I am finally writing about my first official triathlon experience. It went great! The day before my friend Ryan came down to Apple Valley and met me and the family to go to the Expo. We picked up our "stuff", browsed around, and went for supper. I had a pasta dinner and Ryan had pizza.
We got back, I put in some "yanks" and talked about the next days game plan.
At 4:30am, got up, had some oatmeal, banana, loaded up and left for Lake Nokomis. We parked a long ways away, got the bikes off the rack, and made our way to transition. We watched the pro's take off and waited around for...ev....er. The weather was great and it was quite an awesome experience to see so many people with the same goal in mind. Ryan's friend from work came for the race from Virginia Beach, VA and we hung out before the race.
I had a finish time in mind, but each time I've shared that time, I've come up short. Anyway, to say I was nervous about the swim, would be a colossal understatement. I got my wetsuit on, jumped in the lake for a minute, wished my friends good luck and got in line. I waited my turn and when they said go, I went. The swim didn't go well, but on the upside, I did meet some very nice lifeguards. My swim time was 22:53 (3:33/100m). When I got out of the water, I was very happy and even happier to hear my wife and daughter cheering me on as I ran up the beach.
From that point forward, I had a huge smile on my face. I hopped on "Lucy" and took off. I had rode the course the week before and hit it hard. Ryan and Mike (Ryan's friend from VA) had started about 2 minutes behind me in the swim, but managed to pass me somehow. I can't imagine how. I did manage to pass Ryan on the bike at mile 3. I hit it hard and was passing people left and right. Of the 3 duathlons I had done, I had only passed one person, so It was a nice boost to the ego after the swim to know I could make up some time. I finished the bike in 48:09 (18.7MPH), much better than I anticipated. I jumped off my bike, racked it, grabbed my hat, and off I went on the run. I felt good and was still smiling. My wife and daughter cheered my on as I left T2 and was another good boost of energy. I went through the aid station, grabbed some water and pushed it with all I had. About a half mile from the finish I hear Mike say "Jeff!". I had passed him and didn't even know it. I asked if he wanted to sprint to the finish, but he declined. I finished the run in 24:01 (8:00/M). Mike crossed a minute or 2 behind me. My overall time was 1:39:48 and finished over 10 minutes ahead of my goal. The bike and run went better than expected. We waited for Ryan to finish, talked about the race and our different experiences and left to go our separate ways. I was still smiling and with my family waiting for me at the end, how could I not. What a spectacular experience. I can't wait to do another. But for now, I have to transition back to Marathon mode. Chicago 10/11/09. I want to see if I can finish sub 4 hours. We'll see it happens, if not, you can bet I'll be smiling when I see my family.
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