Then it hit me.  I have raced in nearly every type of endurance race on the planet, but I have never done a... I reached for the phone and called Dave and told him what I wanted to do…  “A Triathlon,” he said.  “How will you manage the run?”  At that point, I wasn’t sure how to respond.  When Dave and I did the Coon Bluff race together in July, we did it as an Exhibition Team.  He did the first orienteering section which was mountainous, alone, and we completed the mystery events, the 2 mile flat run on smooth trail and paddled the river for the best overall time.  During that run, I felt fairly smooth and certainly felt fast.  But was I just pumped up about racing so much that I didn’t pay attention to the grinding in my knee?  We were going to find out!

 So, where to start?  I have been doing a ton of cycling, and even dabbled in a little running on my new NordicTrack 8500 treadmill with reflex deck technology. I haven’t done a lot of swimming in the last 2 decades, so we knew swimming would be a great place to begin.  Dave gave me video on swimming to watch and I met either him or Windy for swims all over the Valley.  With 3 months until my first Tri, I wanted to really give my self a chance.  As I began to get more comfortable in the water, I joined the Racelab swimming group at Bartlett Lake for my first open water swim.  This really didn’t go very well.  As I began to swim, things started off well enough, I was treading water, and Gus Warnholtz Co-owner/coach of Racelab, was swimming next to me.  About ¾ of the way across the lake, I realized that the bottom of the lake was probably about 25+ feet below me, and at that moment, my wet suit felt like it was sucking the life out of me and my streamlined swimming body began to slowly slide to vertical in the water.  My breathing went from a little tired to what we like to call in the drowning industry “Panic Breathing.”  Thank God, Gus was there!  He could see what was happening, and in an assertive voice yelled, “Man, you have to calm down… knock it off and get back to swimming!”  He then said, “If you are tired roll over to your back and float, if you are just nervous, Get Back To Calm, you are almost there!”  Well, being the coachable athlete that I am, I calmed down, and resumed the swim.  Another great example of why it is so important to have a coach.

After a few months of Tri-specific training, and heavily relying on the fact there may be some training banked in this old body, it was time to select an event.  I would need to find something in the sprint variety so that the run would be 5K or less.  A friend of mine, Loretta gave me some fliers for upcoming events, and from there I picked my poison, the GCC Fall F1 Triathlon to be held on 9/14/08.  The format of this particular race was pretty interesting and the distances met my criteria.  It was a 150 meter swim, 4 mile bike, and a ¾ mile run times 2.  That’s right, it was a double triathlon, and the top 10 men and women would have the opportunity to race it a 3^rd time. With only a few weeks left before the event, I did a few mock triathlons to supplement my training and get me ready for a multi-disciplined race.  To be successful, I would have to swim as well as possible, blow it out on the bike, and some how hold it together on the run, then do it again.  The idea of running for me does create a little angst, but the idea of competing easily outweighs any trepidation I may feel inside.  You see for me, it hurts much more not to run, then it does to actually run.  I am sure I will need some type of twelve step program eventually to get past this whole athlete/competition thing I have coursing through my veins and pounding in my chest, but for now… No Dr. Phil for me!

As I awoke the morning of the race, I was really excited to compete.  As much as I would miss the “Team” aspect of racing, this was going to be about me… About what I could handle by myself. As Vickie and I arrived, I really felt calm, no real jitters to speak of, and that put me further at ease.  You see, in all the team sports I played, the better I got, the less wound up or jittery I would be before I was to compete.  Maybe the stars were aligned today or maybe I am just a mature athlete now, either way, I felt collected and ready.

The race would begin in the swimming pool, 6 lengths, a quick exit and off to the bike.

I stood up in the pedals and mashed my way up to a smoking clip.

I dismounted my bike and flew into the transition, out of breath, but ready to face my demons on the run.  As I transitioned, I knew the goal… 15-20 seconds.  I felt faster than the first transition,  but was still 60 plus seconds.  Now, here is what is the most amazing thing about racing… having friends and family there supporting you.  Through my focus, at this point, I had not heard anyone cheering until now.  I could hear my wife Vickie reminding me to focus on form, I could here Vickie parent’s calling out my name, the voices of Kim Robinson and Rick Eastman from Sierra Adventure Sports rang out loud, as well as, my friends Hollon and Karen.  Just the pick-me-up I needed.  I was off and running, and surprisingly running pretty fast, and holding form.  I would find out later from Hollon, that my form looked damn good during the 1^st run.  With my new found energy, I could see racers ahead of me, and needed to pass them, and pass them I did!  As I neared the end of the 1^st run, I had a lot to be thankful for, but before I counted my blessings, I had to get in, transition and get back in the pool for the 2^nd swim.

The transition from run to swim was quick and well within my 15-20 second goal.  As I headed to the swim, I was really out of breath. I jumped in.  The cool water felt great, but my breathing was still out of control.  I began swimming, but quickly stopped.  Started again, then quickly stopped.  Turns out, it is really tough to swim, when you can’t breath.  Upon finishing the 1^st length, I had to just stop and wait to catch my breath.  As an athlete, sometimes you have to know your limits, but knowing that doesn’t change the sinking feeling that creeps into your heart as other racers begin passing you in the pool.  After a minute or two, I started to swim, just needing to finish this leg of the race to get back to the bike and on the run again.  It’s kind of funny looking back and yearning to be back on the run, but then again, the run was the last thing standing between me and the finish line.

The transition to run was actually faster than previous transitions, probably in the 25-30 second range, and once I donned my “Magic Shoes” I was of and running.

  At this point, Dave had finished the race and was cheering me in with all of the other folks whom had been with me since the start.  As I hit the track, I passed 3 people during the 1^st 100 meters and had 3 more in my sights.  I ran like it was my last race, picking up speed every 100 meters, trying to close the gap on the runners in front of me.  As I came around the back stretch, I knew I wouldn’t catch the racers in front of me, but I did know, that I had run really fast and crossing the finish line I knew I had completed my first triathlon. 

For me, this was encouraging and re-lit the fire inside.  I will need to work on my fitness level, as well as my swimming and transitions.  All of which are well within my grasp!  Oh, did I mention… I finished 3^rd in my age group and received a bronze medal.  After receiving my medal, Dave said, “You know, now you can say… with regards to triathlons, I’ve never been off the podium.” Windy said with a smile, “You should think about retiring!”  We all got a chuckle.