To begin, there was a woman #86 who had 3 no-shows in front. In other words clear water. My idea was to get in front of her so I could swim in a clear open lane. I started my swim smoothly and felt very good. I lapped #87 before 50yds, #86 before 75yds and #82(repeat #82) before 100yds. I now had an entire lane open with clear water and was on cruise control. At 175yds I caught #81 on the wall, pushed simultaneously and passed her with the first pull. As soon as I passed her I was on the heels of #80. I tapped her twice but she didn't shift over. She was just left of center. I made my move and passed on the far right before the wall. I did an open-turn on the right side of the lane and glided underneath her to get to the next lane. Open water again...or so I thought. Apparently, someone was hanging on the wall at 250yds who I didn't see until she pushed off just as I approached the wall. I pushed harder and she was in my wake. Uh-oh. Breaststroker ahead. I gave her a wide berth while passing, but here comes #80. She didn't/wouldn't move and I did an emergency dive. I actually went underneath them both swimming breast on the bottom of the pool for a few strokes. As my wife put it, "one moment you were there and then you were gone." I made the turn but my impatience and overzealousness cost me as I began to see stars(oxygen deprevation) on the 325 leg and to add to my woes, my left goggle lens suddenly filled with water. So, I breaststroked for 25yds until I regained my bearings. I could hear Shanna and my wife rooting me on the last 75 and I picked up the pace leaving nothing in the water.

My wife videotaped the swim. But what was REALLY startling to me was how pudgy I looked(205lbs). I DEFINITELY need to start working the middle section. As I sit and watch myself swim, it is astounishing to see how my form(and bigger body) looks in the water. What I thought was a smooth and supple stroke, appears somewhat...sloppy. A few swim lessons may be in order.

Due to the severely inclimate weather, the T1 was moved indoors to the spin room. I had an ideal spot, but then I got to thinking. At 35F with a 30mph wind outside, warmth is key. I asked the race director if we could change in the locker room and she had no objection. I moved my T1 to the locker room by the heater. After exiting the pool, I quickly made my way to the locker room(100yds further than T1), cap and googles in hand and my Speedo soon followed. I thoroughly toweled myself dry and began to layer. Zoot suit, Patagonia long sleeve undershirt, Louis Garneau cycle shirt, arm warmers, neck warmer, silk windbreaker, nylon windbreaker, Spandex leggings, helmet & sunglasses. I left my gloves off as I still had to run across the wet grass 100yds to T1 to dry my feet, put on my double lined socks and Specialized shoes. I sucked down a GU and chugged some water. I took the bike and ran to the start and quickly mounted and pedaled off with little problem locking in.

While the transition was excessively slow, it was still ahead of those people whom I passed in the pool as I saw them in the spin room dressing with *WET* swim suits on running to the bike. I still couldn't believe that these people were going to go with wet suits on. Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode about "shrinkage", but I digress. I felt that my long T1 time was worthwhile since I was confident that I was warmly dressed for the 10-mile ride in the extreme weather. Keep in mind that outside it was slightly drizzling, 35F with 30-40mph(that's about 22F wind chill!)

The course was layed out for the prevailing winds(SW). However, the winds were blowing from the NE. This meant that the downhill leg(NE-SW) was downwind as well. This leg ran on the frontage road adjacent to the interstate. To give you an idea, I was in the tallest gear, tucked, pedaling hard and cars were only slowing passing by. I felt I was really moving! The second leg was(E-W) was crosswind and there were several times I thought the wind would blow the bike right out from under me. It was difficult to maintain a straight line. Two-thirds of the way through this leg, there was I mild grade with a very long, slow bend to the right for the third leg(SW-NE). I was rapidly dropping down in gear to negotiate the grade until WHAM! I was head-on into the wind. If things weren't bad enough, I was horrified to see a long climbing hill, and... dozens of people walking with their bikes. I felt like I was hardly moving. I kept trying to downshift, but that was it. I was already in the shortest gear. Halfway up the hill the thought occured to me that I may not make it. It was do or die time. I reached *way* down for whatever I had left to get up this hill. I stood up and began to pump as hard as I could. My legs were burning with so much pain as I churned up the hill that tears were streaming from my eyes. I was not going to let this hill, the weather, or this race beat me.

