Did I mention I was a slow swimmer? I started off ok. Felt fairly smooth. I just tried to tell myself not to race the person next to me. After a couple of laps, the water felt "heavy" to me. I don't know how else to explain it. I felt like I was swimming in pudding. I didn't feel like I was gliding very well. My breathing was sporadic and I ended up swallowing a whole bunch of water a couple of times. Gross. Molly was in the next wave and was on the pool deck cheering me on. That felt nice. I just tried to concentrate on my form - which wasn't very good. Finally, I saw the last lap signal for the person next to me and was relieved because I knew I wasn't too far behind her. Fortunately, she didn't lap me!!! As I got to the kick board (that was the signal they used to let us know it was the last lap) I looked up at the girl counting me laps and blurted out, "FINALLY!" I tried to finish strong. When I got out, there were still quite a few individuals swimming, so that made me feel better. Instead of going to the transition area, I walked back to the bleachers, sat down and waited for my wife Molly to finish her wave. She ran up to me and said that I had done a great job and looked really good swimming, eventhough I felt like I was thrashing quite a bit. She really tried to urge me to continue the race without her and that she would be fine. (We had discussed previously that we would do the race together. She was pretty bummed out that we weren't in the same heat). Anyway, I told her that I would stay and that I wasn't concerned about the time. This was our first triathlon together and we started and were going to finish together! She almost started to cry, but I told her I was fine waiting. I sat down in the bleachers while everyone else was giving me weird looks and pointing me in the other direction to T1. I sat and cheered on Molly as she finished her swim. She did great! She was about the 5th person out on her wave!!! Yeah, Molly!!! Anyway, I probably lost about a good 30 minutes or so waiting for my heat to finish and then for Molly to finish her swim. Once she was done, we jogged out to the transition area. I thought that was the neatest feeling. We both had smiles on our faces and we couldn't believe we were actually doing our first tri! How cool is that?It was a 4.5 foot deep pool swim!!! However, it was a PR by about 3 minutes!!! Yeah!!! 1/3 down. 2/3 to go.

Learn to breath better from both sides. "Keep on swimming, swimming, swimming..."

They timed us at the transition zones, but never posted the results!?!? I thought we did pretty good in our time, but hey, we weren't racing to place. Just soaking everything in and enjoying the experience!

Well, Molly had a difficult time getting locked into her cleats, so I circled the parking lot a couple of times waiting for her. Once she was ready, we were off!!!

The time is a little misleading because I waited for Molly during her swim. So I really don't know what my bike time was - according to my bike computer, it was under 1 hour. Still slow by my standards. On the first lap, I felt great. I was flying. Doing a pretty good average (for me) at about 20 mph. Caught a couple of people on the hills (granted, one was on a mountain bike and really seemed to be struggling on the hills). I think I lost Molly pretty quickly. I lost my water bottle after the first turn!!! That was no fun. Just popped right out of the holder, or maybe I lost concentration and didn't get it back in the correct spot. Anyway, poof - no water bottle. I tried getting some water at the next water station, but didn't think I would really have to slow down. Ever try grabbing a flimsy plastic cup of water with one hand travelling at 20mph? I think I got the guy wet, because it was like giving the cup a "high 5" instead of actually grabbing it to drink it. Good lesson learned - don't grab cups at full speed on a bike. I tried to slow down on the second lap to let Molly catch up. I actually caught up to one of our friends who swam in the same wave as I did. Apparently, she dropped her chain not once, but twice! She was struggling to get it into the right gear on a hill! Bummer. I really enjoyed the people on the side of the road cheering. I almost wanted to nod and say, "thank you. Thanks for coming. Thank you..." Weird experience. Very cool. But something I'm not used to. Anyway, second lap I looked for the water bottle - nothing. Stopped at the water station this time. Yes. Actually STOPPED. Swigged down a couple of gatorades and water. Molly was actually just behind me and kept on going. I was surprised she was that close because I really thought I was a lot further ahead. The girl on the mtn bike passed me too while I was getting rehydrated. Hmm. Jumped back on and picked up the pace again. Passed the girl AGAIN on the mtn bike - going up another hill - again. Then ZOOM!!! Someone totally blurred by me - total tuck in aero bars and a FAAASSTT bike. Probably doing close to 35-40mph. I felt like I was standing still. Note to self: gotta get a new bike, or at least train the engine a LOT more. I was impressed. I was thinking, "Just another walk in the park," here I am just enjoying the scenery and the experience, then get completely taken over by a blur and all I want to do is yell, "YOU GO GIRL!!! TEAR IT UP!!!" (At least I think it was a girl.) I'm still in awe of triathletes. I still can't believe I'm actually doing this!!! Wahoo!!! But alas, what is that feeling in my calves? Please do NOT be a cramp. My smile was gone. A grimace replaced it. Cramps - yup, it was. I tried stretching out the legs on my bike (good thing for clipless pedals), but when I would stretch out my calves, then my shins would spasm and tighten up and vice versa (bad thing for clipless pedals). Now it was spreading to both legs. Aargh. This can't be happening.

