Wasn't sure if I was going to make it through my first triathlon but I did this past weekend. I met the Mrs. and the kids down at the beach house late Friday night after having to drive to Sandestin first to pick up all my race info. I was seriously impressed with how well organized this race was. But I guess they have to be with 700 entries! Luckily I went to bed early because KA was up at 1AM and didn't really go back down till about 3AM. So I didn't have much of a problem getting up at 4AM to head to the race. Uhg! Loaded everything in the truck, and hit the road.
Got to Sandestin about 5AM to set up all my gear in the transition area and headed to the body markings area where they wrote your race number and age on every limb of your body. Not sure of the reason for this but I figured if I got eaten by a shark, it would better the chances of them figuring out who's arms and legs went with who. Met up with Bobby, and saw several of the guys from the Pedal hard Cycling team. Everybody was ready to get this thing going.
My race started at 6:30AM. About 6:15, I headed down to the beach. The start line was about 500 yards down the beach. This gaave me a little time to relax and figure out my game plan and get my head straight. When they blew the horn, me and about 60 other crazy people in my age group hit the Gulf of Mexico for a little 1/2 mile swim. Never saw any fish (that is a good thing) but the jellyfish were having a field day with everybody ! Had several wrapped around my arm but when you are that far out, it doesn't really matter because you have nothing else to do but swim. The swim actually went really well. I actually met my goal for the swim of 20 minutes (the winner did it in 15!) so I was happy. I know 20 minutes isn't anything to write home about but it was a good confidence booster.
Coming out of the water and hitting the sand was tough. My legs were pretty tired from the swim but they felt good by the time I made it to T1. I came into the transition area, threw on my Pedal hard jersey, and hit the bike. I knew this part I would enjoy and I met my goal of 20 miles in under an hour. Looking back I should have pushed myself a lot harder on the ride. But I thought I was saving some energy for the run. Not to mention, I left my computer in my truck so I had no idea of how fast/slow I was going and that made it difficult to paace myself.
Came into T2 and proceeded to hop off my bike aat the dismount line. I knew I was in trouble when both my legs hit the ground. The second I started running my bike through the transition, I knew they were done and were ready to go home. My brain was a little fuzzy and I fumbled around in the transition area getting my running gear on. Probably spent about a minute longer than I should have. Once I got everything together I was still on pace to come really close to my goal of 2 hours overall for the race
But that soon changed about 1/2 mile down the road when my legs were screaming at me to stop. They were toast. But I run/walked trying to save as much time as possible for the next 3.5 miles and ended up with a time of 2:10:23. Nothing great but I came in about 450 out of over 700 people. The attached picture I believe shows the pain I was in at mile 4! But you can see William cheering me on in his own Pedal Hard jersey so that helped a lot. I have to give a big thanks for the Mrs. and the kids for coming out and supporting me. The Mrs. has been very supportive of all my training and it is very much appreciated!
Overall, this was one of those experinces you will always remember. If all my training stays on track and improves (which it will, especially the run!), I am planning on competing in Gulf Coast Half Ironman in May 2008 in Panama City Beach. Now THAT will be a life changing event!
