Healthy Living

My First Sprint Triathlon

by Tom Harvey 
10/13/15
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From my Journal:
Final Pre-Race Entry: 

     It’s been a long road, but Saturday is the triathalon.  My goal following that is to gain 20 pounds through poor eating and sedentary living.  These tri-jocks are so positive about everything!  I just got an e-mail from the event organizers and instead of saying, "Nuts!  The lake is going to be freezing!" they write, "Hey everyone!  It looks like the water temperature is going to qualify this event for wetsuits!"  (Fine if you don't have just plain old swim trunks!)  Anyway, the group I'm going with have come up with a list of things to say when tri-sport veterans look at us and say, "Don't you know that the water temperature qualifies this event for wetsuits?"   I’ve chosen as my response, "Of course, but I never use floatation devices for actual events.  I like to keep this a sport."  And then I’ll roll my eyes up, while assuming a yoga-like position, shutting them out as if they are potential contaminants to my athletic purity.  Just spent 40 minutes trying to get my eye rolling to look natural. Now I’m exhausted!” 
      A friend found out I was going to do this sprint-tri event.  I didn’t want to tell anyone, but one of the men who had been in the race too, mentioned it to him.  I was not going to tell anyone about it; not so much because I am modest or humble.  I just wanted to see if I survived it first; or didn’t get pulled off the course because time ran out, or because I seemed to be needing oxygen or an ambulance, etc.  I needn’t have worried.  The whole event was a blast!  Anyway, this friend did ask me an interesting question; he said, “Everyone I know who has done a tri, says they had such a fun time.  Was yours fun?”  It certainly was.  So he asked, “You swim half a mile, bike 14 and run five kilometers!  What is fun about that?”  And I had to think about it.
       The closest I could come to an answer is that for months in training, you work up all kinds of nervous energy.  I think of the summer at the pool and trying to build up to a half mile; about how until just a couple months ago I couldn’t run past 1.5 miles without stopping to walk, and then thanks to some advice by my friend Jeremy, it all clicked and I was doing the distance no trouble.  Ha, his advice was, “The trick to running long distance Tom, is to just not stop.”  At first I was like, “Gee, thanks, Jeremy.” But that night as I ran, when I came to the point where I wanted to stop, I started laughing, remembering Jeremy’s words, “The trick is to just not stop.” Like it was that simple. Well, so I tried it, and just kept on running. Then about five minutes later I was strongly tempted to stop and walk again. Again I remembered Jeremy’s words and again I laughed but just kept going. The temptations stopped and I did not. Now running a 5k is something I do confidently if not quickly.
      I think of how I had no bike to ride for the event. To train I had been using the stationary bikes at the local gym. Then God provided one after I had prayed twice.  First someone at church was getting rid of their exercise bike and felt they should ask me if I wanted one (having no idea about the tri-event).  And then just 2 weeks before the event, my buddy Steve gasping that I had no bike for the event, blew the dust off of his old, sleek Italian Racing bike.  I was good to go. 
       So the day comes, and I’m on the beach at 7:45 in the morning, with 579 other people who have been thinking of this event.  The lake is 76 degrees, which is warmer than the pool was the last two weeks before it closed for the year; and I was suddenly excited.  The race announcer then orders all 29 and under men to the start, and when the horn blows, they are all off; leaving us geezers behind for 4 minutes.  Then the 45 and under contestants.  Finally 12 minutes into the race, we get to start.  My timing chip is put around my ankle, and I go into the water with my friend Scott; some guy named Walter who has done 5 of these events, another friend, Robbie, already left with the last bunch, and 66 year old Joe who had helped me with my timing chip, and then you look across the lake, and you are a kid again.
       I mean think of it.  No grown ups to tell you, you can’t swim across that lake.  You see the bend but you can’t see the finish.  You see the dock where you make a right turn, but then it goes into a cove.  And the horn blows, and everyone rushes to start.  It is so much fun! 
       What did we do when we were kids?  For me it was just a day like this.  John and Dana and I would get on our bikes and go to the Res, to swim.  Walden Pond was just 12 miles from my house; we could go there, swim all afternoon and then bike home.  Running around, playing baseball, soccer, tag, etc.  It is what we did as kids.  Now in my geezerhood, I’m getting to play with some friends among 500 plus other like minded folk.  Sure some of them were hyped up on health and wanting to get everything just right.  After the event there would be a 12 mile run for those who consider a sprint triathlon to be just a warm up.  I met one guy who does about 15 of these events a year, just to work on his transition times between the swim and bike; and between the bike and the run.  He uses these sprint events to train for the iron man events, which can be 17 hours long.  This one is 2 and ½ at the most.  If you look like you won’t make it, they stop you.  Nobody wants to be stopped, so we are all out on that lake, swimming like crazy. 
       At one point, I bumped into a young lady who had paused to see where she was at.  We were only about 300 yards from the boat dock (finish line).  She said, “Oh, I’m so sorry!  I was just trying to see if I was zig-zagging!”  I exhaled, “It’s okay!”  I was really thinking, “How on earth is she speaking in complete sentences?  I’m pooped!”  Twice I started laughing during the swim, thinking about something funny.  Not a good idea!  I remember feeling this phlegm coming up and not wanting to choke.  So I swallowed a gulp of lake water to wash it down.  The thought came that I should get home in time to take some Kaopectate before the runs hit from drinking lake water.   
       After the swim you run and hit the bikes!  And it is 14 miles of riding country roads at 8:45 to 9:45 am.  Beautiful scenery and weather!  And the bike is way easier than my stationary bike workouts.  So many down hills to coast down, so your legs are fresh and the gears are easy for the up-hills.  It is like being a kid. But I was so slow! The bike was so sleek and fast, and this old timer was not ready for that. The stationary bike was stationary. Now the road was passing under my feet, and I was no kid anymore! I had the brakes on more than the pedals. The actual 50 minutes it took me seemed like 25 minutes tops.  Then you get off the bike and start your run.  It is a loop that you do twice and you are passing people and they are passing you and everyone is thumbs upping and saying, “We’re almost there!” with our eyes.  There’s Walter.  There’s Scott.  There’s the 66 year old guy who helped me with my timing chip.  He’s 10 years older than me and about 4 minutes ahead of me!  Wow!  If I can do this for the next 10 years, maybe I’ll be as fast as him.  (-:  It was all just fun.