Triathlon Recap

I will begin with a quote from Tdisckree..."That was 10 times harder than I thought it was going to be."

The question most frequently asked following the triathlon:
-Was it worth it? For 2 hours and 40 minutes I questioned myself over and over again about this question. For the most part the answer was no. When I came across the pad for the last time I knew it was worth it. My legs were screaming in pain...but the high of finishing is unbelievable. A triathlon is something that not many people can say they have done.

-How was the swim? It was the most terrifying thing I have ever done. When I was standing on the beach with 90 other participants...staring out into the lake...I almost wanted to cry. It looked sooooo far. Then the announcement came..."You have 10 seconds...we'll go on the horn." When that horn went off and we all ran and dove into the water...the feeling is almost undescribable. I got about 4 strokes in before I linked arms with the person beside me. I pulled away from him just enough to go over onto the back of the person on the other side of me. Saying a quick appology I pulled back...that's when the person behind me went onto my back. Finally I got a little bit of room...panicking a bit I went into the 2 stroke/breath. I had reached the first buoy....made a hard left...and back into the bumping and smashing trying to get around the buoy. Again I cleared myself a bit and decided to ease into the 3 stroke/breath...It felt great...it seemed like I had a ton of room. So I looked up to see why...I was about 20 feet off course. Swimming straight was so much harder than I thought it was going to be. About halfway to the first buoy I said to myself..."I don't think i'm going to make it." I felt like I was tiring really easy and it just seemed soooo far. That's when my training began to pay off...I knew from previous swims that my first few hundred meters would be my toughest...I just had to battle through it. I remember Jamie telling me "focus on something". I focused on keeping my fingertips down and finishing my stroke. When I made the turn at the halfway point...I had finally started feeling good....but I still had it in the back of my mind not to go to hard...I wanted to make it out of the water. I had no idea where I was in terms of the rest of the field...I could have been first or last...It scared me a bit that I had room around me. Once I made the turn for home I knew I was going to make it...so I put the hammer down. I finished the swim in 29 minutes. I was extremely happy. I was so disoriented when I came out of the water...I could hardly stand up. The run to the transition was just pure missery.

How were you on the bike?
-I wasn't really that happy with my bike time. I was however really happy with my swim to bike transition. It took me 2 full loops before I could really settle in after the swim. We had 4 loops to do...which included a long downhill and a long uphill. I pushed it really hard on the downhills...and really eased back on the uphills. Knowing I had a 10k run to follow...really made me pace myself. After the second lap I knew I was 1 minute behind Tdisckree and the admiral. But I just couldn't catch them. My legs were feeling ok...but my stomach just wasn't feeling great. I dropped a full minute to the boys on the bike...which was something I didn't want to do...because I had a pretty good idea they were going to throttle me on the run.

How was the run?
-This was by far the hardest part of the day. They added a 250m steep hill portion to the 4 loops. So every time you would come around you would run up the hill and touch the mat and come back down and do the loop. When I came out of the transition area...my legs were so heavy. When I hit the first hill I figured I was done. My body was hurting so bad. My back was tight...my legs were throbbing and my heart was pounding out of control. I realized on the way up the hill why triathletes are not 215 lbs. Again just like I did in training...I just kept telling myself..."you can run farther than you think you can." When I came around for my 3rd lap and I met the boys coming down the hill I got a bit of a boost. I knew I was running well, because they were gaining no more ground on me. When I made the turn for my last loop, I knew I was going to make it. The whole trip around I was thinking about crossing that line.

I have so much respect for triathletes after doing that event. It really is 10 times harder than you think it is. I still can't believe I did a triathlon. 307 days ago the journey began with 4 ordinary guys training for an olympic distance triathlon. On day 306 4 ordinary guys completed an olympic distance triathlon. I just want to thank my teamates...without you guys I wouldn't have been able to do it. To the people who helped along the way. Thank you very much. This journey has been awesome. And last but not least...the fans. The amount of people that read this blog has absolutely blown my mind. I enjoyed every minute of blogging. I intend on continuing the blog throughout the summer...but with entries only twice a week. Our next event is on the gentle island on July 25th.

Tomorrow the blog shifts...you will no longer read the trials and tribulations of becoming a triathlete...you will read the trials and tribulations of being a triathlete. From the Tdisc headquarters at 195 blue heron lane...I'm Triathlete Tdiscpye!

"You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things - to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals."
-Edmund Hillary