the russell5

FINISH TIME = 2:49:45  for 1 mile swim + 26 mile bike (correction) + 6 mile run (1/2 mile in sand)

Completing the triathlon far exceeded my expectations for the mental determination that was going to be required. The swim was far less physically demanding but way more mentally demanding than I was prepared for. It took a better third of the swim just to get my bearings, calm my nerves and anxiety, and get my form correct. I quickly found myself in last in my group, sometimes swimming aimlessly off course, goggles completely fogged and nothing to set my direction by other than the life kayak I almost swam into (which was not in the way of the race path I may add). Things came together once I hit the stretch of swim were I was moving parallel to the shore. As I hit the half way buoy I actually took back some spots on my group and developed a reasonable pace for the remainder of the swim. Coming up from the water I was groggy and very unsure as to whether I had completed the first stretch in front of Jason; I knew I needed to though, if I stood a chance of finishing in front of him. Once I reached the staging location for my bike, I was reassured that I had some margin of lead since his bike was still across from mine. I fuddled with the change, learned quickly that a towel was meaningless during the race and attempted to get a shirt on, shoes with out grass on my feet and wasted WAY too much time with silly biking gloves. Once off, I started to find my rhythm on the bike which is easily my best area of the 3 legs. In no time I started gaining more spots on my group members and once I started passing some of the collegians from the group ahead of me, I also started gaining some confidence. By a 1/3 of the way through the bike course, on an out-&-back section, I saw Jason for the first time since we entered the water and estimated I had a 10 min. lead. Being that Jason is a very strong biker and a far better runner than myself, I knew I had to keep pushing. So, with every person who attempted to push pass me on the bike course I was renewed to keep pressing while not emptying my tank so far as to not have anything left for the run. After doing what we scoped to be the most difficult section of the bike course because it had two very steep UP then DOWN hills, I was able to settle in to a decent pace for the remaining 10+ miles. Once on the run, it took at least a mile for my legs to find some semblance of sturdiness. This process was not aided at all by the surprising fact that the first 1/4 mile of the run (the last as well since it was an out-&-back) was in BEACH SAND. Shortly after gaining a little footing on solid ground having left the shore, we had to navigate 2 stories of stairs up to the top of ‘London Bridge’ that took us over the Havasu channel and out to our run. At about mile 2.5 my body really started to heat up as the day temp of 85+ was kicking into full strength aided by the asphalt. At the half way point I came to a full stop, downed as much Gatorade as I could stand and preceded to throw 2 cups of water over my head and back. As I was mentally heaving myself past mile marker 4, I again spotted Jason coming the other direction. As he passed I stuck my hand out to give him an encouraging ‘high-five’ only to hear in return that he encountered a blow out on his bike tire with only 7 miles remaining. Victory was within my clutches but it had apparently been aided by mechanical failure. Not what a competitor wants to hear. Regardless, at that point I knew I still had 2 miles to go and it was all I could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other as my body temp kept rising and my mouth no longer seemed able to produce spit. Adding to the mental anguish, and much to my surprise since I could feel dehydration setting in, my body was telling me that I really needed to take a piss. The bad news was compounded by the fact that I had found a small running group to keep pace with but it happened to be all collegiate girls! [This is where you might want to skip ahead to the pictures] I slacked my pace some, not wanting the first time as an adult that I purposefully peed my pants to be with others around. Then… I just let it happen. I never knew something so gross could feel so wonderful; I think I got some on my fairly new shoes too… Since this narrative has gotten lengthy, let me conclude by saying that the last mile of the triathlon was without question the most mentally and physically demanding endeavor I have EVER undertaken. No parts of training leading up to this event could have adequately prepared me for the sum total of the experience. It was exhilarating to just be done. I would have never imagined that I would want to collapse in sheer exhaustion, trying to keep my bearings. Thanks to Rich & Ernie for being our “race support” and photographers. The weekend was a blast and cold beer never tasted so good. Here’s to the next one with new goals. To finish under 2:30:00, to again finish in first among my friends and to run a MUCH stronger, energized run… I also am going to lose 10 more pounds to compete at 185.

finally, here are the some of the pics…