Daring the Bear

1 part sunrise
1 part wetsuit
2 parts bike wheels
15 parts hills (plus or minus)
too many parts spandex

servings: 1 triathlon (with a lot of hills)

It seems like such a simple recipe…swim, bike, run. But every race brings a certain level of apprehension and anxiety. Did I swim enough? Did I ride enough hills? Did I push hard enough in that last speed workout? No matter the questions, the answers come fast and furious as the first flutter kicks begin in the water.

As luck would have it, I found myself in the first wave (probably because men 29 & under are known for their “aggressive” swimming tactics). This meant we’d be setting the pace and have the benefit of the open water, road, and trail ahead. The start came rather quickly, so I didn’t have any time to get nervous. I focused on a pair of feet ahead of me and followed them past the buoys.

Early on I struggled to find a decent rhythm, but another swimmer pulled up next to me about midway and provided the necessary motivation and pacing to help me push a little bit harder. Funny how competition can do that! This was by far one of the nicest swimming environments I’ve had, but I was happy to see the beach approaching. And, even happier to see it exactly at my goal time.

Transitions are known as the fourth sport in triathlon and I proved my rustiness with T1 (swim to bike). The wetsuit came off with ease, sunglasses on, helmet on, socks on, shoes on, and then an excruciatingly long struggle with my Garmin watch.

I eventually came to my senses and figured I’d put it on while riding.

The Black Bear Triathlon is known for its challenging bike course. I heard many gripes from unprepared riders after the race that really validated my decision to come check it all out a few weeks ago. It’s 17.7 miles of hellacious hill climbs and daring descents. I fully expected to be passed early and often by those I’d beat on the swim. However, I started out by passing another rider, who I was assured would get payback shortly.

Strangely, each glance in the rearview mirror saw as much open road as I saw in front of me. Undoubtedly, a few $10k+ bikes flew by me, but I was holding my own, especially on the climbs. I definitely learned a few things watching the faster riders ascend though.

In what seemed like no time at all, I had conquered all of the hills that had dotted my nightmares of the past weeks, and didn’t even blink as I crested the final challenge. A peek at my watch said I’d check off goal number 2, by keeping the bike portion under an hour.

T2 (bike to run) was a quick affair, as I headed out for the final 5k stretch. I can’t tell you how happy I was not to be doing 13.1 miles like those racing in the Half Ironman race being contested the same day (you can see them still swimming in the pictures below)! Lauren was close by to snap a few more shots and share a few more shouts of encouragement, despite me forgetting to get her a coffee and insisting that we arrive at the race before 6:30 a.m. that morning!

Again, I was pretty much alone out on the run, and did my best to pace/push myself to that next gear. I never was quite able to really drop the hammer, but I still held a nice pace throughout. One runner did go by me, but I decided a word of encouragement was a better idea than giving chase, based upon how easily he’d gone past.

As with the bike, I found myself on the closing stretch in no time, with energy to spare. All alone, I threw my arms up down the finishing chute as the announcer called out my name (much to Lauren’s chagrin!) and shockingly crossed the finish line well under my original time goal of 1:40:00.

No, that’s not me in the navy jacket, that’s the guy who jumped into the shot at exactly the wrong time!

Final tallies read: 1:33:49 (31st of 541 overall, 5th in my age group) 52nd on the swim, 42nd on the bike, and 28th on the run. It looks like my off season of running has really paid off. Now it’s time to focus on back to back Olympics in June!

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