Get a new engine. Oh, that's me. Umm, train more. Train more. Train more. And do some hills. Drink more and try not to lose water bottles. I think I got dehydrated on the bike ride.

Pulling into T2, I could barely stand or pedal. Both legs were cramping pretty severely. I hobbled off my bike and was lucky not to biff it while dismounting. I had a GU and tried to guzzle some water and sport drinks and stretch my legs out. The more I stretched, the worse it seemed to get. This was very frustrating. I hobbled out to the run. Molly was a ball of energy and just totally pysched up. 2/3 done. 1/3 to go.

Drink more.

13 minute miles? Not bad considering we walked most of the way. I really wanted to run, but at this point I could barely walk. Not only were BOTH calves and shins cramping, but so were BOTH quads and my left hammy. I tried to stretch, but again, it seemed to make it worse, so I ended up walking. I apologized to Molly profusely because she was just so energized and ready to run to the finish. But she understood and was soooo sympathetic. I love her. Well, I was walking without trying to toe-off or flex anything too much. It probably looked like I dropped a load in my shorts - kind of doing the Frankenstein walk because my legs hurt so much. After stopping for more Gatorade and water, the cramps subsided a little and I was able to shuffle along and almost jog. Then the cramps would start returning and the same thing happened throughout every lap. Ever see Groundhog day? That was my run: Cramp. Shuffle. Jog. Cramp. Stop. Water. Shuffle. Jog. Cramp. Stop. Water. Shuffle. Jog... I was almost in tears the cramps and spasming was hurting soooo bad. Molly looked at my legs and remarked how "ripped" I appeared, then realized that my muscles were spasming so hard she could see the individual muscles! Ouch. Well, we tried to suck it up and run - especially everytime we came past our family. Finally, on the last lap, it got really bad. I mustered up all the energy I could and forced myself to run with Molly down the final few hundred meters to the finish line. We held hands. Remarkably, the pain disappeared as we ran to the finish line. Well, Molly was doing these gymnastic or ballerina jumps waving at the spectators and I was trying to force a smile, which probably came a lot easier than I had expected. We finished as everyone cheered! We were finally triathletes!

Drink more. Hydrate properly.

Tried to stretch as much as possible. Funny thing happened once we crossed the finish line. No cramps. What the?!?!?! Go figure. The triathlon gods must be having a ball over this one! Grabbed some water and fruit. Continued stretching. Talked with the fam and discussed plans for a family triathlon in December. Everyone felt inspired. Picked up our race mugs and checked our times. Oh, the RD found my water bottle - still full. :) My legs were killing me for the next 3 days as I tried to recover!!!


Cramps. Spasms.


Overall, it was a wonderful experience for our first triathlon. We started and finished together and it's something that we will always remember. Really nice high altitude race. It was nice to do it in Molly's home town. We'll do it again and hopefully have a better result next time with no cramps! I joke about finishing last in the Men's group and 2nd last overall, but it doesn't really matter! I had a blast and I'm hooked. The way I look at it - next year there is no where to go but up!