it's been a while since last updating, but a lot of things have been going on. first, i've pretty much wrote the rest of the road season off. the constant commuting and long hours have finally made me decide that i was just wasting my time and money trying to be competitive this season. basically, my training just hasn't allowed me to be competitive. i decided to pack in the season and start fresh for cross season, but back in early july i did a team triathlon with my girlfriend and another friend. i had a blast. i've been wanting to do a full one, so what better time then to start then now. over the last several weeks i started putting in more time at the pool. i also started running, which i hadn't really done in years, just because it hurt so much, propably because i still biked 99% of the time. i actually used to be a decent runner until injuries and bike racing got in the way. it's easier to do swim and run workouts in kansas city too, where i don't have a lot of free time. i can have a workout done in less then an hour.
i really wasn't training for any specific triathlon when i first started running and swimming six weeks ago. i tried to sign up for lake st. louis, but it was full. then i stumbled upon the alligators creek triathlon. in o'fallon it was a sprint and only a 300m swim. it was actually the perfect distance for my first triathlon since i hadn't ran anything significant and only ran four miles once in the last six weeks. my run times had been pretty poor too. back in the day(15-20 years ago), i was putting out six minute miles, now the best i could do was just under eights. jess has also been working on my swimming over the last couple years, so it was time i put her tutelage to the test.
she gave me tips on for the swim and for the transition, but it was up to me to just go out there and do it. we got set up next to eachother in transition. she went off about 25 minutes before me. i also talked my buddy greg into doing this with me, who's only done a couple tri's himself. he was only two minutes in front of me so it gave me something to go after. it was also a pool swim, so i was somewhat used to it. all my nerves went out window once i got into the water. i was going to start my stopwatch at the end of each event, but once i started i hit the wrong button and fumbled with that the whole length of the pool, still not ever starting it. i gave up on that. i was nervous about getting caught from behind, but actually caught about four people and at one point they both stood at the wall and let me go past, pretty cool. when i got out of the pool i wondered why the people in front of me were going so slow, i thought it was a rule or etiquette, but i just ran to my bike at a good clip. when i got to my bike i realized i hadn't opened up the straps and latches on my sidi's, and had to fumble with that, got a gel, and got going. i knew greg was only a couple minutes in front of me and i figured i might catch him, which i did, a little earlier then i thought. i caught him within the first couple miles. i think it gave him a bit of an adrenaline rush because as i passed him he grabbed my wheel. he hung on for a while. as my gap grew further i yelled "you'll catch me on the run!!!" while riding, i thought, hmmmmm, why is everyone wearing their number, is the chip for the bike and run? in the heat of the moment i forgot to strap my number belt on. i was pissed that my first tri would be negated because of bonehead move on my part. i thought i just needed it for the run. oh well, couldn't do anything more, but race. i passed quite a few people, i even thought i might get dq'd for passing a cop on the centerline. they were slowed by a couple slower riders and i had no room on the right so i made the pass on the left. i'm so used to road races so it felt a bit awkward, and especially since it was an o'fallon cop i passed. the course was a little hilly, i had almost 1300ft. of climbing, and i couldn't really get into a good rythm until the final few miles. i blasted to the transistion and started out for my run. i wasn't much more then a mile into the run when greg ended up passing me. i couldn't believe he made up that much time. i caught a few people on the run and got passed by a few. it was only three miles, but i could feel it in my legs. in the last half mile jess ran towards me and gave me a boost. as i came in for the finish i sprinted the several hundred yards to finish in about 1hr 23m. i told them about the number issue and she said don't worry, "you were entered manually", phew, i was relieved. i ended up finishing 13th overall and 2nd in my age group, i'll take that for my first triathlon. on a sidenote, my girlfriend jess finsihed 1st overall for the women, not too shabby for someone i had to talk into doing. i was pretty happy for her for her first triathlon in four years and several injuries later.
lastly, i may be moving to colorado springs. over the last two years since they shut the maintenance base in st. louis i've been trying to find a city i wanna call and it looks like it may be the springs. there's more details i've got to get before i say for sure that i'll be leaving kansas city.
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