Road to Ironman: My First Race

It's 4:45 in the morning and I'm staring at the ceiling, unable to go back to sleep because of a pain in my side, just under my rib cage. It was more of an ache than a piercing pain, probably the result of playing capture the flag two nights earlier. My alarm was set for 5:45am. So I wrestled with my pillow as I tried desperately to get another hour of sleep before the onslaught of my day began. I was unsuccessful. It wasn't nerves. It wasn't fear. It wasn't even anticipation. I just couldn't sleep.

I got up at 5:45 as my alarm went off and started getting ready. Within 20min I was dressed, packed, and had my friends bike in my parent's Cadillac and was off to Frank G. Bonnelli Park in San Dimas. It was about a 10min drive from my parents and I could see on the dashboard the temperature outside was 47 degrees. My goal was to get there by 6:30am to ensure a good spot in the transition area. I got there shortly after that but after waiting to get in the park, picking up my registration packet, and unloading my bike it was already 7am. This turned out to not be a problem since the division I was competing in didn't have many people, so there was plenty of room in the transition area. Being 215lbs I was able to compete in the Clydesdale division (200lbs+). I readied my transition area and chatted with the guys next to me. Doug was the first person I met. This was his second tri. He switched from motorcross because it was less dangerous. He was a pretty nice guy.

Our wave was the 8th to go, which threw my entire day off. Instead of racing at 8:15 I wasn't going until 8:50. Thinking the race would take me about 1:45 I was hoping to be on my way to Long Beach by 11am. Now it would be closer to 12 noon before I was able to head home. I figured with the extra time that I wouldn't rush to get ready. My plan was to wait for the first wave to go, then put my wetsuit on and hang out on the beach until my wave started. That was until they told us to clear the transition area and I hadn't even changed. I grabbed all my stuff and got ready in the parking lot.

Wetsuits are a tricky thing in triathlon. They are not particularly easy to get out of. There are plenty of tricks to expedite this process, bodyglide, vasaline, or my weapon of choice...the almighty Pam cooking spray. After putting on some waterproof sunscreen and Cool-N-Fit (to help circulation in my legs) I sprayed my arms and legs with Pam. The suit went on like butta, but we would have to see how it came off after the swim.



Once I was suited up I found my parents on the beach. They were worried I had missed my start time because they thought I was in the 25-29 age group (oops!) and I explained that I was a clydesdale so I went with all the fat and old guys. I still had a little time before my wave left so I decided to get acclimated to the water. It was cold. Very cold.



My parents prayed with me before I went to the start line. The race official pointed out the course and I suddenly felt very unprepared for this swim. Most of my training was in a heated pool and I had only swam in the wetsuit once...in a heated pool. The countdown came and we were off.





For the first three minutes things went fine. I was getting elbowed and kicked in the head, but I expected that. I was also getting left in the dust. I didn't expect to swim all that fast, but this was ridiculous. The wetsuit kept my body warm, but the cold water on my face was still a shock. The suit constricted my chest so it was harder to breath and I was breathing every stroke (mistake). Really I was freaking out. My mind was thinking of all the types of swamp monsters that would drag me to the bottom of the lake. I was afraid I would hyperventilate or run out of breath and the cold water had increased my heart rate. And this was four minutes into the race. Drowning seemed like a better option at this point. I decided to swim on my back, which was slow, but less intimidating. I tried reverting to freestyle from time to time, but couldn't get comfortable. It took me much longer than I anticipated to finish the swim, and it was completely miserable, but I did it.

As soon as I got out of the water I started taking off my suit. I had the first half off before I got on shore. My parents cheered for me as I ran by and described the swim as "not fun." I jogged up to the transition area and got changed for the bike. I had two bottles of water that I poured on my feet to rinse the sand off and a towel to wipe them on. I put on my cycling cleats and my helmet, grabbed my bike, and jogged to the mounting area (the best you can jog in cycling cleats). Once I was clipped in I was off.

I had no expectations for the bike portion of the race. I had never really done long bike rides in training. I took a spin class once a week and I ride my bike everywhere, but I didn't work out on the road. So when I took off on the bike I was a little surprised at my speed. I have no clue how fast I was going. All I know is it felt natural to ride. When I came to a hill I just thought of all the intervals we did in spin and powered through them. My quads burned like hell but I just kept going. There were a couple of nice straightaways where I could hunker down in the areo position and breeze by. Then came a series of long hills that was torture. What I didn't anticipate was the very long steep downhill that came when I got to the top. I was going so fast downhill that it actually worried me I would lose control and die. Not long after that was the end of the first loop. 7mi out of the way, 7mi to go. This time I knew exactly what I was up against so I went even faster. As I came into the dismounting area I had to slow down for a couple of guys in front of me, so I decided to get out of my cleats before I got off the bike. I had tried this the day before and almost fell over, but I figured I'd take the chance. While the other guys were fiddling with their shoes, I was already on the ground and running.



I got some shoes from Pearl Izumi a few months ago specifically to do triathlon. They have a seamless lining that is very comfortable to wear without socks. I also put elastic laces in my shoes and haven't tied them since. Once I got my bike on the rack and I was pretty much in my shoes and ready to go in less than 30 seconds. I ran the wrong way to begin with, but found my bearings and was off and running.



The first half mile or so was downhill. I thought back to all the times I ran (portions of) this course when I did cross country in highschool. I hated cross-country. What was I doing a triathlon for? I couldn't even finish a 2.8mi race when I was 150lbs and 10 years younger. But I had already swam half a mile and biked 14 miles. What was another 4.5 miles.

I reached the bottom of the first incline and realized once again that I was totally unprepared for what I was about to encounter. All of my running to this point had been either on a track, a treadmill, or the bike path on the beach. All flat. This course...not so flat. I started up the hill and was exhausted. I decided to walk for one minute. It was a welcome rest that helped me re-energize. Then I started up the next hill. I decided that I would walk most of the rest of the hills and then run down. This strategy worked fairly well since most people were running up the hills and the walking at the top. At about mile 3 I caught one of the guys I had been chatting with in the transition area. I had seen him coming down the mountain on the run and I thought he was much further along, but I passed him thinking "well at least I beat him."

At the end of the last big...I mean BIG hill...a race official told us we only had 3/4 of a mile to go. So I picked up my pace. My back was aching from the bike and I could feel a blister forming in my left big toe. Turns out I had a small rock in my shoe that split my toe open. But it didn't hurt too bad and I finished strong with a time of 2:08:58. 24min longer than I was hoping, but realistic considering my training.

I finished 10th in my division out of 22 and 345th out of 569 total. But I finished and that was the main goal.

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

Hebrews 12:1-4 (NLT)

As I journey to become a better athlete, a better person really, I am learning what true endurance really means. Things come up that we are unprepared for and we can give up and give in or take the challenge and adapt. Sometimes things go really well in ways we never expect. There are some hills to climb, but they come easily and we are proud that we met the challenge head on. And then we find ourselves in places where it isn't easy to keep running. You have to slow down and evaluate how to proceed. Running up that hill may be a bad idea in the long run. But you don't stop. You keep moving. And you finish strong.

In this race of life we aren't going for time. We're just trying to run smart and finish strong.