sleep through my alarm, or something else.   But, it didn't happen, and so early this morning I was dragging 3 kids and a wife out the door so that I would make it to the pre-race meeting and still have a little time to setup my transition area. 

We get to the race and have to park about 1/4 mile away.  We drove separate, and right when we get there, our baby has to eat.   So myself and the 3 year old and the 6 year old head off to grab my stuff (we could drop-off at the transition area) and get everything setup.

The kids were very patient, but still full of questions ("why are all the bikes here?   why are they writing on your legs? When can we get in the Jumpy Castle?")

I get my "house in order" by the bike.... still no sign of my wife with the stroller.  I call my parents, who were on their way, but they weren't close.  So, the three of us head down to the pre-race meeting. :^)

Thankfully, the meeting doesn't last too long, and we've still got some setup time... or as I like to call it:  "Look for Mama time."   I finally find her, and very quickly my Dad shows up.   OK.  I can focus now.  

I went back to check everything 10x and make sure my transition area was OK.   I finally decide it's alright, and head back down to the lake.   I see a sea of caps already in the water, and start to freak out a little.   I knew I was in the 2nd wave so I could still sprint to the starting area.... it's all good and I have time for a SHORT warmup from the swim exit to the start.

The gun goes off for the first wave, and I mosey (can you mosey in the water?) over to the start line.  The next 3 minutes take maybe, maybe 8 days.   Finally they sound the horn and we're off.  There's only about 40 people in my wave, so we're not really packed very tightly.   As it turns out, I can swim pretty straight.   I do the 880 yards ini 16:50 (I think) and emerge with lots of yellow (1st wave) caps.... I caught a few young pups along the way! wooT!

Run up to the transition area, socks, helmet, glasses, shoes and camelback on, and head for the door.  Transition time around 1:40 (or so)

The bike is a mostly flat but sporadically hilly 17.5 miles.  I'm riding in my jammers b/c  Idon't have tri shorts.   I start out a little slow, and am not sure if I'll be able to make my goal of 17.5mph on the bike.   But, as things go on I keep building speed and my avg just keeps climbing, little by little.  I get passed by a LOT of really nice bikes.... which makes me thankful for good swimming... but a little jealous of disc wheels!  (but just a little)  I get passed by one guy with 2 baseball-sized holes on his butt and some road rash poking out.  I'm glad I'm not him.  I finish the bike in 59:59, which is pretty darn close to 17.5 mph!

Bike to run transition takes another 1:40 or so, once I've tied my shoes and wrestled my shirt over my head.  I see what everyone means now by putting a shirt on in transition... will def have a race belt for my next one. 

I get out on the run, and my back is cramping like crazy.... and I'm breathing really hard.  i have to walk a couple times in the first mile because I just can't keep it going.   Then after I make the first turn, I see my training buddy (from the wave behind me) and he tells me he's going to catch me.   That motivates me to quit walking and start running, even slowly.   He finally catches me at about 2 miles and goes on to beat me by a couple minutes.  I don't care though, because I finish my run just under my goal time of 30 mins (for a 5k)

All told, 1:49 and some change, well under my upper-limit of 2 hours.   Considering I've been training about 4 hours a week for the past 2 months, I'm super-happy.

What did I learn?   There's better swimmers than me, better bikers than me, and better runners than me... but there's no better "me" than me!    I *AM* a triathlete!   Thanks for all the support, BT!