My race didn't go quite as smoothly as I had hoped. When I was topping off my bike tires the night before, my pump broke, and my back tire deflated. I could have taken that as an omen if I believed in that sort of thing. The Triathlon motto is Swim, Bike, Run. My performance was more like Flail, Bike, Walk, Repair, Bike, Run. At least 2 things did go well: I had a good time, and the people I met were great!
Before the race could start, the officials had to clear the start. The fog on the drive over was intense, and as we were waiting on the beach, you couldn't see more than 2 buoys out. I walk talking with new friends on the beach, and I said that they would let us start either when the fog cleared, or everyone got too frustrated. After a half hour of waiting and worsening fog, we were informed that we were going to start, but there would be no olympic swim. The frustration got to them, so here we go.
1st: the Swim. I'm not a great swimmer, and I know that. I started at the back of my starting wave, entered the water gingerly, and started to make my way through the half mile. I started with a freestyle for a few minutes, but had trouble regulating my breathing. I did a bit of side stroke, but spent most of the time on my back. The backstroke isn't the fastest, but mines fairly strong, and it got my through. Half way through, my goggles completely fogged up, and combined with the sky, I couldn't see a thing. Popped them on my forehead, and just kept going. I think that's the real motto of Triathlons: Just Keep Going.
My transition was slow, but not too bad. Half the bikes in my area were already gone. I hung the wetsuit, grabbed my helmet and bike gear, and got on my way.
2nd: the Bike. The bike ride starts with a decent sized hill. My legs were fresh, so that didn't seem like a big deal. As a started, my chain popped off. OK, I can deal with that; put it back on and continued. then my back derailer started to stick. I pedaled through it, and kept going. Then, .5 miles into the 12 mile ride, my chain completely broke off. So, I picked up my chain and coasted down the hill, and then walked the rest of the way to the nice mechanic tent that helped me fill my tires before the race. He had no extra chain, so he removed a couple of links and told me "it isn't perfect, but it'll get you on the road". That it did. I reclimbed the hill, and got back on my way. I actually had a fairly good ride from then on, and tried to make up time. I passed many mountain bikes, and got passed by many carbon bikes. At one point, my wife drove by, and at a stop sign I was able to pass and say hi. It was a little thing, but it put me in a better mood, and sped me up. About halfway through, I passed a lovely dairy farm with a lovely dairy farm smell. I joked about it with an older woman that was deceivingly fast on her tri bike, and we kept pace with each other for the rest of the course.
Time didn't really matter anymore for my second transition, so I took my time. Almost all of the bikes in my area were already back. I put on my running shoes and got back into my comfort zone.
3rd: the Run. This was a trail run. It's not what I usually do, but it's not totally foreign either. I ran hard, and actually started to catch the slower people in my original wave. It wasn't record setting, but I was in the top 20% in this section. At least one leg went well.
Overall, I had fun. The swim was rough and I was incredibly frustrated by the chain failure, but the ability to get back out there and finish turned everything around. I had my beer (or two), hung out with my wife and new friends, and enjoyed the morning. It didn't all go to plan, but I kept on going. As I do more races of all types, my new mantra is: Just Keep Going.
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