As I began to crest the hill and reach the flats, I began to upshift. That is when my *real* problems started. My hands were dead asleep and nothing I could do could bring the feeling back. As cold as it was, my hands were toasty warm because Shanna had slipped some chemical hand warmer packs into my gloves. But the feeling was gone(probably from leaning too hard on them during the hill climb) and shifting was becoming a bigger and bigger problem. I could not differentiate between the small and the large Shimano gear changers. But, I did what I could. Braking became the new problem. I was approaching the final leg(W-E) and went full speed into the corner. Good thing no cars were coming the other direction because I needed the entire street.

As we were heading back, the Amarillo police were controlling the traffic and controlled intersections. As a cyclist would approach, they would halt traffic and cheerfully wave us through. That is when it happened. I car failed to see the officers signal and turned from the left in front of me. I reached to pull the brakes, but my fingers/hands would not obey my command. I braced myself for the impact. I wildly swerved to the left behind and away from the car. I closed my eyes waiting to either hit the car and crash on the asphalt from the wild manuever. It was a miracle miss and I kept pedaling. I heard someone yell from the corner convenience store cheering me on.

I was approaching the neighborhood to return to the Amarillo Town Club. This involved a number of right and left turns. So, I put the bike in a low gear and worked my way cautiously back to T2.

I was reluctant to use the aero bars due to the heavy winds. I felt that maintaining my balance(not spilling) was more important. I don't know what I would do differently here except relax more during the ride. I think my arm and hand tension and improper weight placement ultimately resulted in my hands falling asleep.

I rinsed with water and then sucked some down. The wind was blowing so hard that I could not maintain my balance to get my shoes on, so I sat instead. Oh, it felt so nice to sit down. I grabbed a GU, hopped up and I was off.

I had some problems with the fleece gloves. As I pulled them off to pull the Velcro on my shoes, the glove's inside lining pulled out with my hand. Because my hands sweat so, it was difficult to get my hands back in them.

Shanna was waiting for me around the corner cheering me on. She told me that I came around the corner pretty strong and had to slow me down after a few hundred yards. My pace would always quicken and she would have to slow me. I was having problems with the Spandex leg warmers as they were beginning to sleep and my calves were not feeling good either. I sat on the curb and pulled them off. Now I know what women must feel like after they take off their panty hose...relief. We trotted along and at about a mile I had to walk to regain slower breathing. As we turned into the wind, it became VERY difficult to breathe. The cold air burned in my lungs and forced me to slow to a fast walk at times. This is where at least a dozen people caught/passed me. It was very disheartening, espcially since I recognized many of them from the bike portion. We plodded along without much incident and Shanna constantly reminding me to slow it down. As we made the final turn, I could see the club. With about 400yds to go, my eyes started to well up behind my sunglasses as I began to realize that I was going to finish. I was finishing my first triathlon. Shanna said she was going to cut across the parking lot so I could finish on my own. With about 200yds to go, I was taking long strides and at a full gait. As I am approaching the corral the timer yells for my number which is obstructed by my windshirt. I wheeze out "88" and dash across the line. I have done it! I *am* a triathlete!

I almost think that the forced slower pace took as much energy. I think I would go ahead and take my faster gait even if I would have to walk a little more.

After hugs and kisses from my wife and Shanna, I walked alone to the transition area to collect my stuff. I picked up my things and began to quietly cry to myself--part from exhaustion and part from joy. I actually completed my firts triathlon only 4 days after my 40th birthday. I jogged with my bike back to the car, loaded up and headed back into the club where I was offered a Berrie Lite Smoothie and lay on the floor with my head resting on a stack of towels.


The weather, while severely inclimate, was more of an equalizer than most people realized. My swin was 4 minutes faster than expected. The T1 was way too slow, but I wasn't going to make a mistake for the upcoming ride. Safety first. My ride was about 12 minutes slower than I would have liked. The T2 was as expected(w minutes) as was the run(about 12 mintues/mile). A quicker T1, better ride and run and I would have placed. Then again...woulda, coulda, shoulda...


There were a lot of first timers, but they looked to be of high school age. Shanna commented on the unusual high number of young triathletes. I guess the horrible weather conditions kept the more sane/seasoned athletes away. Overall, I thought the race was well organized and easy to navigate. A good first timer race...had the weather cooperated. But as Mike and Marti Greer said, "Now you'll have a great tri story to tell. Because of the weather, this will be one of those tris that people will talk about for a long time." I am glad I did it.